Local government engagement with climate change adaptation in Uganda

In spite of recent progress at COP 21, international funding for climate change adaptation in Africa is likely to be inadequate. Providing support in a cost effective way is therefore crucial. However, New National Climate Change Policy favors a model of de-concentration where central ministries have decision-making power and control over finance, while the role of rural local governments is reduced to implementing partners. This is argued by DIIS senior researcher Esbern Friis-Hansen together with Ugandan colleagues in DIIS Report 2015:19 titled ‘Local government engagement with climate change adaptation in Uganda’.

The report calls for a mechanism that enables international funding to be channeled directly to the administrative and political levels where climate action takes place. Empirical fieldwork from Uganda suggests that local politics matters for successful adaptation to climate change require direct involvement of stakeholders in priority setting at the sub-county level.