CoM SSA activities kick-off in Uganda

From 14^th to 18^th February 2022, Kampala and Kasese authorities officially kicked off their CoM SSA climate action activities with Expertise France

As part of the Covenant of Mayors for Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA) and the implementation of the Sustainable Energy Access and Climate Action Plan (SEACAP), the signatory cities of Kampala and Kasese have officially kicked-off their activities with the aim of taking tangible climate action in planning and implementing projects. During the launch, local officials and technical staff welcomed the Expertise France delegation from the Sustainable Development Department.

Both mayors expressed their willingness to continue implementing climate actions in their cities and thanked CoM SSA, the European Union, and Expertise France for the support given to their local governments.

Local governments hold the key to delivering lasting climate action

Erias Lukwago, Mayor of Kampala, expressed his support for the city's climate actions, and reiterated his thanks for the support offered to the city for several years in its fight against climate change and air pollution. As part of this collaboration with CoM SSA, Kampala will conduct an evaluation of its climate plan, developed 5 years ago. “The Air Quality Management, covered in this project will play an important role in informing citizens as well as drawing attention of policy makers on the topic.” The Mayor also stressed the need to train and sensitise councillors and all elected officials on climate matters. 

Chance Kahindo Sibyabugha, Mayor of Kasese, in signing the partnership agreement, expressed his city's enthusiasm to launch the activities and reiterated Kasese's commitment to implement the actions of the climate plan. CoM SSA will support Kasese in the development of technical studies on wetlands, urban forestry and urban green spaces, as well as an energy audit project of the municipality. Kasese will also be supported in developing a communicative version of their climate action plan that will provide the city with a powerful communication tool to present their plan to different stakeholders for a variety of purposes, such as to potential financiers to fund their projects, to ministries and politicians to receive their support at the national level, to the international development community to create alliances, and to communicate and engage its citizens.

These two cities have a proud history of developing climate action plans, which indicates their strong commitment to climate and energy issues. David Luyimbazi, Deputy Executive Director of the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) and Tibihika Theophilus, Town Clerk of Kasese Municipal Council, have been and will continue to be two relevant allies in this new stage of cooperation with CoM SSA.

The mobilisation of the two local authorities and their partners during this mission bodes well for the success of this project.