A low-cost housing project in the Western Cape is the only African project — and one of a handful in the world — to receive funding from developed countries for its role in reducing greenhouse gases. The Kuyasa project, in Khayelitsha near Cape Town, attracted great interest at the Montreal climate change conference recently because it is the kind of project delegates hope will be replicated in other countries.
It involved the retro-fitting of 10 Reconstruction and Development Programme homes with simple energy-saving devices such as insulated ceilings, low-watt bulbs and solar water heaters. This saved an estimated 2,85 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per household each year — and developed countries are prepared to pay lots of money for reductions in CO2 .
“Kuyasa was registered in August and now we can earn certified emission reduction credits,” said Lester Malgas, a member of NGO SouthSouthNorth, who helped facilitate the project.
Kuyasa is a prototype project under one of the main thrusts of the Montreal conference, termed the clean development mechanism (CDM). It gives developed countries that are unable to meet their emission-reduction targets, in terms of the Kyoto Protocol, the chance to invest in sustainable development projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries.
At least $800million had been invested in global CDM by mid-year. Most came from public funds, but the Montreal conference aimed to strengthen CDM structures so more investments would be made by the private sector. The German government, for instance, was looking for South African projects to invest in that would help offset up to 70 000 tons of CO2 expected to be generated during the 2006 World Soccer Cup.
In South Africa, 16 CDM projects have been put in process since March by the designated national authority, which falls under the Department of Minerals and Energy. Four have moved on to the stage of seeking international approval.
The national authority evaluates projects to determine to what extent they meet sustainable development criteria by promoting social, economic and ecological benefits. “We don’t want projects that are in conflict with any of the pillars of sustainable development,” said Lwazikazi Tyani, director of the authority’s secretariat.
The Kuyasa project passed scrutiny with flying colours and was awarded a Gold Standard, an international premium stamp of approval that helped it earn top dollar in the international emission-reduction trade.
Malgas said the plan was to replicate the project in 2 300 more low-cost houses in Kuyasa. The project is owned by the City of Cape Town, and the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism is putting up R25million for its expansion.
The price emissions-reduction projects earn is calculated according to tonnage of CO2 saved. “The market price is between $3 and $9 per ton, but Kuyasa got $15 a ton because it was the first project in Africa, and because of its gold standard award,” said Malgas. The CDM projects already on the national authority’s books have the potential to remove nine million tons of CO2 from the atmosphere. At the current market price, this is worth between $27million and $81-million.
According to Tyani, Kuyasa is one of only four or five projects in the world that are generating certified emission reduction credits. It was important for the Montreal conference to pull the private sector into participating more in CDM deals. “CDM gives them an opportunity to reduce their emissions now at no cost. In the future they may be taxed to do such reductions,” she said.
Fiona Macleod received sponsorship from the Canadian government to attend the UN climate change conference in Montreal