Uganda forges ahead with sustainable development through REDD+

^{UN-REDD Africa team together with Uganda's Ministry of Water and Environment officials pose for photo during a field visit to Mabira Forest}  

Background 

Achieving sustainable development by 2030 is the ultimate goal of every country in the African continent. This aim involves combatting climate change and its impacts to ensure access to clean drinking water, food and a healthy livable environment for all. 

Path towards sustainable development  

To achieve sustainable development, countries must adopt a low-carbon development pathway. The options within this depend on national circumstances, development priorities, and technological and financial capacities. But adopting a low-carbon development pathway is fundamental not only for stabilizing the planet’s rising temperatures, but also for humanity to adopt a more sustainable future.  

Countries can achieve this through their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). These are national plans that help countries achieve climate goals and sustainable development, and the Agriculture, Forestry, and Other Land Use (AFOLU) sector plays a critical role in these efforts.  

Reducing deforestation and forest degradation is crucial for countries looking to reduce their overall emissions, especially in the Africa Region where between 40 per cent to 73 per cent of GHG emissions come from deforestation. To support countries in this journey, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) developed a climate change mitigation mechanism designed to incentivize developing countries to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation and forest degradation.   

This mitigation approach known as REDD+ (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries) and sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stock, is a framework that aims to incentivize developing countries to contribute to climate change mitigation actions in the forest sector. 

The framework is “results based”, whereby a country must prove first that it has reduced its forest-related emissions to get payment on the volume of reduced emissions achieved and verified. Countries need to fulfil specific requirements, including delivering high integrity carbon credits which are verified. Several standards are in place to support countries’ delivery of high-quality emissions reduction, including, ART-TREES.  

ART-TREES is a global voluntary carbon programme (architecture) to provide the confidence needed in the integrity of forest emissions reductions to unlock new, large-scale investments to protect, restore forests and reward countries that are delivering those results. 

Uganda’s context  

Uganda is among the African countries striving to achieve sustainable development. Through its NDC, the country aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 24.7% in 2030, below the BAU baseline, with 82.7% of the mitigation action coming from the AFOLU sector, making REDD+ critical for the country to meet is NDC goals. 

Through REDD+, Uganda is also aiming to reduce deforestation, mitigate climate change effects, achieve gender balance and improve welfare of communities and Indigenous Peoples - key components for achieving sustainable development.   

To support the review and monitor progress of the country’s REDD+ journey, UN-REDD Programme recently organized a joint mission to the country from 14 -18 October 2024.  

 ^{UN-REDD Africa team and Uganda's Ministry of Water and Environment officials pose for a group photo at the Uganda offices} 

Speaking during the opening session to launch the mission, Acting Director, Environment Affairs Mugabi Stephen reiterated Uganda’s commitment to completing all required processes to access results-based payments. He also encouraged the UN-REDD Programme to continue with the tremendous support for the country. 

Addressing the same gathering, Uganda National REDD+ Coordinator Bob Kazungu noted the country was on the right path to access results-based payments having completed the readiness phase. He further indicated that Uganda was already exploring several financing options, including but not limited to aligning to the ART-TREES standard requirements.   

To date, through UN-REDD’s support, the country has developed the following REDD+ elements under the readiness phase, which are key for accessing results-based payments: 

• A National REDD+ Strategy and the institutional and legal framework. 

• Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) to support national greenhouse gas inventory and reporting. In January 2017, the Government of Uganda submitted its Forest Reference Emission Level (FREL) to the UNFCCC, covering the reference period from 2000 to 2015. The FREL, which corresponds to 8,254,691 tCO2 eq/year, reflects emissions from deforestation under the REDD+ initiative. In the subsequent years (2016 and 2017), Uganda achieved significant reductions in deforestation, resulting in an estimated 4,035,347 tCO2 eq/year in emission reductions, which it submitted in the BUR technical annex in 2020 becoming the first African country to submit emission reductions to the UNFCCC. In March 2022, Uganda submitted a Concept Note to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to receive Results-Based Payment (RBP) for these emission reductions. However, by that time, the RBP Pilot Programme funding had been exhausted. In the second half of 2024, the GCF Board approved an exceptional allocation for the four countries in the GCF RBP pilot programme pipeline.

• National Forest Monitoring System (NFMS) -Uganda’s national monitoring system generates accurate deforestation data and emission reduction estimates, laying the groundwork for it to become the first African country to receive payments for reducing emissions through avoided deforestation through the GCF. These results-based payments will provide Uganda with the necessary incentives to implement its National REDD+ Strategy on the ground. With the support of FAO, in the near future, Ugandan families will directly benefit from these incentives, helping to support sustainable livelihoods and environmental conservation

• Safeguards Information System documenting how REDD+ safeguards (activities to respect the rights and knowledge of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities) are addressed and respected.  

Uganda is now in the process of aligning its policies and strategies, including safeguards to ART-TREES. Through the support of UN-REDD via UNEP, the country has already embarked on becoming TREES-ready, seeking more assurance of its carbon markets for high quality carbon credits, thereby ensuring access to higher payments down the road.  

Addressing the same gathering, UNDP Programme Officer Monique Akullo indicated the Programme through UNDP had set aside close to $250,000 to support the country in taking stock of their current NDC experience, and in preparing to submit their next NDC update in 2025, a crucial step in the country’s journey towards a low-carbon development pathway.  

^{FAO Senior Technical Specialist Nadir Pallqui Camacho (in white) taking participants through a presentation during the joint mission}

UN-REDD through FAO is also supporting Uganda to establish a standardized framework for forest data collection, management and sharing.

FAO MRV Technical Specialist Nadir Pallqui Camacho reiterated that this support will go a long way in ensuring the country can measure, monitor, verify and report on their emissions reductions with ease and accuracy, a key component for accessing results-based finance.  

Speaking during the closing session, UNEP/UN-REDD Africa Focal Point Maminiaina Rasamoelina reiterated UN-REDD’s commitment to continue supporting the country to access the much-anticipated payments soon, enabling the country to achieve sustainable development by 2030. 

With inputs from: 

• Marieke Sandker, Forestry Officer, FAO
• Lucio Santos, Forestry Officer, FAO
• Nadir Pallqui, Technical Specialist, FAO