In South Africa, the new 2024 Climate Change Act requires local governments to plan responses to global warming. These local authorities should find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions where possible, such as from their bus services, and reduce their use of electricity that is produced by burning coal. They also need to green buildings and urban areas. These are all examples of climate change mitigation.
South Africa’s government is structured into national, provincial and local (municipal) levels. South Africa has 257 municipalities – cities, towns and districts. They are responsible for reducing the impacts of climate change in their areas and must also assist the national government in achieving its goal of balancing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted and removed by 2050 (net zero).
We are a research team of geographers with interests in sustainability transitions and climate change governance. We set out to examine how climate change mitigation was being applied in the West Rand District Municipality. This is a peri-urban municipality in western Gauteng where the economy is firmly rooted in the mining sector. Almost 900,000 people live in the area.
We reviewed the publicly available greenhouse gas emissions data, and the municipality’s policies and regulations. We also interviewed government officials to understand the municipality’s climate action efforts.
Our research found huge gaps in this municipality’s ability to deliver on climate mitigation.
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First, the West Rand municipality did not record all greenhouse gas emissions, creating gaps in the data. Without accurate data, it is impossible to make plans to manage the emissions causing climate change. This data needs to show the sources of emissions and track progress in curbing these, so that local government can set goals and see if they are on track to meeting them.
Second, the municipality lacked sufficient funding and personnel to carry out comprehensive climate action plans. Third, it did not make climate-related initiatives a priority.
We found that these weaknesses mean that the West Rand District Municipality is not in a position to reach net zero by 2050.
Based on our findings, we recommend that municipalities must become much more influential in mitigating climate change. The South African government should also identify areas of high emissions or high national importance, such as mining. Support should be given to municipalities to reduce emissions in hotspots where the problem is worst. This would be a good start.
No plans to battle climate change
The West Rand District Municipality is made up of Merafong and Rand West cities, and Mogale City, home of the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site. A multitude of greenhouse gas-emitting activities are based there, with mining operations and transport the main sources of carbon emissions.
Despite this, we found no action targeting the mining or transport sector. The only evidence of climate action we found was in the Mogale City Local Municipality, where energy-efficient lighting and smart electricity meters have been installed in the municipal buildings.
Our research found that these aspects of climate mitigation were missing:
no greenhouse gas reduction emission targets
no records of the amount of greenhouse gas emitted
unfulfilled plans to convert waste in landfill sites to energy
no public transport plan to switch to electric buses.
For example, Mogale City, one of the district’s local municipalities, had a draft climate mitigation plan dating back to 2014. It wasn’t finalised because of a lack of political will and because there wasn’t any funding for the municipality to implement it. For it to become legally binding, it has to be formally adopted by the municipal council and integrated into local by-laws.
Until then, its proposed waste gas-to-energy project at the municipality’s landfill, and other climate change mitigation projects, are unlikely to materialise.
Neither the district nor the local municipalities compile their own greenhouse gas emission inventories. When we compiled a greenhouse gas emissions inventory for the West Rand using publicly available data, we found that data on emissions from open quarries and mines was missing. Incomplete data prevented us from doing precise greenhouse gas emission accounting.
Another problem was that the municipality has an Integrated Transport Plan for 2022-2027, but this had not been finalised and was not accessible to the public. So we were unable to determine if it included steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from public transport.
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When we talked to local government officials, they explained that national laws require action. But limited funds and lack of training mean they cannot make significant changes at the local level. One official said, “We just don’t have the resources to deal with these problems.” There was no specific mention in the available documents of a formal request to the National Treasury for funds specifically to implement a climate project.
We also found that the West Rand municipality had not aligned its climate action plans with provincial and national policies. This undermined national government efforts to achieve South Africa’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 31% by 2025.
There were also no staff dedicated to climate mitigation. The Mogale City Local Municipality official we interviewed said that “there is not enough staff nor support for the climate function”.
Local government needs to be empowered to act
The primary hurdle in local climate action within West Rand District Municipality lies in the absence of targeted, enforceable policies. The municipality is supposed to make sure that local climate action policies support national climate goals. To do this, they need clear, measurable emissions targets and a comprehensive climate action plan.
Local municipalities in South Africa have the powers to develop and support renewable energy projects, improve public transport systems, and implement energy-saving measures in municipal buildings. This is part of their local economic development mandate.
They also have authority to compile inventories of greenhouse gas emissions in their area as part of environmental management. Companies report on their greenhouse gas emissions to national government. There is no legal reason why local government should not have access to this data. Some large metropolitan areas, such as eThekwini (Durban) and Cape Town, have already developed comprehensive greenhouse gas inventories that are available to the public online.
Effective climate action requires strong local governance. The solutions lie in capacity building, implementing strong policies, and a closer alignment of local efforts with national and international climate commitments.
Phetoho Rasebechele’s Master’s studies were supervised by Professors Clare Kelso and Kristy Langerman. These studies were partially funded by the National Research Funding (grant number MND210504599192) and the Faculty of Science at the University of Johannesburg.
Clare Kelso and Kristy Langerman do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
