The City of Johannesburg is making concerted efforts to become a cleaner and greener municipality through its Environment and Infrastructure Services Department’s (EISD) Climate Action Plan (CAP). Lebo Molefe, the EISD Director of Air Quality and Climate Change, says the City is making strides towards net-zero emissions and a climate-resilient focus by 2050. “To enhance climate resilience and adapt to climate change impacts, the City is collaborating with a wide range of partners to enhance water security, create resilient human settlements, implement flood and drought management strategies, develop resilient infrastructure, and enhance the health and wellbeing of communities,” Molefe explains.
Climate resilience refers to the ability of a system, community, or ecosystem to withstand, adapt to, and recover from the impacts of climate change.
It implies the capacity to resist or absorb the effects of changing weather patterns, extreme events, rising sea levels, and other environmental stressors caused by global warming.
Molefe says a climate-resilient municipality is better prepared to cope with and minimise the risks associated with climate variability and to maintain its essential functions and services in a changing climate.
She says most greenhouse gas emissions are from the use of fossil fuel energy sources in vehicles, buildings, facilities, and industry, followed by emissions released when waste is treated.
The world’s megacities have a key role to play since they produce a large share of emissions but will also carry the highest burden of the socio-economic impacts of climate change. As a response mechanism, many megacities, including Johannesburg, have committed to the Paris Agreement, under C40’s Deadline 2030 initiative.
The City’s CAP outlines how the municipality will work towards achieving its emissions reduction targets and reduce the vulnerability of its citizens to the impacts of climate change.
Molefe says the City needs a Climate Action Plan to address climate change as a social justice imperative, inextricably linked to the challenges of eradicating poverty and enhancing inclusivity.
“CAP allows us to make a meaningful contribution towards national and global climate action targets under the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals. It will also position the City to attract international finance for a green economic recovery following the Covid-19 pandemic,” she says.
Molefe says if no action is taken, carbon emissions will more than double and the average local temperatures could increase by more than 3°C, leading to an increase in summer rainfall intensity and resultant flooding.
“Existing national and local policies and plans already work towards a better future. If further ambitious climate action is taken, in line with the City’s climate action plan, emissions will reduce by 85% below 2016 levels,” she warns.
Johannesburg’s emissions reduction targets, when compared to a 2016 baseline, aim to decrease carbon emissions by 25% by 2030, 75% by 2040, and 100% (net-zero emissions) by 2050. This is in line with the City’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) and the Paris Agreement, which has been signed by nearly 200 countries, and agrees to limit average global warming by 1.5°C.
“Average midday temperatures have increased nearly 1.5°C and average night-time temperatures have increased almost 1°C over the last 40 years. Rainfall patterns have also become less predictable, and the magnitude and impacts thereof have become even more erratic,” says Molefe.
Written by Sascha-Lee Joseph
09/03/2023