ABU DHABI: The Speaker of Parliament, Rt. Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, has committed the Parliament of Uganda to work towards ensuring that Uganda accesses renewable and sustainable energy. During the Second International Legislators Forum on Renewable Energy, at St. Regis Resort Hotel in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Friday, 13th January 2017, the Speaker expressed concern that Uganda is not yet part of the International Solar Alliance. She further revealed that Uganda has missed out on US$ 50 million as a country for the ordinary people to access solar power.

While opening the same conference, Dr. Thani Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, the Minister of Climate Change and Environment in the United Arab Emirates said that parliamentarians are key actors in a country’s decision-making process, and have a crucial role to play in setting enabling national frameworks and ensuring they are supported by sufficient funding and sustained by broad public support.

• “Parliaments active involvement is therefore essential to ensure the long-term and effective implementation of national and international objectives,” he said.

  Al Zeyoudi further advised legislators to focus on policies and legislative tools in order to find a solution to effectively finance efforts geared towards renewable energy production.

  The Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda while reacting to efforts by legislatures to change people’s lives through renewable energy exploitation, said that Uganda is still lagging behind since government has not yet made its accession to the Paris Agreement as agreed upon in the 21st Conference of the Parties held in France in 2015.

  She then tasked Hon. Lawrence Biyika (Ora County) and also the Chairperson of the Forum and Hon. Lucy Achiro (Aruu North), who were part of the Speaker’s delegation to the Conference to raise the matter when Parliament resumes so that Government can take action.

• While in France, countries acknowledged the need to promote universal access to sustainable energy in developing countries through the enhanced deployment of renewable energy.

  The Forum had as its main objective to discuss possibilities of attaining the Sustainable Development Goals. It run under the theme – ‘The Role of Legislators in Catalysing Action’.

  During the discussion, after a presentation from Mr. Adnan Amin, the Director-General International Renewable Energy Agency, Hon. Biyika raised the issue of the Green Climate Fund, which is a global fund to have simpler procedures to access money by communities.

  Hon.Biyika (Chair to the Parliamentary Forum on Climate Change) revealed that he is looking at the Renewable Energy Fund as a solution to counter deforestation by both the rural and urban communities, and to increase the use of modern renewable energy from the current 4% to 61% of the total energy consumption in the near future.