The 2024 edition of the National State of the Environment report highlights Uganda’s natural resource base and how it is under increasing pressure from rapid population growth, agricultural expansion, urbanization, and climate change. Forest cover continues to decline while wetlands are being degraded and converted for farming and construction. These changes are weakening the country’s ecological systems, reducing biodiversity, and diminishing the ecosystem services that sustain livelihoods, agriculture, and hydropower generation.

Climate change impacts are becoming more pronounced, with more frequent droughts, floods, rising temperatures, and variable rainfall patterns affecting water security and agricultural productivity. Uganda’s economy, which depends heavily on rain-fed agriculture, remains highly vulnerable. At the same time, waste management challenges are contributing to air and water pollution. These environmental and climate stresses disproportionately affect rural communities and poorer households, increasing livelihood risks and reducing resilience to shocks.

The report notes that Uganda has developed strong policy and institutional frameworks for environmental management, but enforcement and implementation remain limited due to inadequate financing, weak coordination and insufficient monitoring capacity. To safeguard environmental stability and support long-term development, the report recommends scaling up climate adaptation efforts, restoring degraded ecosystems, strengthening land use planning, improving urban waste and pollution control, and increasing funding for environment and natural resource management. Effective action will require collaboration between government, local communities, civil society and private sector.

https://www.undp.org/uganda/publications/national-state-environment-report-2024