Over 80 participants from the environment and natural resources sector including, senior civil servants, the academia, civil society organisation, members of the public and students converged at Makerere University to discuss and participate in a survey on opinions about policy instruments such as taxes, subsidies and bans.

This stakeholder workshop held on 15^th July 2022 was part of the Inclusive Green Economy (IGE) capacity building program funded by Sida, implemented by EfD-Global Hub University of Gothenburg partnering with Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Rwanda

 Participants were mainly concerned with getting the perceptions of stakeholders on acceptability of IGE policy instruments and alternatives.

The purpose of this workshop was to increase the awareness of the current level of social acceptance in the country through presentation of results from the population survey that was carried out among Ugandans in 2021.

New knowledge regarding social acceptance among stakeholders was also collected through a short survey and discussions largely on three themes; Fossil fuel, Plastic pollution and Forest loss.

Opinions from the population survey indicated low levels of social acceptance while stakeholders’ opinions indicated high level of social acceptance of the policy instruments.

While opening the workshop, the Deputy Principal, College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS), Dr. Yawe Bruno, said the matters of greening the economy were so central today.

He observed that for many years, Uganda has never experienced such unpredictable temperatures adding that those who might be alive 30-50years to come may need fire places in their houses with different architectural plans.

“We are reaping our fruits in regards to our managing the environment. The guiding principle should be, can we nurture nature so that nature can nurture us? We are hiding our heads in the sand blaming the cyclic issues but wherever one comes from, one feature that shows that we have messed up with the environment is how long does it take to find firewood that has come down on its own? In the villages, people worry about everything in the food chain from firewood and it is now worse with hiked prices”, Yawe explained.

He noted that matters of Inclusive Green growth are at the centre of the development agenda today and clearly spelt out in the national development plan and Vision 2040 with many SDGs on this same issue .

In his welcome remarks, the Director, EfD-Mak Centre Prof. Edward Bbaale said the initiative is heavily involved in undertaking research in environmental economics to inform policy in the matter of improving the environment and natural resources.

He said the Inclusive Green Economy is fully funded by Sida and implemented by the EfD-Global hub at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden in collaboration with EfD-Mak centre in case of Uganda but it is also taking place in other Eastern African Countries – Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania is in its year of  implementation.

The program he added, targets senior civil servants and policy makers in the Environment and Natural Resources sector mainly the economists who undergo capacity building on the design and application of policy instrument .

Uganda’s IGE Policy engagement specialist Peter Babyenda said, they are training public servants in the green issues to change their understanding so that they can take care of the environment while undertaking projects and making decisions.

Babyenda said the purpose of the workshop was to discuss how to minimise the effects of three key issues namely; the use of fossil fuels, conversion of forest loss and plastic pollution.

Stakeholders, he said, were given a questionnaire on what they feel about suggested alternatives.

“A study was also conducted last year among a randomly selected population in Uganda’s 10 cities. Today we are discussing which alternatives we can come up with to get a win-win situation, what to tell plastic manufacturers so that they run a business that at the same time protects the environment. For fossil fuels, is it time to start talking of electric motor vehicles?” Babyenda asked.

The survey from the population indicated less acceptance of the policy instruments mainly due to lack of alternatives for fossil fuels, plastics and cooking techniques coupled with the issue of affordability.

These IGE fellows are being training to come up with policies that are inclusive i.e. leave no one behind.

Participants speak out

IGE Fellow, Calysts Bikwasi Ndyomugabi, who is the Principal Economist and Ag. Commissioner from the Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development said,

“We have been looking at the effects of the use of fossil fuels, forest use and plastics and how best we can engage stakeholders in terms of acceptance of policy instruments so that they are regulated to mitigate the current challenges such as climate change arising out of  destruction of environment, sensitization and capacity building gaps to enhance green economy in Uganda and the region.”

Fred Onyai an IGE fellow from the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) noted that although environmental policies exist there is continued forest loss and low acceptance and implementation of policies.

“Greening the economy means we must come up with policies that are inclusive and where every stakeholder plays a role so that there is collective ownership, sustainability and acceptance and evaluation of the policies so that government does not own the process alone.

These policies must enhance environmental conservation vis-à-vis human livelihood and climate resilient because a green policy looks at conserving nature, ecosystem integrity and people must be able to withstand the shocks”, Onyai explained.

Jane Anyango is the Communication Officer, EfD-Mak Centre