Search Climate Insights Directory

The research paper examines the 'fintech revolution' in Africa, focusing on how mobile money services like M-Pesa have allowed the continent to bypass traditional banking infrastructure. It details the economic impacts of digital finance, including poverty reduction and GDP growth in sub-Saharan Africa, while noting remaining challenges in cross-border payments and regulatory oversight.

The report finds that while the percentage of Africans living in extreme poverty has declined since the 1990s, the absolute number of poor people continues to rise due to rapid population growth. Africa is projected to miss the 2030 SDG goal of eliminating extreme poverty, with several countries likely to maintain poverty rates above 50% by that date. The document attributes these challenges to high inequality, over-reliance on natural resources, and bad governance, noting that Sub-Saharan Africa carries the largest global burden of extreme poverty.

Uganda has developed a Just Transition Framework (JTF) to ensure that structural economic changes toward sustainability do not marginalize vulnerable groups, particularly informal workers and smallholder farmers. The framework is integrated into national planning cycles, including the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV), and emphasizes distributive, procedural, and restorative justice. While Uganda has established multi-stakeholder coordination and project screening tools, it faces significant barriers such as a lack of a national resettlement policy, high labor market informality (over 80%), and severe data gaps. The document calls for international grant-based support for labor economy modeling, the creation of a national resettlement policy, and programmatic finance for re-skilling and livelihood restoration.

The report advocates for the scaling of farmer field schools (FFS) in Uganda to address gaps in the national agricultural extension system and improve the water-energy-food (WEF) nexus. Based on a 2023 collaborative learning school (CLS) in the Buikwe District, the document argues that FFS can empower farmers through hands-on experimentation and social cohesion, reducing the burden on overstretched government resources. It identifies key barriers such as trust deficits and uneven geographic distribution, and recommends integrating FFS into national policy through university partnerships and financial incentives.

The Alliance for Rural Electrification's 'Renewables for Impact' campaign showcases the role of distributed renewable energy (DRE) in Sub-Saharan Africa through a photo contest and impact stories. The campaign highlights projects supported by Team Europe that contribute to Sustainable Development Goals 7, 8, and 12, focusing on productive use, women's empowerment, industrial power, manufacturing, and green job creation. Specific examples include hydro-powered irrigation in Malawi, solar cooling for herbal farms in Kenya, solar-powered water infrastructure in Mali, mini-grids in Senegal, and mini-grid construction in Benin.

The paper examines the 'co-impacts'—both intended and unintended, positive and negative—of urban climate policies. It argues that current literature and city plans overemphasize positive co-benefits (such as improved air quality and health) while neglecting adverse effects and equity considerations. The authors propose a 'people, planet, and profit' framework to categorize these impacts across various urban strategies, including building retrofits, circular economy initiatives, and transport shifts, to help cities avoid policy backlash and ensure a just transition.

The report argues that Africa must transition from a principled but often fragmented approach to a pragmatic diplomatic strategy to avoid becoming a 'rule-taker' in a fracturing multilateral system. It identifies critical weaknesses in African coordination, specifically within the A3+ bloc and the African Union's (AU) financial sustainability, and proposes concrete reforms for UN Security Council (UNSC) representation, peace and security financing, and the professionalization of diplomatic missions through think-tank partnerships.

The document examines the role of 'civic humanitarians'—local actors embedded in society through faith, community, or ethnic ties—within Uganda's refugee response. It argues that while Uganda's progressive policies facilitate refugee-led organisations (RLOs), the localisation agenda is hindered by stringent national registration requirements and narrow, techno-managerial definitions of accountability. The authors highlight that refugees rely heavily on sociocultural support practices (such as 'saidu' and 'ubuntu' philosophy) that remain invisible in formal humanitarian debates. To improve localisation, the brief recommends creating separate registration tracks for RLOs, developing flexible funding mechanisms, and broadening the understanding of accountability to include community-driven and relational models.

The SEI Urban Toolbox for Liveable Cities is a living digital resource hosted on the weADAPT platform, designed to gather SEI-developed tools for city officials, residents, and community groups. Developed through a four-phase co-design process involving internal reviews and workshops with stakeholders in Thailand, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, and Colombia, the toolbox focuses on improving environmental conditions, health, and well-being. Key findings from stakeholder workshops emphasized a strong demand for tools that foster citizen science, participatory mapping, and open data access to inform decision-making. The toolbox organizes resources into four main domains: residents' wellbeing, neighbourhood conditions, environmental quality and ecosystem services, and cross-cutting issues.

The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) issued a statement honoring the life and career of Ciata Bishop, an international trade and investment lawyer and former Liberian government official. Bishop served as an advisor to IISD, contributing her expertise to the development of a model contract for responsible investment in agriculture and conducting workshops for government officials on contract farming and international investment agreements. Her work focused on ensuring that agricultural investments are conducted sustainably and with the involvement of affected communities.

The 'Clean Cities for Clean Lake Victoria' project aims to mitigate climate change impacts in Uganda by reducing industrial and municipal emissions and restoring riparian ecosystems. With a requested grant of USD 10 million, the project targets a mitigation impact of 700,000 tCO2eq and intends to benefit 35,000 people. Key interventions include promoting cleaner production technologies in industries, restoring 400 hectares of wetlands and forests, and establishing national and regional water quality laboratories to support NDC reporting. The project focuses on the northern catchment of Lake Victoria, specifically targeting Kampala, Jinja, Entebbe, Busia, and Kyotera.

The document examines the process and impact of an economic study in Uganda that found the cost of inaction on climate change to be 20–24 times higher than the cost of adaptation. This evidence facilitated the integration of climate change into national development plans (NDP II and NDP III), the elevation of the Climate Change Unit to a Department, and the passage of the National Climate Change Act 2021. Key success factors included continuous engagement with high-level leadership, an in-country presence, and the use of layered communication products like documentary films. However, challenges remain in sub-national implementation and the lack of dedicated climate budget lines in the national budgeting system.

The document profiles Esther Mirembe and the Namungona Women Empowerment Initiative, a savings group in a Kampala informal settlement. It details how the group provides pro-poor loans to women, converts waste from blocked drains into charcoal, and diversified into soap and mask production during the COVID-19 pandemic. The case study highlights the role of the National Slum Dwellers Federation of Uganda and Slum Dwellers International in promoting locally-led adaptation and resilience against climate change and disasters.

The report finds that while identification and mobile money access for refugees in Uganda improved significantly due to policy changes, formal financial service adoption remains hindered by high transaction costs and long travel distances to agents. Refugees rely heavily on non-employment income and informal savings groups (ASCAs and ROSCAs), with a notable increase in cash kept at home for health emergencies. The COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately reduced refugee incomes and increased expenditures, particularly for food and medicine. The report recommends expanding branchless banking, improving digital and financial literacy, and introducing microinsurance and sustainable energy solutions to enhance refugee financial health.

The FI4R endline survey reveals that non-employment income remains the primary source of funds for refugees in Uganda, though there has been an increase in the use of mobile money, savings groups, and cash held at home. The report highlights the role of implementing partners like Equity Bank Uganda Limited, VisionFund Uganda, and the Rural Finance Initiative in providing bank accounts, wholesale credit models, and digitized savings tools to refugees and host communities.

The document details how East Africa has experienced warming exceeding the global average, leading to increased drought frequency, glacier loss, and significant economic losses. Future projections indicate severe risks to human health, food security, and biodiversity, particularly if warming exceeds 1.5°C. It emphasizes the need for transformative adaptation, increased climate finance, and improved climate services to build regional resilience.

The report examines the role of informal waste reclaimers in African cities, highlighting their significant contribution to recycling and waste diversion despite facing severe health risks, social marginalization, and low pay. It argues that the current linear 'take-make-waste' model is unsustainable and that an 'inclusive circular economy' must integrate these vulnerable workers into formal policy and value chains. The document provides a comparative analysis of the informal waste sector in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda, detailing specific policy gaps and opportunities for reclaimer integration and formalization.

The document argues that transport is a critical driver of development but a major source of emissions, accounting for 23% of energy-related CO2. It defines sustainable transport as safe, affordable, and efficient mobility that minimizes environmental impacts. The report details the evolution of international policy from the 1972 Stockholm Conference to the Sustainable Development Goals, and provides examples of successful interventions, such as Jakarta's BRT system and various cities' shifts toward active mobility (cycling and walking). It specifically notes the COVID-19 pandemic as a catalyst for structural changes in urban transit, though it warns that 30 major economies continue to provide significant subsidies to fossil fuels over clean energy.

The report examines gender inequality in the urban public transport sectors of Nairobi, Kampala, and Dar es Salaam, finding that transport systems are generally designed for young, fit men and fail to address the specific mobility needs, safety concerns, and employment barriers faced by women. While national constitutions and gender policies in Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya provide a foundation for equality, specific transport policies often generalize users and lack explicit gender-responsive measures. The study highlights significant risks of sexual harassment and assault, the underrepresentation of women as drivers and operators due to social stigma and structural barriers, and a lack of gender-disaggregated data to inform policy. It suggests that the introduction of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems and the rise of online taxi-hailing services present opportunities to integrate gender-sensitive infrastructure and flexible employment for women.

The report argues that a significant 'urban services divide' exists in the global South, where over 1.2 billion people lack reliable access to housing, water, sanitation, energy, and transport. This divide creates a cycle of poverty and environmental degradation. To break this cycle, the authors propose seven transformations: prioritizing the vulnerable in infrastructure design, partnering with alternative service providers, improving local data through community engagement, supporting informal workers, innovating financing and subsidies, promoting transparent land management, and creating diverse governance coalitions. The report emphasizes that these shifts can yield cascading economic and environmental benefits, including reduced GHG emissions and improved public health.