By Adolf for Laudato Voices.
As the world prepares for COP30, the conversation around climate action is shifting. No longer is it enough for corporations to simply offset their carbon footprints with token tree-planting campaigns or distant carbon credits. The call now is for deeper engagement, where businesses integrate climate justice, community impact, and ecological integrity into their core operations. When I wrote about Cop29 last year the idea was
“The international response to the climate crisis needs to bridge the gap between Cop summits and the experience of those who face its consequences. It must ignite hope for a climate-resilient generation” Read full article
My approach to climate action is deeply rooted in faith, guided by a moral responsibility to ignite hope among young people. I believe in empowering youth to lead, exploring science and innovation for sustainable living, and investing in mentorship to cultivate a generation of future-ready leaders—what I call Stewards of the Future that are poused to define the new pathways to sustainable living. This is a mindset shift and a global reality that also resonates with Uganda’s local realities. With rising temperatures, deforestation, and a youth population disproportionately affected by climate disruption, the time has come to rethink corporate climate action within a distinctly Ugandan context.
This vision is especially critical in Uganda, where a rapidly growing youth population faces the mounting realities climate Change. The future of our Country depends on how we act today and how we equip the next generation as (Stewards of the future) to adopt the mindset shift, lead with courage, and conviction, to be the change they want to see in future but also be part of the decisions that will shape their preferred future. This is not only true for Uganda or Africa, but for the world at large, as the global climate crisis demands localized, value-driven leadership.
Corporate Offsetting in Perspective: Not Just Numbers, but Impact
Internationally, many corporations rely on carbon credits to offset emissions, investing in reforestation or renewable energy projects, often in the Global South. But as highlighted by The Nature Conservancy, the real question isn’t whether credits exist, but whether they are credible, effective, and equitable.
In Uganda, this means ensuring that projects funded through carbon markets don’t just serve to cleanse corporate consciences abroad but actually empower young people and local communities, improve biodiversity, and create green initiatives in institutions to build a culture living sustainable life styles, giving more attention to green jobs and training eco ambassadors in institutions and putting more empahisis on innovating for Agriculture.
The Laudato Youth Initiative Standpoint: God, People and Planet First
At the heart of Uganda’s environmental grassroots response is the Laudato Youth Initiative (LYI). Grounded in the spirit of Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’—a call to care for our common home, the catholic social teachings, SDG13 while reflecting on Uganda’s environmental laws LYI provides a critical lens on how climate action must be rooted in faith, community values, climate justice, and long-term sustainability action programs that go beyond a one time good action towards the environment. For instance
“Tree planting is not a checkbox exercise. It must be timed, grown, documented, and owned by communities,” – Adolf.
We see many people desiring to plant trees and actually planting trees but how many to we see watering the seed to its maturity and how many trees can i count to planted and cared for them to grow in a year. Thats why I often challenge my Laudato Youth leaders that its not enough to just plant trees. More can be done, and now I want to challenges corporations to go beyond “greenwashing” and instead invest in local resilience, through supporting youth based initiatives as a way of investing for the future, financing agroforestry training, and creating opportunities for young people to become environmental leaders in their own right.
A Missed Opportunity or a Transformational Moment?
As we listened to the reading of the our Country’s budget. Uganda’s 2025/2026 budget has allocated a record amount of funding toward tourism and environmental preservation—an opportunity for both the government and private sector players to align tourism development with conservation. But this must be done right because restoring Uganda’s 2.4 million hectares of degraded forest (NFA, 2024) is not just an environmental imperative—it is an economic one. Forests contribute to 3.5% of Uganda’s GDP and power 88% of household energy needs. They are central to agriculture, water regulation, tourism, and even disease prevention, given that one in three emerging infectious diseases are linked to deforestation (UNEP, 2020).
The Path Forward: From Offsets to On-the-Ground Action
The Laudato Youth Initiative urges a recalibration of corporate climate responsibility where we need to:
- Support local-led solutions: Invest in community nurseries, agroecology, and reforestation projects that are youth-led and community-owned.
- Integrate transparency: Document, monitor, and publicly share the real environmental and social impact of your offsets.
- Focus on education and long-term impact: Work with Schools, Universities, Churches to build a generation of climate-literate citizens who not only plant trees but also protect them. Think locally and acting globally reflecting not only on tree planting as a solution but also exploring the many other diemensions of climate change and possible solutions in their means.
Toward an Equitable Carbon Economy
Uganda doesn’t need charity—it needs climate partnerships rooted in climate justice. As COP30 nears, local and international corporate actors must look beyond numbers and PR, and instead co-create climate solutions with those on the frontlines of the crisis. In the words of Pope Francis:
“Everything is connected. Concern for the environment thus needs to be joined to a sincere love for our fellow human beings.” — Laudato Si’ #91
The future is not just carbon neutral—it is people-centered, locally grounded, and globally accountable. Pope Leo XIV has emphasized the urgency of climate action and the need for climate justice, stating that the damage to creation undermines the well-being of all people. He has called for a move “from words to action” on environmental issues emphasising the involvement institutions of learning by acknowledging universities’ efforts to reflect on
“a possible reconciliation between public debt and ecological debt” – a theme recently highlighted in the message released for World Day of Peace. Read his full message.
References
- The Nature Conservancy. (2024). How corporations are using carbon credits responsibly.
- United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). (2020). Preventing the Next Pandemic.
- National Forestry Authority (NFA), Uganda. (2024). Uganda Forestry Sector Report.
- Uganda Budget Speech 2025/2026 – Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development.
