ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability Africa, in collaboration with the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality are proud to host the Local Climate Solutions for Africa (LoCS4Africa) 2017: Water and Climate Congress which is taking place from March 22 to 24.
The event is being held at the Birchwood Hotel and OR Tambo Conference Centre, in Boksburg. Coinciding with World Water Day (March 22), LoCS4Africa 2017 will gather delegates from cities across Africa under the theme “Water for Cities”.
Delegates include representatives from various levels of government, academia, development agencies, civil society and the private sector.
The African continent faces many sustainability challenges, but none more critical than multiple pressures on the continent’s water resources, such as climate change, burgeoning human populations, ageing and inadequate infrastructure, lack of decisive urban planning and uncertain economic development.
Cities drive change and foster innovation, and are at the coalface of climate change and urban water security challenges.
As such there has never been a more critical time for a pan-African congress to unite cities in action.
For the first time, African cities and their partners will gather together to seek collective solutions to this looming crisis.
The event aims to bring diverse African cities together in a common mission to find solutions to our most pressing urban water challenges — flooding and drought, infrastructure, sanitation and associated quality of life and health challenges.
The focus on “Water for Cities” builds on the momentum and legacy of the three preceding pan-African events co-hosted by ICLEI Africa and respectively, the City of Cape Town (2011), the City of Dar es Salaam (2013) and eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality (2015).
This congress will feature local and national leaders from across Africa, including Andries Nel, Deputy Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) and Dr Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs from South Africa, the Lord Mayor of Dar es Salaam and the mayors of Ekurhuleni, Lusaka and Bulawayo.
In keeping with previous LoCS4Africa congresses, they will be joined by technical experts and thought leaders from different sectors of society.
ICLEI envisions a world of sustainable cities which confront the realities of urbanisation, adapt to economic and demographic trends and prepare for the impacts of climate change and other urban challenges.
This is why ICLEI unites local and subnational governments in creating positive change through collective learning, exchange and capacity development.
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