Gungubele signed the Compact of Mayors which will help make Ekurhuleni communities more resilient to climate change and regularly report their progress publicly.
Compact of Mayors is one of the initiatives launched at the UN Climate Summit in September 2014, by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and his special envoy for cities and climate change.
“The Compact of Mayors reinforces our city’s commitment to its people and businesses,” said Gungubele.
“We continue in our work to make Ekurhuleni a place where people want to live and where businesses want to invest.”
The mayor believes the actions, to combat climate change at local level, will have a global impact.
He added that by improving the city, the municipality will help create a better world for today’s urban citizens and generations to come.
Mayoral spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said this step allows for the creation of an action plan including clear and ambitious reduction targets, implementing a common system of measuring those emissions and monitoring climate change.
“For its part, Ekurhuleni will conduct an inventory of greenhouse gas emissions in the city, develop emissions targets and draw up an action plan to mitigate climate change,” said Dlamini.
It is the world’s largest collective effort to date by cities to tackle climate change, prepare for its impact and regularly track and report progress.
According to the UN, research has shown that if local governments in the world took action in accordance with the Compact of Mayors – by targeting building energy, transportation and waste sectors – they could reduce global greenhouse emissions by the equivalent of cutting the world’s annual coal use by more than half.
Visit www.compactofmayors.org to learn more about Compact of Mayors.
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