Reconciling national and global priorities in adaptation to climate change with an illustration from Uganda

For them, the reduction of such emissions is not a priority, and the more important issue is to find ways to reduce their vulnerability to the projected climate change which is being imposed upon them largely as a result of emissions from developed countries. This national priority does not accord with the ultimate objective of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which is to stabilize greenhouse gas emissions. The present paper reports upon studies in Uganda to develop a national climate change adaptation strategy, and addresses the need to reconcile such a strategy with the global priority accorded to mitigation and with national economic development priorities. Some features of a national climate change adaptation strategy are identified and questions are raised about the need for an international regime to facilitate and support adaptation. (Author abstract)