Districts tasked on climate change plans
A section of the Nakalama-Tirinyi-Mbale road that was cut off by floods.
What you need to know:
- The National Climate Change Act of 2021 mandates local governments to develop their own District Climate Change Action Plans (DCCAP) to manage the impacts by way of planning and budgeting for development.
Local governments across the country have up to September to put in place action plans to mitigate and adapt to the negative effects of climate change.
The National Climate Change Act of 2021 mandates local governments to develop their own District Climate Change Action Plans (DCCAP) to manage the impacts by way of planning and budgeting for development.
Mr Emmanuel Tenywa, the Ministry of Water and Environment programme officer on climate change, explained that the arrangement seeks to customise and manage the negative effects of climate change in the respective areas since the problems are felt mostly by the districts and their communities.
He said DCCAPs are plans to curb the effects of climate change and communities have a right to demand the plans and interventions to mitigate the effects of climate change on various sectors such as forestry, transport, agriculture, education and environment.
According to Mr Tenywa, the DCCAP is a legal requirement for all districts but it has to be aligned with the national development strategic documents.
“DCCAPs can be an investment menu for project ideas and concepts both for districts and local communities. It can be a source of resource mobilisation to implement Climate actions,” he said.
Mr Tenywa made the remarks during the regional training on disaster risks and climate action planning in Kampala on Friday.
Environmental Management for Livelihood Improvement (EMLI) in partnership with WWF under the Greater Virunga Landscape Climate Change Multi-Stakeholder Platform organised the training to increase the knowledge and skills of local government officials and actors to integrate climate and disaster risks in development planning and budgeting.
Ms Christine Mbatuusa, the programme officer at EMLI, explained that the training of local government officials, leaders and civil society workers seeks to increase the knowledge and skills in terms of planning to generate priority climate change adaptation and mitigation interventions in their work plans.
“Climate change and its effects such as floods, mudslides and prolonged dry spells have become a global concern because it affects the livelihoods of communities. It is better that we plan for the actions that are addressing the risks,” she said at the training.
According to Ms Mbatuusa, respective districts need to understand and integrate climate change actions in their development plans and their projects to address the impact.
The budget call circular by the Finance ministry in 2021 mandates Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to mainstream climate change actions in their budgets.
