On a fateful night of November 12 in 2024, in Bufuma sub-county, Bududa district, eastern Uganda, landslides swept away homes as terrified villagers scrambled to safety.
Among them was Joan Kamoti, 38, clutching her infant as the earth beneath her disintegrated.
The disaster buried homes and crops such as maize, cassava, bananas, and coffee, leaving 120 people dead.
Flooding on the banks of Rivers Nyamwamba in Kasese and Mpongo in Kakumiro, as well as along Lakes Victoria and Albert, underscores Uganda’s vulnerability to unpredictable weather patterns.
Violent rains and severe droughts continue to ravage livelihoods dependent on rain-fed agriculture, painting a grim picture of Uganda’s climate crisis.
Despite the urgency, Uganda lacks adequate disaster preparedness and support for affected communities.
Victims of the Buliisa floods and Bududa landslides remain neglected, and the October 2024 Kiteezi waste dump disaster-caused by heavy rainfall-claimed nearly 70 lives and displaced thousands.
Critics, including Kampala City Lord Mayor Elias Lukwago, labeled it a man-made disaster worsened by poor preparedness and insufficient relief mechanisms.
Although the government has a Ministry of Relief and Disaster Preparedness, its capacity is grossly inadequate, with insufficient tents, supplies, volunteers, and professional responders.
This inadequacy casts doubt on Uganda’s ability to address the medical, humanitarian, and security needs arising from climate-related disasters waiting to bank on the international assistance.
Uganda on the global climate stage
In November 2024, the 29th United Nations Conference of Parties (COP29) convened in Baku, Azerbaijan, to discuss reducing greenhouse emissions.
Since the COP series began in 1995, Uganda and other low-emitting African nations have seen limited tangible benefits due to powerful global interests and the failure of major polluters to honour commitments to assist developing countries.
Observers typically hope Uganda’s negotiators will prioritise equitable practices, effective lobbying, and securing resources for disaster management and community resettlement.
However, the outcome has been mixed, with only little gains achieved.
Janepher Baitwamasa, an administrator at the Navigators of Development Association (NAVODA), argues that Uganda’s delegation often lacks focus and expertise.
She cites instances like COP27 in Egypt, where Uganda lacked a pavilion for discussions, forcing its delegates to rely on facilities provided by other nations.
Baitwamasa also criticised the delegation’s composition, accusing it of favouritism over merit.
She raised concerns about the exclusion of activists and stakeholders from accreditation, suspecting the government aimed to suppress dissenting voices opposing the controversial East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), which activists call a “carbon bomb.”
Gains, missed opportunities
Besides that Uganda’s participation in COP events has been marked by financial inefficiencies.
At COP28 in 2023, the country sent a 600-member delegation-one of Africa’s largest-costing an estimated US$3.6m.
While Margaret Athieno Mwebasa, Uganda’s National Focal Person at COP28, then defended the delegation size as necessary for comprehensive representation, environmentalist John Tabaro argue that Uganda should send fewer skilled negotiators and redirect saved resources to practical climate resilience projects like reforestation and emission reduction.
Uganda negotiates at COP events through multiple platforms, including the African Group of Negotiators, the Least Developed Countries Group, and the G77+China group.
Representation is required across thematic areas such as adaptation, loss and damage, mitigation, capacity building, and technology transfer.
Uganda also participates in plenary sessions at the ministerial or head-of-state level.
In 2023, Uganda used COP28 to launch its Energy Transition Plan to attract funding for transitioning to green energy.
However, Baitwamasa believes some officials exploit these events for personal gain, using the platform to circumvent climate policies rather than implement them.
Ali Ssekatawa, Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs at the Petroleum Authority of Uganda (PAU), the oil sector regegulator, defended Uganda’s stance at COP28, emphasising the need for oil production as a step toward energy transition at a time the world wants it (oil) phased out or stopped.
Baitwamasa adds: “There is going to class to spy on what is happening there. This spying helps you plan better on what you want as a person but not for the benefit of the country. They go to plan, how to bypass climate change policies and not implementation. I feel they go to spy and plan how to also gag dissents and these days the delegation has people from PAU to push for oil extraction at all costs and they only talk about energy transition using oil.”
Tabaro contends this approach, highlights a lack of coordinated national policy on climate change.
Challenges in climate diplomacy
Uganda has faced criticism for its selective engagement in climate talks. In 2023, President Yoweri Museveni declined to attend the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, citing reluctance to be lectured by U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.
This decision came amid protests against EACOP and rising resentment over oil extraction projects.
Global climate injustices further complicate Uganda’s position. The World Meteorological Organisation reports that gigatonnes of carbon are emitted annually, primarily from industrialised nations.
Yet countries like Uganda, contributing less than 1% to global emissions, bear the brunt of climate change impacts.
Sandra Nuwasasira a resident from Kikuube district-one of the areas affected by EACOP-highlight the challenges of pushing for accountability in a repressive political environment.
She also questions how the ‘colossal’ sums of money given to Uganda for ameliorating measures and strategic standpoints to combat climate change are transparently spent.
According to an Oxfam study, Uganda’s transparency in utilising US$2.2 billion in climate finance remains questionable, with funds often failing to reach those most affected by climate disasters.
Past lessons
Uganda’s history with regional climate initiatives, such as the Lake Victoria Basin Management Organisation, reveals both potential and pitfalls.
While these efforts demonstrated the value of regional cooperation, stalled implementation highlights the need for stronger governance and coordination.
Pundits also question the effectiveness of COP events. Recent reports indicate that COP29 in Azerbaijan was overshadowed by fossil fuel interests, with 1,773 fossil fuel lobbyists granted access.
Such infiltration undermines the integrity of climate diplomacy, raising concerns about the influence of private interests.
Way forward
Climate Change Scholar, Phillip Kihumuro says despite its shortcomings, Uganda has made some progress through global climate frameworks on biodiversity and benefit sharing.
However, he said, translating these frameworks into measurable outcomes remains a challenge.
Kihumuro, advocates for a de-colonised approach to negotiations, allowing countries like Uganda to develop sustainably without undue external pressure.
“The west developed through fossil fuels. Criminalising Uganda for pursuing similar paths, despite contributing less than 1% to global emissions, is unfair,” he added.
As the world gears up for COP30 in Brazil in 2025, Uganda must shift its focus from ceremonial attendance to achieving meaningful progress in climate action.
This requires limiting delegations to essential personnel with expertise in climate policy and negotiations, ensuring that participation is strategic and impactful.
Baitwamasa said the country also needs to secure international support to strengthen local disaster preparedness systems, enhancing its resilience to climate-related emergencies.
She said transparency in the use of climate funds must be prioritised to ensure they are allocated effectively for their intended purposes.
“Engaging grassroots organisations and civil society is equally crucial, as this will amplify diverse perspectives and drive initiatives tailored to Uganda’s specific vulnerabilities,” she noted.
She said emphasis should be placed on promoting renewable energy and sustainable agricultural practices to address the unique challenges faced by the nation.
“The standard defence of such excess is that, in order to get very important people to very important talks, you might have to accept a risk that less important people will suffer a bit more sea-level rise, drought or wildfire in the future. And as climate talks have become more complicated, they have naturally required more bodies to work on them,” Mark Gongloff, a Bloomberg Opinion editor and columnist covering climate change said in a recent opinion article.
Gongloff said the expanding crowds that fly commercial which produce more tons of carbon pollution risks overshadowing the purpose and turning the climate talk meetings into another celebrity-studded gathering of rich people.
