SOAS delivers capacity building on the economics of climate change adaptation for the Ugandan government

The Resilience Adaptation Mainstreaming Program (RAMP), a collaboration between the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance and the World Resources Institute, convened a 5-day practitioner training workshop on the economics and finance of climate adaptation in collaboration with faculty from Makerere University in Entebbe, Uganda.

The workshop brought together a diverse group of 35 participants, selected from over 100 applicants, for five days of intensive learning and exchange on a broad range of topics, including issues such as the macrocriticality of climate change, macro modelling and data challenges, climate budgeting and adaptation finance. The workshop was tailored to the needs of officials from Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (MoFPED), the National Planning Authority, and the Bureau of Statistics. The training, led by RAMP’s technical experts and Makerere University faculty, focused on the critical role finance ministries play in crafting effective climate policies.

In his opening remarks, Dr Sam Mugume Koojo, Assistant Commissioner in MoFPED’s Macroeconomic Policy Department and co-organiser of the workshop together with RAMP and its University Network, emphasised the timeliness of practitioner training in key RAMP focal areas: “Empowering government officials with the necessary skills and knowledge now enables us to more effectively manage the economic and financial challenges posed by climate change today and in the future, helping us to safeguard our development gains.” Dr Ulrich Volz, Professor of Economics and Director of the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance, highlighted the importance of such learning opportunities in his opening remarks. 

A team of four SOAS faculty – Professor Ulrich Volz, Dr Harald Heubaum, Dr Jonathan Acosta Smith and Dr Dieter Wang – co-developed and jointly delivered five of the seven topics together with selected Makerere University faculty. This is a fundamental part of the RAMP approach: strengthening and supporting university partners to collectively build long-term capacity in central ministries responsible for financing, planning and implementing suitable macro-level adaptation actions. In addition, three senior MoFPED officials contributed their expertise through interventions focused on macro-modelling, climate-sensitive public investment management assessment, and Uganda’s recent experimentation with adaptation finance instruments.

Through its work, RAMP is helping to mainstream climate adaptation into the core capacities and operations of central ministries, supporting governments to align and effectively pursue their adaptation and development priorities, as well as access adaptation finance. 

This foundations workshop was the first in a series of training workshops offered to civil servants in central ministries in key RAMP partner countries across sub-Saharan Africa. Dr Harald Heubaum, Deputy Director of the SOAS Centre for Sustainable Finance and Academic Deputy Director of the RAMP University Network pointed to RAMP’s next steps in training ministerial officials: “The experience of this first successful foundations workshop helps us refine our offering as we look ahead to running further training for government officials in Rwanda and Kenya later this summer and autumn. The demand for training across all our partner countries remains exceptionally strong and, together with local university faculty we are planning to offer a suite of trainings, both at the foundations level as well as through more focused skills courses.”

After five days of intense training and discussion, MoFPED Under Secretary Dr Edward Sengonzi Damulira praised the cooperation between the Government of Uganda, RAMP and its University Network, and Makerere University and closed the foundations workshop with a call for officials to “pass on your learning and continue to remain engaged in climate adaptation and resilience” as a critical area for the future of the country. At the closing of the workshop, Dr Ssengonzi emphasised Uganda’s commitment to building resilience against climate change, highlighting the government’s ongoing support for such initiatives. He highlighted the importance of building capacity through such specialised courses, empowering local experts and practitioners. Dr Ssengonzi highlighted that the RAMP foundation course aligns with Uganda’s broader climate action strategy, which prioritises adaptation and resilience to safeguard the nation’s economic and environmental future.

Header Image Credit: Simon Wilkes via Unsplash.