Melting Nzururu: glacier-related loss and damage in Uganda's Rwenzori Mountains. A Plural Values approach to loss and damage and implications for transformative governance

Sammanfattning

Glacier retreat has cascading effects for mountain communities whose livelihoods and cultural- cosmological beliefs are deeply intertwined with glacier-fed ecosystems. Loss and damage research and governance overly emphasize economic framings rendering intangible losses invisible. This thesis adopts a Plural Values approach to surface lived experiences of glacier-related loss and damage in the Ugandan Rwenzori Mountains. Drawing on semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions, findings reveal 25 diverse relational, instrumental, and intrinsic values at risk, highlighting complex human-glacier interactions such as place-based identities or livelihood dependencies. Considerable variation across socio-economic axes underlines the need for context-sensitive responses, which currently centre on ecosystem restoration, livelihood diversification, and cultural agency, but also reveal an overemphasis on adaptation and mismatches between community and governance perspectives. Discussing implications for transformative governance, the study concludes that responses should address structural drivers of vulnerability such as the region’s colonial legacy, centering strategies around cultural recognition and community ownership.