Cape Town hosts a “Changing the Climate” discussion

Changing the Climate is a series of debates and workshops that aim to bring together civil society, business and local government in a partnership to co-create the future that we need.  The Cape Town dialogue was held on Thursday, 8 September 2011.

Stephen Granger from the City of Cape Town

Changing the Climate is an initiative of the Wildlife and Environment Society of South Africa (WESSA), Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI), PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Standard Bank and the National Business Initiative (NBI).

Key outcomes reached at the discussion were that:

  • people from all backgrounds need to be talked with not talked at
  • stakeholders must come together to support and develop sustainable visions
  • key issues must be presented to inspire people to want to make a difference
  • the number of people aware and taking action must increase
  • the focus should also be on the processes and progress,  not only the challenges and required solutions

The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) presentation highlighted that a significant amount of South Africa’s carbon emissions (23%) are generated from buildings. The GBCSA aims to ensure that all buildings are constructed and operate in an environmentally sustainable manner. This may include maximizing natural light, the circulation of fresh air and the use of non-toxic and environmentally friendly materials.

Mike Ward, Chief Operations Officer at WESSA, stressed the importance of meaningful and collaborative platforms to ensure effective actions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Key items discussed included the use of fresh water, chemical pollution and land system changes.

Stephen Granger from the City of Cape Town introduced the Climate Smart Cape Town (CSCT) Campaign. The focus of the campaign is to help residents of Cape Town learn about climate change and how they can take action, as well as to learn about the actions already being taken by the City of Cape Town and other leading public and private sector organisations to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

The campaign consists of three primary areas:

  1. A communications campaign aimed at enhancing levels of climate change literacy among all Capetonians.
  2. An Inspiring Change gathering at the Cape Town International Convention Centre two weeks prior to COP 17, and linked to a major Green Expo, where people from Cape Town can join in three days of dynamic challenging debate integrated with a number of educational and entertaining activities in and around Cape Town, focusing on Climate Change issues.
  3. COP 17 in Durban, where Cape Town will have a significant presence, demonstrating the seriousness of the City’s intentions, its support for a positive and constructive outcome of the high level processes and its willingness to partner with global agencies and other players to invest in significant local action in Cape Town and the Western Cape around climate change adaptation and mitigation measures.

Ernesta Swanepoel, an international environmental law specialist, focused on the need for every single person to make changes to mitigate and adapt to climate change. Each small step will help us to move in the right direction.

The final workshop will be held in Durban on 22 and 23 September. For more information contact [email protected].

Dorothee Rolfsmeyer

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