City of Cape Town receives international recognition for climate change work

04 December 2015

Our Executive Mayor Patricia De Lille proudly stated that during the Intenational Climate Week in New York, Cape Town has been recognised as a leading city in the international efforts to combat climate change.  We are one of 10 cities worldwide to meet the planning and reporting requirements of the Compact of Mayors, being the first African city to be Compact-compliant.

We, as a city, recognise that we’re in a position to steer a lower carbon footprint and a more resilient and sustainable future.  Our commitment lies in a future which is more energy secure, resource efficient and resilient to climate change impacts.  This is supported by Cape Town’s Energy2040 goals and action plan, climate adaptation plans of action and our commitment to the Compact of Mayors.

We all do what we can to protect the environment for future generations and our community has various initiatives and projects in place to address climate change and lead the way in building a more sustainable city.

All of the compliance requirements for the Compact of Mayors have been met through our detailed carbon emissions inventory which is in accordance with the global local government carbon reporting protocol, reporting on energy and climate projects, and action planning for both climate mitigation and adaptation and commitment to having carbon reduction targets.

Through our solar water heater accreditation and marketing programme, we have has contributed over R105 million worth of solar water heaters into the economy.  This has led to reduced city-wide electricity consumption, reduced CO2 emissions, increased energy security and job creation.

Another example of our efforts to increase energy security and reduce electricity consumption and CO2 emissions was the implementation of the City’s small-scale embedded generation project.  Here households and businesses use rooftop photovoltaic panels to generate renewable energy are able to feed excess solar energy back into the electricity grid.

We, as the City of Cape Town, were named the 2014 global Earth Hour City Capital based on its energy and climate reporting, competing with 163 cities.  We pledge to do all we can to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, create ambitious climate targets, track progress and enhance our climate resilience.

For more information on the Compact of Mayors, please visit the website: www.compactofmayors.org

Published by:
City of Cape Town, Media Office