More than 150 climate change and air pollution experts from all spheres of government and the private sector converged at The Venue, Melrose, this week to participate in the Air quality and Climate Change Transport Symposium as part of the transport activities.
The symposium was hosted by the City of Johannesburg’s Environment and Infrastructure Service Department (EISD) in partnership with Deutsche Gesellshaaft fϋr International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.
It was hosted under the theme “Reducing fossil fuel emissions as we transition towards a low carbon transport in CoJ”.
Delivering the keynote address, Member of the Mayoral Committee (MMC) for Environment and Infrastructure Services Cllr Nico de Jager told delegates that “it is only when we champion these changes in the sector that significant reduction in emissions can be realised, improving the health and the wellbeing of our residents”.
“It is a huge pleasure to see all three spheres of government represented here today together with private sector and community. It is only through working together that we all create and can implement the type of sustainable policies the programs needed to tackle the air quality and climate change challenges that we are facing in the City,” he concluded.
Mac Makwarela, the Director Climate Change Mitigation Policy in the Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries: “The transport sector is a major contributor to the poor air quality and carbon emission in the City.”
“The transport sector contributes 10.8% of greenhouse gas emissions in the South Africa,” said Pulane Manale from the Department of Transport.
The department has developed the Green Transport Strategy (GTS) to minimise the negative impact of transport on the environment. Implementing the GTS will ensure that our Constitutional right is not taken away and this will preserve the environment for the future generation, she concluded.
Robust debates and discussions were the order of the day with some delegates raising concerns about the how inclusive the GTS is in including other critical role players, like mining companies and factories. The plan should include finding practical, workable and innovative solutions and alignment of processes and policies from all the government department.
The City is currently developing the Climate Change Action plan, which will be published in October 2020 and will help to accelerate our interventions to address the ongoing issues of air pollution and climate change mitigation. Public participation will be undertaken before the official launch.
