The City of Cape Town’s climate change mitigation efforts are starting to pay off as it has managed to reduce its energy-related carbon emissions by 4.1% for the 2012 to 2015 period.

This was revealed in the City’s latest State of the Environment Report which looked at both Cape Town’s carbon emissions profile and its carbon footprint.

According to the report the City’s per capita energy-related carbon footprint was calculated to be 5.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.  Cape Town mayor Patricia De Lille says the city’s reduction of carbon emissions is largely due to a significant reduction in electricity consumption.

“This is thanks in part to the City’s energy efficiency campaigns and the reduced usage by residents,” she notes.

Green efforts

The City has implemented a number of key efforts in the past year which includes joining the C40 Reinventing Cities Programme, as well as signing a R12.7 million grant agreement with the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) to fund a feasibility study on the use of natural gas.

In addition the City also opened its landfill gas flaring project that harnesses methane gas and converts it to energy, and launched its inaugural R1 billion green bonds for climate change projects.

More needs to be done

“While it is encouraging to see the City reducing its carbon emissions, much still needs to be done to achieve a 37% reduction in carbon emissions by 2040 or a 13% reduction by 2022, as set out by the City’s Energy2040 goal.