Africa: Mbombela: development of a Climate Change Response Policy, Strategy and Implementation Plan

In response to the pressures and threats of climate change, it is essential that all levels of government, nationally and globally, develop a policy, strategy and implementation plan. South Africa’s climate change policy framework has been in development since the early 2000s. South Africa ranks high among the world’s most significant carbon emitters per capita; it is therefore appropriate that the country signed up to the Paris Agreement on climate change and agreed to a peak, plateau and decline trajectory that will see carbon emissions from fossil fuels (mainly coal) continue rising until 2030 – after which they should level out until 2035 and then start dropping. 

 

In 2015, SRK was appointed by the Mbombela local municipality to assist with the development of these documents to enable and guide the municipality’s transition to a green economy and to mitigate and manage climate change risks. The project is comprised of 3 phases, namely a Climate Change Response Policy, Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategy and an Implementation Plan for the Climate Change Mitigation strategy.

 

The process involved extensive engagement with sectoral stakeholders in the municipality, province and national ministeries.

 

This approach ensured the identification of key issues that needed to be taken account of and addressed in the Climate Change Policy and Strategy. 

 

The team worked closely with officials from the Mbombela Local Municipality in developing an implementation plan that could be effectively implemented through municipal structures and processes.