The One Planet City Challenge, started by OPCC in 2011, encourages global cities to set ambitious climate targets aligned with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1,5 degrees celsius.
Through this friendly competition, the WWF appeals to local governments to join the ongoing mission: the creation of cities that enable people and nature to thrive, now and in the future. This year, some 350 local governments from 50 countries entered, 30 of which are in Africa. These cities are encouraged to pursue science-driven climate action by reviewing their climate actions and ambitions, and assessing whether they align with the goals of the Paris Agreement.
The ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability), along with the WWF South Africa asked Africa’s participating cities to submit their climate action plans or projects for assessment through one of the ICLEI’s tracking platforms, the CCDP-ICLEI. This system ensures that the city climate data submitted, feeds directly into regional and global high-level discussions. And Cape Town clearly ticked those boxes.
The jury of urban experts were looking to ensure that a number of key factors and criteria were met. This included:
- Alignment of cities’ targets with the Paris Agreement.
- Inclusion of a well-balanced climate action plan to support achieving stated goals.
- Coherence in climate action strategies.
- Mainstreaming of climate action in the city administration, as well as reinforcement through stakeholder dialogue.
Cape Town, said the jury, was commended for its emphasis on impactful actions, such as compact urbanisation and the electrification of the transport sector. It said the city had achieved a striking balance between adaptation and mitigation efforts which has been integrated with the UN’s Strategic Development Goals across all departments.
Further Cape Town’s actions during South Africa's energy crisis were also considered noteworthy, and a clear demonstration of the city’s commitment to transition toward a renewable energy system.
As the national finalist, Cape Town is now in the running to become one of One Planet City Challenge’s global winners, to be announced in November. This is not the first time the city has been on this global platform; in fact, even won it in 2014, impressing the international jury with its pursuit of a low carbon future and climate change mitigation strategies.
Congratulations for this year’s achievement have poured in: Innocentia Modau from WWF South Africa said: “We commend Cape Town and all the other participating cities in South Africa for their efforts and encourage more strong action to contribute to the urgent global climate agenda.”
Dr Meggan Spires, Director: Climate Change, Energy & Resilience at ICLEI Africa, said: "The City of Cape Town is one of ICLEI's longest standing member cities … and has been a global trailblazer for climate change action for decades. ICLEI Africa congratulates the City of Cape Town on being named the South African national winner of WWF's One Planet City Challenge. It is a significant and well- deserved accolade”.
Daniel Sullivan, Director: Risk and Resilience Department in the City of Cape Town", said:
"Cape Town is proud to be the national winner of the One Planet City Challenge which acknowledges our commitment to ambitious and transparent climate action. Climate change threats present an opportunity for all of us to work together to adapt and thrive, building programmes of collective action and sharing best practice. Initiatives like OPCC are important platforms for cities to signal and drive this collaborative approach."
