Uganda and Vision 2040

Should we sit on our backs and wait for the government to implement vision 2040?

Who is responsible for the action against climate change?

Under the aspirations in chapter 2 of the Uganda vision 2040, paragraph (f) provides that “Ugandans desire a green economy and clean environment where the ecosystem is sustainably managed and the liveability of the urban systems greatly improved”. The realization of this aspiration will however not come by itself, it requires the partnerships of both private and public sector and the progression of this amalgamation will promisingly limit the temperature increase to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels as per the Paris agreement. The ability to adapt, mitigate and reduce carbon emissions will be decisive to preserve the world and Uganda in particular for future generations.

It should be noted that sustainable development as promised in Uganda Vision 2040 is about using resources to meet human needs while preserving the environment. For several decades however, development has concentrated on improvement and advancement of economic, social cultural and political conditions and less on preserving the environment. This has resulted into climate quagmire and global warming and other adverse environmental conditions associated with climate change. To this end, Uganda’s biodiversity is facing increasing challenges including: rapid deterioration of the quantity and quality of the natural resource base mainly due to increased pressure from high population growth and economic activities; poor disposal of solid and liquid waste from industries and human settlements among others; additions of electronic waste, radioactive waste, plastics and polythene materials, industrial wastes and medical waste to the traditional organic wastes, noise pollution, invasive alien species, among others and this has led to loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation in general.

In the quest to revive the hopes in the Uganda vision 2040, in as much as the government should do its part to implement and fulfill the provisions of Article 39 of the constitution of Uganda, every individual is required to play their part to achieve the aspirations of this vision, failure of which guarantees extinction of our biodiversity which equally poses a threat to human life, and of course suffering the agony of climate change.