Waste Management in Uganda’s Oil and Gas Sector:

Abstract

The discovery of viable quantities of oil and gas deposits in Uganda’s Albertine Graben generated a lot of excitement regarding the potential benefits to accrue from the sector. However, there are concerns regarding Uganda’s preparedness to safeguard the environment ─ through regulation ─ from being destroyed by sector-related activities especially considering the ecological and biodiversity significance of the Albertine Graben. Key among these is the management of wastes that will be generated at the different stages of the sector. Accordingly, this study sought to analyze Uganda’s regulatory framework relating to the management of wastes from the oil and gas sector. Generally, it is noted that a number of positive developments in the regulatory framework for management of oil and gas wastes including: completion of the review of the applicable environmental management laws in order to address oil and gas activities which had hitherto not been covered; enactment of petroleum-specific waste management regulations; development of waste management requirements and standards; development of guidelines for oil and gas operations in protected areas; licensing of oil companies; among others. There are also interventions from non-state actors such as the UN Environment Office which is currently involved in capacity building of key stakeholders in best practices of oil and gas waste management. The analysis concludes that these frameworks largely reflect the best practices of oil and gas waste management, and therefore, to that extent Uganda is ready to sustainably exploit her resource. This is however subject to the country addressing the few identified enduring gaps especially in terms of institutional capacities to enforce these standards.