A new study released in Durban this week has made sweeping recommendations about how to reduce the city’s carbon footprint, including energy generation through biomass suited to a subtropical climate and increased local production to reduce the burning of fossil fuels in transporting goods.
The Academy of Science of South Africa’s (Assaf) 250-page study, “Towards a Low-Carbon City: Focus on Durban”, precedes the city’s hosting of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP 17, later this year and has implications for metropolitan governance throughout South Africa.
The report highlights the fact that as cities account for 80% of the world’s greenhouse-gas emissions, they should take the lead in reducing their carbon footprint. South Africa has announced a target of a 34% reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020.
Assaf president Robin Crewe said it was widely acknowledged that African countries and their vulnerable populations would be hardest hit by climate change as they had fewer adaptive options.
Yet the transition in Africa to “low-carbon” cities could be seen as an economic opportunity, not a burden, Assaf’s report argues.
Such development offers significant co-benefits, including improved public health as a result of reduced air pollution, greater agricultural productivity and greater water and energy security.
Assaf recommends that every action, investment, regulation or decision should contribute to building a city economy that is “low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive”.
Assaf chief executive Roseanne Diab said a green economy could create employment opportunities. About 33% of Durban’s 3.4-million inhabitants were poor and more than 35% of the economically active population was unemployed.
More than 69% of residents were black, 41% of them poor.
The trade-offs of becoming a low-carbon city should be highlighted to elevate the issue of climate change to a higher level, Diab said.
This was particularly the case in a city in which there was a focus on more pressing issues, with poor public awareness and scarce resources.
“Durban has a subtropical climate that is favourable [for the production of] renewable energy from biomass. If we can’t do this in Durban then where can we do it?” she asked.
Innovation through partnerships must also be encouraged, the study recommends.
The eThekwini municipality should foster technological and social innovation by linking up with local universities, businesses and communities.
Low-carbon lifestyles should be encouraged and to do this, residents’ shopping trolleys should be analysed to get to the bottom of their carbon-emitting habits.
The report found that many goods and services enjoyed in one city were produced in another and fossil fuels were burned in moving consumables between destinations. Local production of goods and services would thus contribute to low-carbon development globally.
Diab suggested cities should “produce local, buy local”.
The report says land use has a substantial effect on greenhouse-gas emissions and Durban must combat urban sprawl. It should also pay urgent attention to industry, responsible for 45% of the emissions in the city, and the transport sector, responsible for 25%.
It calls for the enforcement of the “polluter pays” principle and for the authorities to confine revenue to investment in industries that favour low-carbon activities and provide strong local social benefits.