Cities can and must take the lead in fighting climate change

3 December 2015

Climate change is a global challenge that will require an unprecedented level of international cooperation to prevent the planet from warming more than 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

The 2 degree-level is what global scientists have calculated to be the point at which a dangerous destabilisation of the earth’s climate system will really start to be felt.

The projected impacts range from extreme weather events to an increase in vector-borne diseases and devastating impacts on biodiversity and the world’s food production system.

These impacts will differ across the globe, with many of the poorer countries tragically suffering the most from a problem that they had the smallest role in creating.

It is therefore vitally important that an agreement is struck in Paris at COP21 that gives the world a sense of hope that this issue is finally being addressed and given the global political priority it deserves.

The overall ambition for COP21 was in fact set at COP17 in Durban, where it was agreed that a global treaty would be agreed upon by 2015, with all countries of the world having to make ‘intended nationally determined commitments’ (INDCs) based on their specific conditions and abilities.

Unfortunately, the emission reduction commitments which have so far been communicated will not be enough to keep us below the 2 degree-warming level and could in fact put the world on a 3 degree-warming trajectory. This is quite simply an outcome we cannot accept.

At the moment there is a carbon emissions gap of 12 to 14 gigatonnes of what science requires and what the different nation states of the world are putting on the table.

The question that begs to be asked is how this gap can be closed if national governments are not prepared to do it.

The City of Cape Town believes that tackling climate change is too much of an important issue to be left solely in the domain of international negotiations.

A global climate change agreement that sets legally enforceable emission reduction targets in line with what science requires would certainly be a good first step, but it is at the local level where real action can be driven on this issue and cities need to be empowered to do so.

Already progress is being made in Cape Town in that we have seen our electricity usage decrease in the city as a whole from its 2007 level, while still enjoying economic growth of over 3%.

Interestingly, it is projected that the greatest growth in emissions will come from our transport sector over the next 25 years and tackling this will require, among other things, changes in our urban form, coupled with major interventions to increase vehicle occupancy, ensure more efficient vehicles and increase public transport usage.

The City’s Energy 2040 Strategy, which sets carbon targets, has been adopted by Council.

This makes Cape Town one of the first cities in the world to adopt carbon targets, but making sure we now reach them will require a major effort from all stakeholders.

On the electricity front, Cape Town is determined to move ahead with procuring power from renewable energy independent power producers so that we can reach our target of sourcing at least 10% of our energy from renewable sources by 2020.

We have initiated discussions with the National Department of Energy as cities in South Africa currently have to obtain permission if they wish to procure power from any other entity besides the State electricity utility, Eskom.

This kind of monopoly control of our national energy system needs to be reformed if South African cities are to play a more meaningful role in securing their own clean energy future.

A potentially huge source of untapped energy is also staring at us from the rooftops of Cape Town which can accommodate both solar water heaters and photovoltaic (PV) systems.

Households and businesses which generate renewable energy through rooftop PV panels are now able to feed excess electricity back into the City’s grid, allowing us to diversify our energy supply.

Our ultimate goal is to see all residents generate renewable energy.

We have already seen an uptake of these solutions in Cape Town, but we are currently considering ways in which it can be made easier and cheaper for households and businesses to implement these solutions on a wider scale.

The assistance of the National Government in these endeavours would be welcomed and we look forward to finally receiving the long-awaited guidelines on small-scale embedded generation from the Department of Energy, along with clarity over its national solar water heater programme.

The City of Cape Town is also preparing to roll out more energy efficiency solutions aimed at low-income households, such as our ceilings retrofit programme that has improved energy usage, improved the health conditions of poor households, and reduced our carbon emissions.

We are committed to doing everything in our power to ensure that we live up to our global responsibility in tackling climate change.

Our vision is to grow Cape Town into the green economy hub of Africa, where the ideas and the technologies for both mitigating and adapting to climate change can be generated.

We trust that the residents of Cape Town will become active partners in all our endeavours.

Issued by Zara Nicholson, Spokesperson for the Executive Mayor – Patricia de Lille, City of Cape Town, 3 December 2015