World urged to unite to Combat Climate

Marking World Environment Day

“Your Country Needs you-Unite to Combat Climate Change”

By Mugambwa Everest Kizito

Uganda joined the rest of the world to commemorate World Environment Day (WED) on June 5, 2009 under the theme “Your Planet Needs You-Unite to Combat Climate Change.”

The venue of the national celebrations was Nazigo LC Primary School, Nazigo Subcounty in Kayunga District.

It is not the first time that we celebrated WED under a climate change-related theme; the more reason we should take climate change more seriously.

In 1989, for instance, Uganda celebrated WED under the theme “Global Warming”; “Climate Change” in 1991, “Protect Dry lands against Desertification” in 2006, “Global Warming Is Real: Green Your Environment, Plant More Trees” in 2007, “Save Energy For Better Livelihood” in 2008 and “Your Country Needs You - Unite to Combat Climate Change” this year.

Similarly, on September 27, 2008, World Tourism Day (WTD) was celebrated under the theme “Tourism responding to the Challenge of Climate Change and Global Warming”

This is evidence enough that climate change and global warming are real. Currently climate change issues have become a hot topic worldwide. Here in Uganda, from August to November 2007, the country suddenly experienced very heavy rains. These were locally christened ‘Teso floods’ as the Teso region in eastern Uganda was the most affected.

Issues of Climate Change were also top on the agenda during the Commonwealth Heads of Government M e e t i n g (CHOGM) hosted by Uganda in November 2007. The would-be political meeting turned out environmental when climate change dominated the discussions. A few days after, the United Nations members gathered in Bali, Indonesia to work towards a new global treaty on Climate Change.

During the meeting, the US and Canada teamed up to undermine the talks. However, in the final hours of the summit, Canada backed down completely and allowed Kyoto Contracting Parties to agree on strong 2020 targets on carbon emissions. This paved the way for the summit to agree to sign a new global Climate Change treaty by 2009.

It is not by coincidence that climate change is highly regarded by the United Nations, Uganda inclusive, and recognized in a number of ways nowadays. This is because it is real and its effects are better off prevented than reacted to after they have been let to happen.

According to Prof. Steven G. Njuguna, Dean, School of Environmental Studies at Kenyatta University, Makalia Falls in Nakuru National Park completely dried up within a period of one year.

Now that we have drained all the wetlands, cleared our forests and turned all the river banks and lake shores into gardens and residential plots, such a situation is not very far away from Uganda.

Global warming is mainly as a result of both natural and human activities that produce greenhouse gases which accumulate in the atmosphere. These gases form a blanket-like layer which allows incoming short-wave light rays from the sun yet stops the long-wave heat rays from escaping back to space. This process leads to increased temperatures in the atmosphere; a process that has acquired

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