Seven African cities chart path towards greener future


By Joburg Post

 
The C40 Cities launched the Climate Action Implementation Africa programme aimed at supporting seven African cities in developing ambitious climate action plans yesterday, 19 July 2022. 
 
The plans will help the cities become carbon neutral by 2050 and secure a greener future for their nearly 54 million residents. 
The Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Mpho Phalatse, in her capacity as C40 Vice-Chair for Africa, kicked off the hybrid launch at Constitution Hill, Braamfontein. 
 
Backed by new UK government funding, the Climate Action Implementation (CAI) Programme in Africa will support the seven cities to embed and implement priority climate actions through technical assistance and capacity building. 
 
Delegates and representatives from several African cities such as Accra, Lagos, Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Dar es Salaam, Johannesburg and Tshwane as well as C40 partners in the region were part of the launch. 
 
Phalatse said: “The City of Johannesburg launched its inaugural climate action plan a year ago, which reinforced our commitment to work towards addressing the causes and devastating impacts of climate change. The climate action plan outlined the City’s strategy to achieve Net Zero emissions and build a climate resilient city. 
 
“Since the launch of the City’s climate action plan, the city has noticed with concern the rapid increase of climate related natural disasters in cities, towns and villages across Africa. Closer to home, we watched in shock as the province of KwaZulu-Natal and the City of eThekwini experienced one of the most devastating natural disasters recorded in South Africa in over a century. More than 400 people lost their lives because of the devastating flood event, which also destroyed more than 12 000 houses and forced an estimated 40 000 people from their homes.” 
 
“African cities, need to work together to build climate resilient cities by finding climate proof solutions that are tailored to our specific African challenges. We look forward to working collaboratively with C40 African Cities, through this CAI Africa programme and others to share experiences, knowledge and actions to accelerate the much-needed actions to help transform our cities and ensure that our citizens are happy, healthy and safe,” Phalatse concluded. 
 
Zarina Moolla, the Head of the Climate Action Implementation (CAI) Africa programme at C40, provided the overview of the CAI Africa programme. 
 
The CAI Africa programme is supported by the British High Commission. 
 
Chris Austin, the Development Director at the British High Commission in South Africa confirmed the support of that “The UK government is delighted to partner with C40 and African cities on this multi-country programme, which is dedicated to advance climate action through state-of-the-art expertise, technical cooperation and knowledge exchange across continents. It is critical for urban actors in cities around the world to show collective leadership on climate change.” 
 
“The ongoing climate crisis calls for a decade of action. We need action now and faster,” said Hastings Chikoko, the Managing Director of Regions and Mayoral Engagement and Regional Director for Africa at C40 Cities. 
 
“C40 cities in Africa have developed data-driven climate action plans clearly identifying priority actions. We are now moving forward to ensure that these plans are implemented. The CAI programme will support the 7 cities in implementation of some of the identified priorities, the waste and energy/building sector.” 
 

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