Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change in Uganda

This briefing note provides an economic assessment of climate change impacts on Uganda's infrastructure, estimating the costs required to improve resilience and the potential financial damages from extreme weather events through 2050.

• The estimated costs to ensure climate-resilient infrastructure in Uganda are US$60-76 million for 2025 and US$347-621 million for 2050. New construction represents 76-80% of these costs, with the remainder attributed to additional maintenance.
• Total costs for infrastructure resilience between 2010 and 2050 vary by climate scenario: approximately US$2.9 billion under the more climate-friendly RCP4.5 scenario and up to US$4.4 billion under the less friendly RCP 8.5 scenario.
• Buildings account for 96% of the costs for improving infrastructure resilience, with residential buildings representing about half of all costs and public buildings accounting for approximately 25%. Transport costs are relatively low due to a projected decline in precipitation.
• Projected damages from extreme events, including loss of life, property damage, and disaster relief, would rise from current levels of US$20-130 million per year to US$234-809 million by 2050 if frequency and intensity do not increase. If the frequency of extreme events doubles every 25 years, damages could reach US$938-3,236 million by 2050, representing 0.1-0.4% of GDP.
• Key adaptation priorities for infrastructure include climate proofing public buildings, developing transport and infrastructure planning standards, and integrating resilient standards into risk assessment guidelines. The government's proposed risk management actions for protecting infrastructure from extreme events cost US$12 million to 2030, which is a small fraction of the estimated damages.

APA

Climate and Development Knowledge Network (n.d.). Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change in Uganda. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Uganda_CC-Economics_Infrastructure-Sector_Briefing-Note.pdf

Chicago

Climate and Development Knowledge Network. Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change in Uganda. n.d. https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Uganda_CC-Economics_Infrastructure-Sector_Briefing-Note.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Climate and Development Knowledge Network |title=Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change in Uganda |url=https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Uganda_CC-Economics_Infrastructure-Sector_Briefing-Note.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{climateanddevelopmentknowledgenetworkndeconomic, author = {{Climate and Development Knowledge Network}}, title = {{Economic Assessment of the Impacts of Climate Change in Uganda}}, institution = {Climate and Development Knowledge Network}, url = {https://cdkn.org/sites/default/files/files/Uganda_CC-Economics_Infrastructure-Sector_Briefing-Note.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }