Change is in the air, towards a more resilient Joburg
REEN technologies deserve far more attention for future development. At the current rate at which we use natural resources through consumption and the generation of waste in the urban environment, we will soon need another planet.
In Joburg, we are introducing a number of far-reaching interventions in urban planning and design, to build resilience and improve our ability to adapt to climate change.
To accelerate the search for new strategies, the city hosts next month the 2014 C40 Cities Mayors Summit.
The summit, under the auspices of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and the Clinton Climate Initiative Cities Program, brings together mayors and decision-makers from across the world, to advance urban solutions to climate concerns. Led by New York City’s 108th mayor and current chair of C40, Michael Bloomberg, and myself, the summit will be hosted for the first time on African soil, and Joburg is proud to be the venue for such a prestigious event.
The ceremonial handover of the chair to mayor Eduardo Paes from Rio De Janeiro will also take place during the summit.
At the summit, we will assess the city’s ability to better respond and adapt to the economic, social, and physical stresses it will face, as the people of Joburg are confronted with choices to respond to the challenges of increasing thunderstorms,
Gflooding, energy scarcity and population growth resulting from in-migration. The city recently developed a Growth and Development Strategy through intense consultation with all stakeholders. We jointly agreed on a new vision for our city, built on three key concepts: resilience, sustainability and a liveable urban city.
A resilient city is one that is able to continually change and adapt, yet remain within sustainable thresholds of existence regarding energy resources, food security and human settlements, even when confronted with complexity and uncertainty.
For us in Joburg, “resilient” means to be proactive in responding to changing climatic conditions that affect the vulnerable people of the city the most. We prioritise the relocation of people from flood- prone areas and promote urban agriculture in the form of food gardens and the planting of fruit trees.
Through transit-oriented development, we intend to change the urban landscape, promote the use of more sustainable forms of public transport and encourage economic growth along corridors and nodes.
Our Corridors of Freedom will enable people to live, work and play within the same area, thus eliminating the need for energy-consuming private transport.
The city is actively engaged in climate change measurement and planning, the use of renewable energy, promoting the
Climate summit will explore ways cities respond to stresses and adversity and how that can help them function better
green economy in Joburg and attracting investment for sustainable and low carbon development.
Through such interventions, we can reduce energy use from coal-generated power and fossil fuel consumption for motor vehicles, improve ecosystem health, build ecological open space systems, influence public transport behaviour, improve air quality, manage waste and use our water more sparingly.
In adapting to climate change, the city has a number of key strategies in place. These will enable it to reduce its carbon footprint.
Joburg currently buys electricity from Eskom, then distributes it to users within the city. Ninety-five percent of this energy is generated from coal, which is the highest contributor towards greenhouse gas emissions.
The city believes it should pursue renewable energy more aggressively. This will require changes to the current business model of City Power as the utility company focuses only on distribution and not on electricity generation and the possibility of reduced demand as a result of on-site solutions.
Similarly, we have to develop a creative strategy between the city and Egoli Gas, to bring gas as an energy resource within the reach of every residential unit in Joburg.
A strategic focus on green fuel will not only make the city more resilient against increasing fuel prices, but also reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from the transport sector. We are currently conducting feasibility studies into various options to produce green fuel from biomass.
The city is also actively rolling out projects to improve its own operations. These include retrofitting high mast lighting, traffic signals and street lights.
The city is also busy with a new tender to retrofit all council-owned buildings to become more energy efficient.
We now use biomass technology to generate electricity to run one of the city’s sewer plants. Through a partnership, we are extracting landfill gas from various landfill sites with the intention to generate 18 MW electricity. The actual electricity generation will start within the next six months, and Eskom will purchase the electricity from this project and distribute it through its grid.
A similar project was initiated at our Joburg Market.
The green economy is a revolution that will change the way we produce, the way we consume, and the way we live. The National Development Plan provides us with the framework to switch towards a low-carbon economy and place us on “a sustainable economic growth and development path in the long term”.
Through constructive partnerships between the government, the private sector and communities, we can create a more resilient urban community and stimulate the growth of the green economy in Joburg.