Climate fund rewards Uganda with Shs113b

KAMPALA. Uganda has secured Shs113 billion ($31 million) from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as a reward for reducing deforestation and forest degradation, in a landmark climate-finance deal that officials say could unlock more funding for forest conservation.

The funding follows verified reductions of an estimated eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions between 2016 and 2017.

The emissions reductions were independently measured and verified under processes established by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The funding was announced at the launch of the Uganda REDD+ Results-Based Payments Project, which will channel the money into strengthening forest governance, monitoring and community livelihoods in areas at high risk of deforestation.

Minister of State for Environment Beatrice Atim Anywar described the funding as a historic milestone, saying it was the first results-based payment project approved by the GCF Board for Uganda.

She said it was also the first such project approved for an African country and the first for a Least Developed Country globally.

Ms Anywar said the payment demonstrates that countries that take credible steps to protect and restore forests can be rewarded financially for their climate action.

The funding comes as Uganda seeks to increase forest cover while balancing conservation with the needs of communities that depend on forests for food, energy and livelihoods.

Uganda’s Vision 2040 targets restoration of national forest cover to 24 per cent. The country has also committed to restoring 2.5 million hectares of degraded land under the Bonn Challenge and reducing biodiversity loss by 2030.

Money for communities

Ezana Casa, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) representative in Uganda, said the payment was more than a financial transaction, describing it as recognition of years of investment in forest policies, inventories, safeguards and technical capacity.

“The results behind the payment were built over years through sound policy, forest inventories, safeguards and technical capacity—the groundwork that allows climate ambition to translate into measurable outcomes,” Mr Casa said.

He said the money should not be treated as an endpoint but as seed capital to strengthen Uganda’s forest monitoring, reporting and verification systems, improve benefit-sharing and align REDD+ activities with the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions.

The funds have already been received by FAO Uganda in its capacity as the GCF-accredited entity.

FAO is working with the Ministry of Water and Environment, the lead government agency, to implement the project under an agreed plan.

Mr Casa stressed that the benefits should reach communities that depend on forests, indigenous people, smallholder farmers, private forest owners and other players in the forestry value chain.

The project is expected to benefit about 21,000 rural households, representing roughly 105,000 people, in 17 priority districts in central and eastern Uganda, including areas around Mount Elgon.

The selected districts were identified as having high risks of deforestation and as areas without ongoing forestry projects.

Tackling pressure on forests

Mr Casa said the project would support rural livelihoods and food security while reducing household dependence on biomass energy, one of the pressures contributing to forest degradation.

The programme will support climate-smart agriculture through farmer training, distribution of resilient seed varieties and promotion of sustainable wood-energy technologies.

These will include efficient woodlots and improved household energy sources aimed at reducing pressure on natural forests.

The project will also strengthen government institutions, particularly the REDD+ Secretariat, to improve forest data collection, monitoring and enforcement of regulations.

Dr Alfred Okot Okidi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water and Environment, said the funding was evidence of international confidence in Uganda’s efforts to promote sustainable forest management.

He said the payment also presented a challenge for the country to address increasing pressure from climate change and human activity on forests.

Dr Okidi pledged that implementation would be coordinated, inclusive and transparent, with communities benefiting fairly from both carbon and non-carbon benefits.

Decade-long preparation

Joseph Mugaga Kirule, the national project coordinator, said the payment followed more than a decade of preparatory work that began in 2009.

Uganda spent years developing the institutional capacity and technical systems required to qualify for results-based payments under the Cancun Elements and Warsaw Framework.

The project will be overseen through a multi-stakeholder governance structure bringing together government, civil society, the private sector and indigenous people. The Ministry of Water and Environment and FAO will serve as co-chairs.

Mr Kirule said the programme would focus on two major areas: strengthening government systems for forest monitoring and enforcement, and delivering direct benefits to communities living in and around forests.

Stakeholders said the significance of the project extends beyond the Shs113 billion payment because it demonstrates how credible and verifiable climate action can attract international financing.

The project is therefore expected to serve both as a reward for Uganda’s past reductions in forest-related emissions and as a foundation for expanding forest conservation, climate resilience and livelihood programmes.

For Uganda, officials said, the challenge now is to ensure that the money produces measurable improvements on the ground while giving communities a direct stake in protecting the country’s forests.