SA cities join hands for sustainable future

London – Leaders of some of the world’s biggest cities, including Johannesburg and Tshwane, vowed yesterday to make all city buildings carbon neutral by 2050, ensuring they make no contribution to climate change.

From London to Tokyo, 19 mayors said they would put in place regulations requiring all new buildings to be carbon neutral by 2030 and all existing ones to reach the same goal by 2050.

New York mayor Bill de Blasio said: “Climate change poses an existential threat to New York City and making our buildings more sustainable and efficient is a key part of the solution.”

Houses, offices and other buildings account for more than half of all planet-warming gasses emitted by urban areas, according to C40 Cities, a network of cities pushing climate action that shepherded the latest commitment. In London, Los Angeles and Paris, the share is as high as 70% of all greenhouse emissions, it said.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said: “Paris is home to some of the world’s most beautiful and iconic buildings ... we recognise our responsibility to ensure every building, whether historic or brand new, helps deliver a sustainable future.”

Experts said the target was feasible, but that more cities would have to follow suit if the world was to achieve the Paris climate goals.

The 2015 Paris Agreement set a goal of limiting a rise in average world surface temperatures to “well below” 2oC above preindustrial times, while “pursuing ef- forts” to limit rising temperatures to 1.5oC.

“The biggest challenge is ensuring that developers avoid cutting corners to save relatively small amounts in construction today, by passing retrofit costs onto future owners,” Eric Lounsbury, director of environmental consultancy Carbon Trust, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.

“To achieve the ambitions of the Paris Agreement, we will need all buildings to be net zero emissions by the middle of this century.”

Buildings that are net carbon neutral are powered by renewable sources and consume little energy, typically using LED lights, winter insulation and roof-top solar panels.

Helen Clarkson of the Climate Group said: “Buildings are a large contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, so to meet reductions set out in the Paris Agreement, it’s critical we tackle this problem.”

The pledge was signed by London, Copenhagen, Johannesburg, Los Angeles, Montreal, New York City, Newburyport, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Monica, Paris, Stockholm, Sydney, Tokyo, Toronto, Tshwane, Vancouver, and Washington DC.