Kampala — Uganda's temperature is projected to rise 1.5 degrees in the next 20 years, which means its impact will be felt in most people's lifetime.

According to a report released this week, this will lead to disasters ranging from severe storms, floods, prolonged drought and the increase of diseases and pests. It will particularly hit agriculture, which makes up the livelihood of 75% of the population. The report predicts that Uganda will lose up to a quarter of its agricultural productivity.

Equally worrying is that Uganda's population grows by 3.3% per year while annual food production only grows by 1.5%. As a result, food prices will continue to go up, and the poor will continue to suffer. Already, about 40% of deaths among Ugandan children are due to malnutrition.

As the Commonwealth is debating climate change ahead of the Copenhagen conference, leaders should move away from the blame game and look at coordinated action. After all, even if industrialised countries halted all carbon emissions immediately, business-as-usual in the developing world would continue to cause global warming, said the Africa Progress Panel.

Uganda needs to take environmental regulations much more seriously. It needs to act tougher on illegal timber loggers and encroachers, and vigorously enforce tree planting. Both the Government and donors should give incentives for research and development of affordable, clean energy projects such as solar power.

The population growth needs to be checked, not only by educating people but also by making contraceptives available to the poor. And new technologies, such as satellite farming and seasonal forecasting, should be shared with developing countries instead of being protected by patents.