Uganda requires $78.1 billion (about Shs320.6 trillion) over the next eight years to implement its climate commitments, with 85 percent of the required financing expected to come from external sources, the Ministry of Water and Environment has said.
The funding requirement highlights the scale of the challenge facing the country as it seeks to adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with resources mobilised so far falling significantly below projected needs.
Margaret Athieno Mwebesa, the Country Platform Coordinator for Climate Action Uganda, said Uganda needs to mobilise at least $5 billion (about Shs20.5 trillion) annually to finance climate interventions, but current funding levels remain below that target.
She said the country requires approximately $17.7 billion (about Shs72.7 trillion) for climate adaptation and another $10.4 billion (about Shs42.7 trillion) for mitigation measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
“Uganda is an adaptation country. Climate change is already with us here. We need to adapt,” Mwebesa said.
Figures she presented show that Uganda mobilised $447.4 million (about Shs1.84 trillion) in 2021, $483.9 million (about Shs1.99 trillion) in 2022 and $272.6 million (about Shs1.12 trillion) in 2023. Climate financing for the 2024/25 financial year was estimated at approximately $500 million (about Shs2.05 trillion).
Only 15 percent of the country’s climate financing needs is expected to be met through domestic resources, leaving Uganda heavily dependent on international climate finance.
The financing challenge comes as climate change threatens Uganda’s economic growth ambitions through declining agricultural productivity, pressure on natural resources and increased vulnerability among communities dependent on climate-sensitive livelihoods.
Minister of Water and Environment Kahinda Otafiire said climate change could undermine the country’s development aspirations unless government and its partners deliberately invest in climate-resilient programmes.
“Without deliberate action, it risks constraining economic growth and widening agricultural productivity, and increasing the vulnerability of our communities, particularly the poor and those in fragile ecosystems,” Otafiire said.
He said climate change was also putting additional pressure on Uganda’s water resources, wetlands, forests and infrastructure, making investment in adaptation and mitigation increasingly urgent.
Otafiire made the remarks during the launch of the Uganda Climate Investment Platform, a government-led initiative intended to coordinate climate financing and turn the country’s climate commitments into investment-ready projects.
Mwebesa said Uganda already had several policy frameworks outlining its climate priorities, including the Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plan, National Climate Finance Strategy, Fourth National Development Plan and Tenfold Growth Strategy.
However, she said the country needed to move beyond policy formulation and develop bankable programmes capable of attracting substantial financing from international development partners and private investors.
“We now need to turn these into real bankable programmes that will attract sizable financing,” she said.
The platform is expected to improve coordination among government institutions, address barriers to accessing climate finance, accelerate the disbursement of available resources and attract greater private sector participation. It will be jointly driven by the Ministry of Water and Environment, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development and the National Planning Authority.
Mwebesa said the initiative would not create parallel government structures but instead strengthen existing institutions and provide a common framework for coordinating climate investment priorities.
The platform will initially prioritise four sectors: nature, energy, agriculture and tourism. Under nature, investments will focus on forests, wetlands, land management and biodiversity conservation. In the energy sector, the initiative will support renewable energy development and Uganda’s transition towards cleaner energy sources.
Agricultural investments will target climate-resilient food systems and agro-processing, while tourism interventions will focus on sustainable ecotourism and green infrastructure.
Otafiire said such investments also presented opportunities for Uganda to pursue green economic growth through sustainable agriculture, clean energy and nature-based solutions. He said the platform would bring together government agencies, financial institutions, investors, development partners and civil society organisations around shared national priorities rather than duplicate existing programmes.
