An examination of Uganda’s compliance with the United Nations framework convention on climate change and the Paris Agreement on climate change: a case study of the forest sector

Abstract

This study examined Uganda’s compliance with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement through the lens of the forest sector. The main objective was to determine the extent to which Uganda’s legal framework institutions and monitoring systems achieved outcomes that were consistent with its climate commitments. The central research question asked whether Uganda’s laws practice and measurement systems delivered verifiable reductions in forest emissions and credible protection and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. The methodology relied on doctrinal analysis of international and domestic instruments and a focused evaluation of mandates and measurement reporting and verification arrangements that affected forests. The findings showed that compliance was only partial because cross-sector coordination at the land agriculture and forestry interface remained weak and because current monitoring did not fully capture degradation and leakage. The analysis further revealed that implementation relied heavily on administrative discretion with few binding and time bound benchmarks and that local governments faced persistent capacity and financing gaps that blunted enforcement and community participation. The dissertation recommended amendments that embedded forest carbon metrics and primacy rules across land use statutes adopted transparency regulations that assigned clear data duties and deadlines with meaningful consequences guaranteed minimum service standards and predictable funding for district implementation and scaled community centred incentives such as fair benefit sharing and restoration bonds. These measures would have converted formal alignment into outcomes that were verifiable durable and consistent with Uganda’s nationally determined contribution.