The City of Tshwane marked its 10th year as a member of C40 on Wednesday.
This is a group of cities that work together to address climate change.
Nasiphi Moya, Executive Mayor of Tshwane, said in a statement, being a member of C40 has enriched the City’s work to drive inclusive climate change programmes on renewable energy, clean air, sustainable procurement, water safe cities and many other sustainable initiatives.
She said “under the guidance of C40, the City launched its Climate Action Plan in 2022, which is a profound commitment to future-proof Tshwane against the damaging impact of climate change, while ensuring we reduce our greenhouse gas emissions.”
She said the vision for Tshwane is to be net zero carbon and climate resilient by 2050.
According to Climate Diplomacy findings, CO2 emissions per capita in South Africa are equivalent to 6.58 tons per person (based on a population of 62,378,410 in 2022), a decrease by -0.32 over the figure of 6.81 CO2 tons per person registered in 2021; this represents a change of -4.7% in CO2 emissions per capita.
A report by the Energy International Agency (EIA) said South Africa’s CO2 emissions, mainly come from the energy sector, due to the burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and natural gas for power generation or to fuel vehicles and machines.
The 2021 DGGEF, of 1.013 tCO2e/MWh, accurately reflects South Africa’s current energy mix for electricity generation. An emission factor of 0.168 tCO2e/MWh was used to estimate the emissions from imported electricity, according to a report of the Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment (February 2024).
Johannesburg has the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions in South Africa, and is the country’s air pollution hotspot, followed by the Highveld Priority Area (HPA), Mpumalanga Highveld, the Vaal Triangle, Gauteng, North West and the Free State.
Picture of Hendrina Power station, Greenpeace.