Uganda President: West's greed to blame for climate change

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has blamed the increased emission of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide on Europeans’ greed to make quick money.

The President made the remarks at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala while closing a three-day Inter-Ministerial Conference on Migration, Environment and Climate Change on Friday. The conference was organised by the Ministry of Water and Environment, supported by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) regional office for East Africa and Horn of Africa, and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and East Africa’s Development Bank Regional Collaboration Centre based in Uganda.

“We (Ugandans) can give testimony to the dangers of mismanaging the environment, but there is the global mismanagement by those [Europeans] who are emitting greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide,” Mr Museveni said, adding that carbon dioxide, “when used well… can be captured by plants and plants use it to manufacture food.”

According to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), an annual average of 21.5 million people are forcefully displaced by weather-related events such as floods, storms, wildfires and extreme temperatures.

“These extreme temperatures have recently been cooking Europeans. Temperatures in London (UK), some parts of the US and Spain have reached 41 degrees centigrade. We have never had 41 degrees Celsius in Uganda like Europeans. People who do not listen cause a lot of problems for everybody, including themselves,” Museveni added.

Many African countries rely heavily on natural resources. The changing climate patterns have , however, precipitated threats in agriculture, health, water supply, hydropower production, road infrastructure and housing.