Mugisha Nteyi imamMugisha Nteyi imam
By: Mugisha Nteyi imam
Worth Noting:
- Shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources will require a huge financing and significant reorganization of the energy infrastructure, however this transition raises major ethical dilemmas related to power, wealth, Risk, vulnerability and resilience that must be addressed and these must be navigated in order to achieve a sustainable future for ourselves and future generation to build a just transition towards renewable and there is no doubt that Uganda must have energy transition.
- However, it must be a just transition and as Ugandans we must be firm and unapologetic while rejecting fanciful theories that are only keeping us poorer to me we must have a unified, strong and common voice when it comes to energy transition and it’s not that we value our energy security to our climate but rather the approach used.
In Uganda the market for cooking fuel is increasing year by year. Population growth in Uganda is 5.6 % per year and the increased demand for cooking fuel is more or less equal to this figure. If this increased demand is met by charcoal and firewood, Uganda will have to import firewood from 2040 onwards that’s if we don’t initiate plans of transiting to cleaner sources of energy.
It is impossible to say where this would come from because deforestation is an issue even portrayed in statistics that 5% of the rural population having access to electricity ,this automatically means that 90% of the country’s total energy needs in Uganda come from biomass sources, of this, wood accounts for 80%, charcoal 10% and crop residues at nearly 4% ,in a recent study by youth concern on environment and development (YCED), we found out that Uganda’s forest cover has been declining from 24% in 1990 to about 8% in 2020 and this might even worsen if deforestation continues at its current rates ,we therefore keep our voices louder in advocating for financing alternative cleaner sources of fuel like solar, wind and hydro power however these environmental friendly alternatives need a heavy financing both in technology and infrastructure and that’s why a special budget to finance these transitions is very key .
I keep saying this and I will never stop saying that, “humanity won’t be saved by promises by global north leaders” last year at conference of parties in sherm-el sheikh Egypt that ran from 6th to 20th November we negotiated for a losses and damages fund to help finance these transitions however countries never made any commitments towards this fund, we there keep hanging our climate adaptation and mitigation strategies up there in policy frameworks if these funds aren’t disbursed and this literally means setting aside a special budget will help Uganda meet its mitigation and adaptation strategies , there are lots of changes in the domestic and global environment that have implications for petroleum revenue management.
For example, the energy transition may reduce demand for petroleum products leading to lower revenues and resulting into ‘stranding’ of investments in oil related infrastructure, or we think otherwise and let oil production continue and give opportunity cost to investment in infrastructure and technology needed for energy transition resources under the petroleum revenue investment reserve (PRIR) and if this isn’t feasible ,a special budget for climate mitigation and adaptation as we have been relying on grants and donations from developed countries because the climate change legal instruments provides for it ,for example the Article 3 (3) UNFCC (united nations framework on climate change) clearly stipulates that the parties should take precautionary measures to anticipate ,prevent or minimize causes of climate change and mitigate its adverse effects .where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing such measures, taking into account that policies and measure to deal with climate change should be cost effective so as to ensure global benefits at the lowest possible cost, even further to domesticate the Paris agreement ,Uganda was among the first countries to legislate a national climate change Act that was signed into law in 2021 by the president, on mitigation strategies the Paris agreement clearly stipulates that the developed country parties and other developed parties shall also assist the developing country parties that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change in meeting costs of adaptation to those adverse effects all these legal instruments try to bring in the polluter pay principle where global north countries are the major emitters compared to global south countries and they have to pay a heavy price for their emissions however as a country we shouldn’t be totally dependent on these funds
Shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources will require a huge financing and significant reorganization of the energy infrastructure, however this transition raises major ethical dilemmas related to power, wealth, Risk, vulnerability and resilience that must be addressed and these must be navigated in order to achieve a sustainable future for ourselves and future generation to build a just transition towards renewable and there is no doubt that Uganda must have energy transition.
However, it must be a just transition and as Ugandans we must be firm and unapologetic while rejecting fanciful theories that are only keeping us poorer to me we must have a unified, strong and common voice when it comes to energy transition and it’s not that we value our energy security to our climate but rather the approach used.
However, this transition requires a heavy financing and I believe if we use part of oil revenues to facilitate energy transition investment in infrastructure and technology to make it feasible on large scale for our economy ,Section 59 (3) of the Public Finance Management Act, 2015 (PFMA), provides that petroleum revenue will be used to finance infrastructure and development projects this actually means that all infrastructure and technology needed for transition can be financed by oil revenues as well because there is no clear specification which infrastructure or development project to finance or not to finance , Additionally the Uganda climate change Act ,2021, empowers the finance minister in consultations with his water and environment counterpart to provide for a climate change financing and as civil society we believe that with establishment of a climate finance unit under the ministry of finance will create everlasting benefit to mitigating effects of climate change
we need to reorganize our energy infrastructure and technology because the reality is energy transition presents a host of ethical dilemmas that must be addressed if we are to create a sustainable future for ourselves and future generation, transition has far reaching implication for Uganda because if we are to do reality checks the way we produce and consume energy affects our environment, economy, health, security, culture and politics. By transitioning to renewable sources of energy like wind, solar, hydroelectricity or geothermal power instead of relying on non-renewable sources such as coal and oil based products we can reduce our carbon footprints and mitigate the effects of climate change,
I know if a special budget is created to finance these transitions, concerned stakeholders like civil society and government will create policies that incentivize companies to invest in training programs for workers transitioning from fossil fuel industries ,human rights based approach derived from the national action plan on business and human rights and then funding research aimed to developing technologies that would allow for cleaner extraction practices with fewer negative impacts on workers’ health, government in partnership with civil society will do climate change sensitization programme to ensure disaster risk reduction at a grass root level, I implore all youth to be inclusive in every activity of combating climate change because we are the first generation to face the worst climate conditions and the last to create an everlasting solution and finally, if we are to save our forests then Ugandans should gradually move towards other sources of clean energy. The increased demand for charcoal and firewood will only continue to put pressure on our remaining forest cover
By: Mugisha Nteyi imam
Environmentalist and energy economist
Director: Youth concern on environment and development – (YCED)
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