Discussions on climate change heard that governments in Africa could ensure that a green economy became part of their future. “Sound development decisions made today will help the African cities of the future deal with climate change,” said Steven Bland, a project manager at Local Governments for Sustainability.
“It is one of the benefits of sustainable development.”
Hastings Chikoko, the Cities Climate Leadership Group regional director for Africa, said cities were taking leadership, and taking steps to address climate change. “National government should recognise the international role cities are playing,” he added.
Matshidiso Mfikoe, MMC for Infrastructure Services and Environment in Johannesburg, said cities found themselves at the coalface of climate change because they were not only engines of growth, but also big sources of greenhouse gas emissions. “Johannesburg was one of the biggest city emitters in Africa, but the city had drawn up an ambitious plan to both mitigate and adapt to climate change,” said Mfikoe.
Already, the City of Johannesburg is feeling the impact of climate changes in the form of frequent floods, drought, heat waves and extreme thunderstorms. The City predicts that it will have to battle significant increases in both temperatures and rainfall in the city over the next 40 to 50 years. This will have a major impact on infrastructure, health, biodiversity, human settlements, and industry and food security.
“We believe sustainability is very important for Africa in structural transformation,” said Arthur Minsat, an economist. He said African cities had to choose their developmental pathways.
“We have to tackle environmental issues hand in hand with developmental issues,” he added. Minsat said Africa’s urban poor were among the most vulnerable to the symptoms of climate change due to poverty, marginalised communities and increasing urbanisation rates, and that the trade-offs between unchecked development and environmental consequences affected them the most.
He said most of the urbanisation in African cities still has to take place. “We can decide now what kinds of infrastructure we want, and plan to build green cities with green infrastructure,” he added.
