By: Aryampa Brighton
Worth Noting:
- Currently as a country, we are faced with numerous environmental crimes and climate change impacts which is hitting us really bad. We are facing massive forest cut down, unstopped plastic pollution, ravaging swamp reclamation in all areas and changes to key ecosystems such as Lake Victoria, lake Albert and eco systems mainly in the Albertine graben which is a hotspot of over 70% of Uganda’s protected areas, per Uganda’s 2010 Environmental Sensitivity Atlas.
- This has presented significant challenges to the people who depend on these resources, worsened climate change and the situation is likely to deepen. The impacts are directly affecting the economic development of Uganda, changing our ways of life and compromising our dreams of a green economy and transition to clean energy.
On the 22nd day of April, 2022, the embassy of Sweden Kampala, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) together with ministry of Water and Environment launched the Stochholm+50 national consultations in Uganda with an objective to create an inclusive youth dialogue on main issues to create a healthy planet for prosperity for all.
The genesis of the initiative roots way back from 1972 when the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm Sweden laid a the foundation for a global outlook, and identified common principles to inspire and guide the preservation and enhancement of the human environment.16 principles were penned down then to put environmental issues at the forefront of international discourse on development and marked the debut of global dialogues between developed and developing countries.
Currently as a country, we are faced with numerous environmental crimes and climate change impacts which is hitting us really bad. We are facing massive forest cut down, unstopped plastic pollution, ravaging swamp reclamation in all areas and changes to key ecosystems such as Lake Victoria, lake Albert and eco systems mainly in the Albertine graben which is a hotspot of over 70% of Uganda’s protected areas, per Uganda’s 2010 Environmental Sensitivity Atlas. This has presented significant challenges to the people who depend on these resources, worsened climate change and the situation is likely to deepen. The impacts are directly affecting the economic development of Uganda, changing our ways of life and compromising our dreams of a green economy and transition to clean energy.
It is important for every young Ugandan and people making decisions now to know that this continued Climate change and environmental degradation has a cumulative effect, which means that the youngest generations will bear much of the burden of these challenges, despite not having contributed to them nor having had the opportunity to advocate for policies that would mitigate them. Therefore, the launch of Stockholm +50 initiative presents an opportunity to reach out to many national stakeholders and gather diverse ideas to capture the diversity of environmental landscapes and their associated issues in Uganda. Most importantly, it provides a platform to amplify the voices of the youth, women, local communities and other marginalized groups to influence national and global debates that consider views of everyone to create and build a shared vision for our country to achieve a healthy planet and prosperity while accelerating progress on sustainable development benching marking SDGs.
I commend the Embassy of Sweden, Kampala, UNDP, Ministry of Water and Environment and other development partners for this initiative aim at bringing joint solutions for the ongoing environmental crimes not just Uganda but globally with fundamental sense of inclusiveness and non-exclusion of all groups.
Most importantly, I call upon the young people ranging from guild leaders, youth MPS, community leaders and youth-led initiatives to take advantage of this platform to speak for themselves, their communities, the poor, their mothers and all other groups who are worst hit by environmental degradation and climate change impacts by offering solutions and ideas. As young people we should know that we are as significant part of the world’s population and today, we are partners of whatever is happening, and tomorrow we are definitely going to be leaders. The question now should be, “are we going to be leaders of a dead planet”. If we the youth do not have the duty to protect our environment, our planet, how will our future be? Where will our kids and grandchildren live? What will the world look like in 50 years? Let’s use this platform to speak out, let us be the people to accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda and most importantly be the blueprint to solve our environmental and other issues affecting our communities from the grassroots. Let us not watch our natural resources being degraded and our planet taken away. We must speak out and restore our planet.
ARYAMPA BRIGHTON. baryampa@ygcug.org. / aryampa.brighton@gmail.com
The writer is a lawyer and Chief Executive Officer of Youth for Green Communities (YGC).
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