Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) and Kakira Sugar Limited collaborated to plant 2,500 trees in Namakwa-Mukono district on Monday, as part of their initiative to combat climate change.
The tree planting drive aims to address climate change impacts in Uganda, including changing weather patterns, water level fluctuations, and increased frequency of extreme weather events.
Robert Kwesiga, the Secretary General of URCS, emphasized their commitment to planting at least 5 million trees by 2025, linking this effort to the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) agenda.
Kwesiga highlighted Kakira Sugar’s contribution to this goal and noted that tree planting aligns with Sustainable Development Goal 13, emphasizing urgent action against climate change.
“The tree planting drive is in line with SDG 13 which calls for urgent action to combat Climate change and its impacts, linking to all other 16 goals of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, I’m happy that we are part of this initiative,” he asserted.
James Mawa, Horticulture Manager at Kakira Sugar Limited, expressed the company’s dedication to reducing environmental impact through tree planting drives and he shared that Kakira Sugar had already donated 65,000 trees to URCS, with significant plantings in various regions, including Busoga, Elgon, Jinja, and Mukono Namakwa.
Emmanuel Ntale, URCS Manager for Climate Action and Environment, referenced the recently concluded COP28 in Dubai, where commitments like tree planting were discussed as essential steps in mitigating climate change.
Ntale also highlighted the importance of global collaboration to identify solutions for limiting temperature rise.
URCS, with a youth-focused sustainability plan, aims to engage over 70% of its membership in nurturing and caring for the planted trees.
As climate change threats persist, URCS encourages additional partners to join the tree planting initiative, emphasizing the collective responsibility to green Uganda and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change.