In Conversation with Mr. David L. Kalyango (Executive Director Supervision and Regulation, Bank of Uganda)

1. When and why did your institution join the NGFS?

Bank of Uganda became a plenary member of the NGFS in March 2023. Bank of Uganda's motivation to join the NGFS was based on three factors.

1. Bank of Uganda Climate Change risk Policy (CCrP), 2022, aimed at integrating climate risks into the Bank of Uganda mandate, particularly the integration of Climate change risks in the design and deployment of its Supervisory, Micro prudential, macroprudential and monetary tools and implementation frameworks. Joining the NGFS was therefore to leverage technical support and like-minded collaboration within the network that we deem essential to the successful integration of Climate change risk analysis. 
2. After reviewing the various ongoing workstreams under NGFS, in particular those related to Supervision, Monetary Policy and Scenario Analysis; it was immediately apparent that these were all directly related and linked to key components of our Climate Change risk policy. Therefore, we sought the breadth of expertise and experience within the NGFS to provide guidance in our journey of integrating and implementing Climate-related risks in our analyses and knowledge sharing with other NGFS members.
3. One of the objectives of NGFS is to enhance the role of the financial system in managing risks and mobilizing capital for green and low-carbon investments in the broader context of environmentally sustainable development. Owing to Uganda’s green recovery plan coupled with the National Development Plan that emphasize greening of the economy, and as the Central Bank with a critical role of providing guidance to the Ugandan financial sector on green finance and the adoption of appropriate green supervisory policy tools; we deemed having access to the knowledge store on green finance amongst the NGFS membership, as a key enabler in our agenda.

2. Can you share with us the key elements of the Bank of Uganda’s climate strategy and  how it fits into the broader national strategy in your jurisdiction?

To integrate climate risks within its mandate, the Bank of Uganda Climate Change Risk Policy focused on five key areas: integrating risks from climate change into the BOU macro-prudential and Risk Based Supervision; Integrating climate change related risks within the Monetary Policy Framework; adopting sustainability factors in the BOU portfolio management from a climate change risk management perspective; addressing the data gaps for climate change risk related analyses; and developing in-house capabilities to better understand and model climate change’s impact on the economy.

At a broader sustainability level, the Bank has integrated sustainability into its Strategic Plan 2022-27 and operations, with various policies across its broad functions such as the Bank’s Project Management Policy, Procurement and Disposal Operations Manual, Human resources related policies, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) incorporating ESG and broader sustainability elements. This is in addition to aligning the supervised banking sector with the global sustainability standards through among others - the implementation of an Industry ESG Framework for the Banking sector and the issuance of Guidelines for the Management of Climate-related Financial Risks, 2025 to the industry.

The Bank of Uganda Climate change and broad Sustainability agenda is well aligned to the National agenda espoused in the National Development Plan IV (2025-2030) which prioritises the integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation across all sectors of our economy including the financial sector, mainstreaming climate change into national and sectoral policies so as to promote a low-carbon development pathway for Uganda. Indeed, the Bank of Uganda has been a key pillar in the development of the key national frameworks such as the National Climate Finance Strategy and the National Green Taxonomy, which coupled with other efforts to broadening and deepening of Uganda’s financial markets through the design of a national green bond framework should support the economy’s green transition, facilitate access to global green flows and build sustainable resilience for Uganda’s economy.

3. To which extent did the Bank of Uganda leverage the work of the NGFS in its own domestic journey? Any concrete examples?

In developing the Guidelines for the Management of Climate-related financial risks for the Supervised Financial Institutions that were issued to the industry in October 2025, Bank of Uganda referenced the NGFS technical documents especially with regard to transition planning.  

Bank of Uganda Climate Change risk Policy (CCrP), 2022, was also derived from the NGFS workstreams, literature and direction. Bank of Uganda has also undertaken some training on macroprudential climate risk stressing with IMF and intends to leverage the NGFS scenarios in the development of scenarios adapted to the Ugandan economy. Overall, the various NGFS discussions and work stream activities have benefited the Bank of Uganda in terms of knowledge and pool of tools to advance our climate risk integration agenda.

4. One last word?

There is need for deepening capacity building and collaboration on greening the financial system in Uganda, with a focus on regulatory reporting and disclosures on climate related financial risks aligned with Uganda’s National Green Taxonomy, that was rolled out in September 2025. In addition, the development of climate risk data directories to provide a single point of reference for supervised financial institutions in embedding climate related financial risks in their risk management methodologies is another key area for gainful collaboration with the NGFS.

As such, the NGFS as a knowledge, best practice and collaborative hub remains a crucial pillar in advancing our climate risk integration and broad sustainability agenda that is purposed to enhance financial system resilience and support the transition to a green and sustainable high-growth Ugandan economy.