Experts have urged government and stakeholders to prioritize re-greening of the economy if it is to solve the issue of climate change.
Dr. Arthur Bainomugisha, the Executive Director of the Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE), said the issues of climate change and its devastating impacts can be solved through massive planting of trees and transit the country into a greener economy which will be favorable for everybody.
He was speaking during a strategic meeting with the Uganda Green Economy Network members where they released findings of a study on mainstreaming sustainable natural capital management into Uganda’s Covid-19 recovery packages.
“We still have the hydro energy consolidated with the forests where the forests could bring the rain and we get hydroelectricity which is clean energy. There are things we can do and they are not very expensive; what we need is actually the will and that commitment,” he explained.
He noted that one of the challenges the country is currently facing, is under financing of the natural resources and environment programs.
“One of the challenges we have in combating climate change in this country is under financing of the natural resources and environment program because this is a program which is year after year underfunded.”
Commenting on the study on mainstreaming sustainable natural capital management into Uganda’s COVID:19 recovery packages, Dr. Bainomugisha said that there is hope based on the findings of the study.
The study focused on assessing positive measures to integrate natural capital into the recovery including budgetary, fiscal, monetary and trade policies against negative budgetary, fiscal, monetary and trade measures.