Uganda secures Shs113 billion climate finance for cutting deforestation

What the report says

Uganda has secured 113 billion shillings, or about 31 million US dollars, from the Green Climate Fund after verified reductions in deforestation and forest degradation, according to The Independent Uganda. The money was announced at the launch of the Uganda REDD+ Results-Based Payments Project in Kampala and is tied to emissions cuts that were independently measured under UN climate processes.

The report says the payment rewards Uganda for reducing an estimated eight million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions between 2016 and 2017. Environment Minister Beatrice Atim Anywar called it a major milestone, saying it is the first results-based payment project approved by the GCF Board for Uganda, the first of its kind for an African country and the first for a least developed country worldwide.

FAO Representative in Uganda Ezana Casa said the funding reflects years of work on policy, forest inventories, safeguards and technical systems. He said the money has already been received by FAO Uganda, which is the GCF-accredited entity, and will be used with the Ministry of Water and Environment to strengthen forest monitoring, reporting and verification, improve benefit-sharing and support REDD+ activities.

The project is expected to benefit about 21,000 rural households, or roughly 105,000 people, in 17 priority districts in central and eastern Uganda. The article says it will support forest-dependent communities, indigenous people and smallholder farmers, while also promoting climate-smart agriculture and cleaner wood-energy options to reduce pressure on forests.