Sustainability Week Post Event Report 2017

2017

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Incorporating

AFRICAN Capital Cities

SUSTAINABILITY FORUM

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HOST CITY PARTNERS & SPONSORS

AFFILIATED ORGANISATIONS

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POST-EVENT REPORT

CONTENTS

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 AFRICAN CAPITAL CITIES SUSTAINABILITY FORUM 11 SUMMARY OF THE MAYORS’ SUSTAINABILITY

LEADERSHIP SHARES AND PROJECTS 15 SIDE EVENTS AND SEMINARS 36 ATTENDANCE 37 CARBON FOOTPRINT 39 MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS 40 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT 41 CEO’S MESSAGE 42 ABOUT THE EVENT AND COMPANY 43 REPORT CONTENT 45 STAKEHOLDER GROUPS FEEDBACK AND RESPONSES 46 ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY, GOVERNANCE

AND MANAGEMENT 47 SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY 48 ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY 49 CONTENT INDEX

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The profile of Sustainability Week was raised in 2017, with the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum taking centre stage, attracting a record 31 mayoral delegations representing a critical mass of African countries.

The host, Cllr Solly Msimanga, Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane opened the session, introduced the event and welcomed the delegations and, indeed, all participants. Speaker highlights in the morning session included the Hon Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Hon Mr Pravin Gorhdan, former Finance Minister, with Mr Gordhan sharing his thoughts on responsible leadership.

Days 2 and 3 of Sustainability Week included no fewer than ten conferences, seminars and workshops featuring leading local and international speakers, and attended by numerous government and private-sector representatives, professionals, researchers and NGOs. The Youth too were represented, with a group participating in a Hackathon, essentially a team-based research assignment to flesh out new ideas and approaches

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to city challenges, followed by a broader engagement on day 3 under the heading of Youth & the Green Economy. Another highlight, adding additional glamour to the occasion, was the EcoLogic Awards, held at Sustainability Week for the first time on the evening of day 2. Our congratulations to all the winners.

We take this opportunity to thank our partners, the City of Tshwane and all other partners, sponsors and affiliated organisations for their support and participation. We also thank all speakers and panellists for their efforts in preparing presentations, and in many cases, travelling to the event to share their knowledge and expertise. We also wish to thank everyone who worked on the event behind the scenes, both from Alive2green and City of Tshwane, and our many suppliers – it takes a mammoth effort from a dedicated team to pull off such an event. Finally, and most importantly, we wish to thank everyone who attended Sustainability Week and the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum 2017.

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LIST OF ATTENDING MAYORS & DELEGATES

Bottom Row (From Left To Right): Joyce Kinyanjui, Carlos Alberto Decarvalho Bandeira Dos Ramos, Boubacar Hamadou,Adnilson De Sousa Pereira Rosa, Christine Edwina Brooksjarrett, Udo Samuel Atang, Sghaiar Bachir, Martine Raliarimanana Rakoto Mahefarinoro, Tshawe, Lalao Harivelo Rakotonirainy Ravalomanana, Wore Diaw, Ramadhani Nkurikiye, David Daouda, Eleth Jean Nakazzi, Audrey Maryona Vidot, 2nd From Bottom: Candide Kazatsa, Maloni Chatewa, Landing Sanyang, Sidi Maouloud, Kagiso Calvin Thutlwe, Mpho Gape Mathe, Clara Doe Mvogo,Armand Roland Pierre Beouinde, Muesee Kazapua, Soudou Lagdaf,Kotchi Zougoulou Saleh, Babatope Oluseun Ajakaiye, Sickout Iguendja Nicaise, Marietherese Vane, Ellen Mavis Matsenjwa, 3rd From Bottom: Thulani Wonderboy Mkhonta, Abdoulie Bah, Sarah Sebaggala Kanyike, Makhtar Diao, Abdou Ide Barkire, Ali Oumar Hassan, Khalid Benaboud, Elmi Affasse Kadir, Idriss Abdillahi Liban, Emmanuel Korkwei Clottey, Mahimwin Marie Sepraphine Medah ,Alexander Salani Phodogoma, Gervais Henrie , Mr. Hunkporti Koffigan Gabienu, Joseph Tagbale 1st Row: Susan Mathu, Stephen Wani Michael Kaya, Hadya Tandia, Ada Albert George Modi, Dr Ouledi Ahmed, Nassuf Ahamed Abdallah, Jose Antonio Pires Goncalves, Mohammed Adjei Sowah, Carlos Alberto Silva Santos Costa, Oliver Vatareni

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AFRICAN CAPITAL CITIES SUSTAINABILITY FORUM

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ey challenges threatening growth and development in African cities include rapid urbanisation, energy and water access stresses, sanitation, the global economic slowdown, rising unemployment and social inequities, trade facilitation, connectivity, land and biodiversity degradation, among others, and on top of this, the significant and growing impacts of climate change.

Capital cities have a unique role in providing leadership for other local authorities within country borders. Partnerships and collaborative efforts have an important role to play in the implementation of sustainability, especially collaboration between the national, local and other levels of the government to align and thus, more effectively address sustainable development challenges. The increasing rate of urbanisation in African cities especially calls for the proactive design and implementation of sustainable urban development solutions.

The African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum (ACCSF) was formed in recognition of these facts, with the intention of creating a network for the mayors of capital cities across the continent to achieve the sustainable development goals that are common to all and, in the words of Solly Msimanga, executive mayor of Tshwane, “to establish commonalities and challenges faced by major cities in Africa while showcasing and sharing successful initiatives towards the emergence of truly African, original and appropriate answers in addressing the sustainability imperative at the urban scale.”

On 13 June this year, the third instalment of the ACCSF was held at the CSIR International Convention Centre in Tshwane, South Africa’s capital city. The success of the event is positive proof that the network is growing steadily towards achieving it’s purpose, with a lively exchange of ideas from the 60+ representatives from 32 African capital cities in attendance, and a firm commitment to a concrete course of action for the future.

KEYNOTE SPEECHES A roadmap for sustainable development Addressing the plenary, Executive Mayor Msimanga began by outlining the milestones Tshwane has achieved on its sustainable development journey, citing projects such as Bio2Watt, an example of private-sector collaboration with BMW as the offtaker for biogas derived energy, and a Rapid Bus Transit system that includes compressed natural gas (CNG) buses, among others, adding that Tshwane

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is a leading city in the green building space, with the many major certified green buildings including the recently occupied Tshwane House, the City of Tshwane’s new R2bn headquarters and a five-star graded green building.

Msimanga went on to note that the impacts of climate change are likely to have a disproportionately greater impact on developing countries, particularly in Africa, which have limited resources and infrastructure to adequately protect themselves and insufficient means to recover. Most at risk are local governments: “It is at the local level where livelihoods are lost, water security and food security are impacted and where infrastructure is destroyed.”

At the same time, local governments are also best placed “to take rapid action now and prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change”.

“WITHOUT RESPONSIBLE LEADERSHIP, SERVICE DELIVERY AND INVESTMENT ARE FLATLY UNTHINKABLE” With regard to the city of Tshwane’s own roadmap for sustainable development, Msimanga cited the adoption of the Tshwane Declaration 2015, which sets out a number of undertakings including the establishment of a collective think tank of common initiatives that were presented at COP22 in Marrakesh in December 2016; the measurement of the city’s carbon emissions and the establishment of a baseline Greenhouse Gas Emissions Inventory; engagement with development agencies and other international partners concerned with the local government in order to garner support for climate resilience programmes; and the convening of a platform “conducive for technical engagements and to develop a clear implementation programme for our cities, focusing primarily on the Sustainable Development Goals by making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable”.

Key to achieving these goals is addressing urban poverty. Msimanga noted: “One billion people worldwide currently live in slums without access to basic services like clean water, electricity or health services.

“If urban areas do not plan for this unprecedented growth, they will not only fall short of their full economic potential, but also exacerbate poverty in already vulnerable communities in large cities.”

Echoing these sentiments was the following speaker, Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, South African Department of International Relations and Co-operation, who framed the conversation around sustainable development within the context of the narrative of South Africa’s historical struggle for freedom from Apartheid, noting that the parents of many in the room would never have been able to sit as members of an august plenary.

In this way, the minister reminded the audience that any sustainable development policy must acknowledge an implicit political dimension, namely the aspirations of present and future generations to prosper as free citizens of South Africa.

Implementing the new global agenda Next to speak was the President of the South African Local Government Association (SALGA) and the United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) network, Councillor Parks Tau, who spoke on “the role of African cities in implementing the new global agenda for local governments”.

Reminding the audience that the conversation had started three years previously, on the occasion of the adoption of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, Tau affirmed that this progress has been further supported by the UCLG’s 2016 endorsement of three pillars essential for the advancement of the local government agenda, namely: ensuring organisational consolidation and renewal, to enable cities and local and regional governments to speak with one voice; facilitating collaborative and connected local governance by way of using technological innovation to modernise local governance; and “locating local government at the centre of a changing world”.

Unpacking the third pillar, Tau outlined “the necessity for political leadership to inspire the potential of municipalities across the African continent … to play a much greater developmental role in achieving our social and economic growth objectives”. It is the local government sphere that will determine the success of the Sustainable Development Goals

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POST-EVENT REPORT —“the fulcrum of employment creation, poverty alleviation, inclusive economic growth and environmental sustainability.”

A key priority to finding alternative, innovative and collaborative solutions to financing “a globally connected and inclusive bottom-up approach” that links people with their activities, social ecosystems and institutions. This implies the development of local taxation systems, access to debt capital markets and pooled financing, among others. Access to donor funding and climate finance should also be facilitated. This would place the local government “at the centre of a changing world” characterised by the localisation and financing of the post-2015 Development Agenda, the development of a collaborative local coherence agenda on peace, safety and security, and the driving of a local narrative around migrancy, displacement and social cohesion.

By way of a concrete example of how the local government is “at the coalface” of managing climate change, Tau mentioned the juxtaposition of severe drought, storms and fires in the Western Cape. “It is, therefore, imperative that we re-affirm our call for a greater collective action to implement the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework and all the other complementary commitments,” said Tau. Responsible leadership Without responsible leadership, service delivery and investment are flatly unthinkable—or so says former Minister of Finance and Member of Parliament, Pravin Gordhan, who followed Tau onto the podium.

“There’s a crisis brewing in the world and Africa,” he said. “Growing alienation between business and political leaders on the one hand, and citizens on the other, is being caused by the growing inequality, and a growing perception that the elite enjoy what others don’t.”

Gordhan continued by saying that responsible leadership demands that leaders take cognisance of this unfolding reality and recognise that this alienation is harmful. Already, it has resulted in political

upheaval in the Western world, with alienated citizens making political choices of great concern (Trump, Brexit, the “coalition of chaos” in the UK).

“From our point of view, governance in a local government context is extremely important,” Gordhan emphasised. “Cities, towns and villages are becoming magnets for people to assemble around. Cities are seen as points where economic opportunity and enterprise are concentrated: people are hopeful of a better future in a city.

In some instances, however, where we are not offering the right kind of vision and planning, cities have become centres of disappointment and despair.”

A better organised city offers more economic opportunities, particularly to the young, and hope for a better quality of life. South Africa’s badly planned cities, with their Apartheid spatial planning legacy, have to be turned around—and it is the local government’s responsibility to make this happen.

Gordhan also touched on the scourge of corruption.

“Corruption is a societal disease,” said Gordhan.

“The public is very alive to the fact that corruption exists. To turn it around, we want good governance

Cllr Solly Tshepiso Msimanga

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with ethics and integrity. So, we need to set our own standards.”

From an investment point of view, said Gordhan, investors want to see leaders with a clear vision, planning capability, competent basic service delivery, and service continuity.

“If we can guarantee those things, we will attract investors from across Africa and the world. We don’t have enough capital to invest so we need to attract them,” he said.

TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS The keynote speeches were followed by a series of insightful technical presentations by leading experts in the field of building climate resilience in cities.

Their findings are summarised as follows: Infrastructure development Principal Programme Officer for Regional Infrastructure and Trade at NEPAD, Dr Towela Nyarenda-Jere spoke on the topic of “Accelerating sustainable development through infrastructure: Milestones and lessons learnt”.

Infrastructure development is a vital part of building safe sustainable African cities. The African Union’s Agenda 2063 recognises innovation as a means to retain or increase current growth rates and increase competitiveness across all sectors.

Aspiration One speaks of inclusive growth and sustainable development, while Aspiration Six speaks to an Africa whose development is driven by its people, including youth and women; these points are echoed by the Sustainable Development Goals (STGs). In line with these aspirations, the NEPAD Regional Infrastructure and Trade Programme works to facilitate and support infrastructure and trade within the broader ambit of promoting regional integration. In 2014, the African Union (AU) adopted the Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), which fosters infrastructure development across four sectors: ICT, energy, water, and transport. Four primary bottlenecks were subsequently identified as impeding trans-boundary infrastructure development: lack of capacity for

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POST-EVENT REPORT project preparation; lack of funding; lack of capacity; and lack of private sector involvement. NEPAD has, therefore, structured PIDA implementation around five instruments to address these challenges. The PIDA Service Delivery Mechanism is designed to assist project owners and member states with the required capacity for early stage project preparation to achieve bankability. The Continental Business Network (CBN) is a platform to engage key private-sector entities with the intention of catalysing finance and providing policy advice. Policy and regulatory support is meant to unblock soft issues that can impede infrastructure development. The fourth instrument is information management through the virtual PIDA information centre, an online portal intended as a one-stop shop for all stakeholders.

Finally, the Presidential Infrastructure Champions Initiative is geared to champion selective projects by participating heads of state; President Zuma is championing the North-South Corridor.

How can Africa finance its infrastructure development? A 2014 report published by NEPAD in conjunction with the UN Economic Commission for Africa urged Africa to look inwards for infrastructure project resource mobilisation. Currently, there are remittances of over US$62 billion annually; illicit financial flows of the order of US$50 billion; mineral revenues of US$160 billion; and a potential stock market capitalisation of some US$1 trillion. Further, 28 out of 52 pension funds are valued at US$1 trillion, but have invested only 2.9% in infrastructure over the past five years, mostly in unlisted equity instruments. Consequently, the CBN published a report in 2016 on de-risking African infrastructure investment, which concluded that the perception of Africa as a risky investment destination continues to impede development. It is, therefore, necessary to develop innovative financing mechanisms, which would require reviewing current legislation, e.g. on pension funds and their ability to invest in infrastructure projects. NEPAD advocates for infrastructure projects to be reclassified as an asset class that can

Kobie Brand attract African pension funds. At the same time, an enabling policy, legal and regulatory environment must facilitate private-sector investment. To this end, a harmonised model law is proposed for member states to adapt.

Recognising the important link between infrastructure and trade, in 2016, NEPAD launched Move Africa, to address soft issues related to cross-border transport and logistics challenges, with a view to driving down costs and increasing efficiencies for logistics companies and manufacturers in various industries. Move Africa is currently monitoring and trouble-shooting inefficiencies at border posts and ports of entry.

Hastings Chikoko

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The PIDA capacity-building project, PIDA Cap, funded by the African Development Bank, has deployed experts throughout the regional economic communities.

The 2016 PIDA Week theme was “Creating jobs through regional infrastructure development”.

NEPAD is developing a methodology to forecast the job-creation potential of large-scale infrastructure development, stimulate national commitment, attract investors and accelerate project development.

NEPAD is promoting an integrated corridor development approach to ensure integrated planning and development. The approach will maximise infrastructure benefits, enhance bankability and provide a more coherent approach to deliver trans-boundary mega-projects that boost and champion regional integration.

Africa needs to be positioned as leading its own industrialisation and transformation. This requires a focus on the collective strength and integration of the continent’s markets and countries. The perception of Africa as a risky investment destination should be debunked through mobilisation of internal resources and increased allocation of public investment in infrastructure. Collaboration between the private and public sector has to be strengthened. Project preparation capacity also has to be strengthened, including the structuring of project finance. Inclusive development that takes youth and women into account should be promoted.

Placing water at the centre Kobie Brand, Regional Director, ICLEI, spoke on the topic of “City-secure, water-secure: Placing water at the centre of city resilience strategies and their development”.

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POST-EVENT REPORT Water is pivotal to sustainable development in Africa and will be the defining resource in our shared future, determining how and where we live, our economic successes and failures, our development path and our shared future. More than 40% of the world’s water-stressed population lives in sub-Saharan Africa, while only 9% of the world’s renewable water resources are located here. This presents a unique opportunity. Less than half the infrastructure required by 2035 has been built, calling for an infrastructure boom of dazzling proportions to shape the cities we want. The continent’s population is expected to double by 2035, mostly in cities. The outcomes will depend on the actions of Africa’s political, civic and business leaders. Innovation, employment and economic growth will reward right action; the alternative is instability and sluggish economies. Climate projections are uncertain: we need to act accordingly. Uncertainty is especially acute at a local level. However, broad trends are clear: the Sahel and East Africa are drying out. The number of people living in water-scarce areas is set to double. A water and sanitation revolution is required.

Access to water and institutional capacity to provide it are not in place in large parts of Africa. The region is one of the most vulnerable in the world, with increasing extreme and fluctuating weather events, as experienced by South Africa recently. The lack of reliable data makes it difficult for city leaders to make informed decisions to address climate change. Some of the cities that are best prepared are those who follow cautionary approaches comprising: responsible leadership driving change and innovation while connecting with other cities and understanding that cities are powerful drivers for

change; planning and preparation that unpack risks including the water-food-energy nexus, decoupling water usage from their growth strategies, which may lead to green economy jobs for the future; the development of robust integrated city development plans with their communities, sharing a vision for a sustainable future addressing short-term gains and long-term determination alike; and placing water management at the centre as being essential for our very survival.

A lot more water is required: infrastructure is key.

Cities can partner with universities and others to build new technical capacities and skills, investing in multidisciplinary planning teams to assist the mayor.

Pravin Gordhan

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Simply fixing leaks can save 32 billion cubic metres of treated water a year. Many emerging waste-water recycling technologies exist. Biogas and sludge can be turned into energy and fertiliser. Desalination still requires further research. A wide range of nature-based solutions such as healthy wetlands and river systems cost a fraction of large dams, which are vulnerable to climate variability. Nature is essential for our survival in many ways and cities are extremely important actors in this space. Essential natural systems must be protected: their collapse will set off a negative domino effect. Cities can also help an essential global shift in how citizens regard water. Demand is set to keep growing so water has to be priced correctly. Building water markets has the potential to help cities through dry spells. Food production can be moved closer to cities, waterwise crops promoted and urban-rural linkages improved. Cities can invest in improved census and data systems to connect communities and administration, especially in times of crisis. African cities are advised to join the City of Tshwane and 53 other cities in signing the Ekhuruleni Declaration on Water for Cities, calling on governments and international finance institutions for assistance in developing locally relevant solutions that address social ills, youth unemployment, gender issues and community well-being. Water is a precious commodity, not merely a service to be delivered.

“The nineteenth century was a century of empires.

The twentieth century was a century of nation states. But the 21st century will be a century of cities.”

Transition to mega-cities Regional Director of Africa C40 Climate Leadership Group, Hastings Chikoko, spoke on the topic of “The transition to sustainable mega-cities as a panacea for sustainable development in Africa”.

Sustainable cities are necessary for Africa to achieve managed development. The AU Agenda 2063 outlines strategies to achieve the Africa we want to see rather than what others have defined

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POST-EVENT REPORT for us. It recognises that the narrative of Africa is changing: Africa is no longer characterised by conflict, poverty and illness, but it is an Africa on the move. Seven out of the ten fastest-growing economies are in Africa. Agenda 2063 calls for a prosperous Africa based on inclusive, sustainable growth with climate-resilient cities. Managed development in Africa, however, is facing huge threats from climate change. The next three to four years will determine whether the world mitigates the worst effects of climate change. Cities will bear the brunt of them in terms of climate refugees, collapsing food systems, flooding, extreme heat and other symptoms, putting the health and wellbeing of urban residents in jeopardy and straining social services to the maximum. More than 70% of cities are already feeling the impact of climate change, irrespective of politics. Our best hope in achieving managed development is in the global delivery of the COP21 Paris Agreement, putting development and finance mechanisms in place.

National governments cannot deliver the Paris Agreement alone: we require a transition to sustainable, resilient cities. The 2016 C40 Mayors’ Summit responded to the Paris Agreement with Deadline 2020: the world’s first roadmap for cities to follow in this regard. Reasons that capital cities are a panacea for managed, resilient, sustainable development in Africa include the fact that the contribution and impact of cities in addressing global climate change: cities use 60% of the world’s energy resources and are responsible for 70% of emissions, making them best placed to reduce them. Some 98% of C40 cities are vulnerable to climate change, threatening national GDP. One-third of the projected emission reductions will depend on city’s actions, placing the responsibility on mayors’ shoulders. C40 research indicates 27 000 actions that mayors can initiate

Lalao Harivelo Rakotonirainy Ravalomanana, Mayor of Antananarivo

before 2020, including 2 300 high-impact, readily deliverable actions that could save 450 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide, equivalent to the emissions of the entire UK economy.

Mayors are showing increasingly bold commitment. In 2017, a climate leadership deficit emerged in the US presidency, but US mayors have stood in the gap. Across the world, members of the Global Covenant of mayors are coming together to take action and measure impacts.

Sustainable cities work in collaboration with each other: platforms such as the African Capital

Carlos Alberto Decarvalho Bandeira Dos Ramos & Carlos Alberto Dos Santos Silva Costa

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Cities Sustainability Forum are very important, because once committed, mayors actually plan and deliver action. Some 70% of sustainable activities in C40 cities stem from city-to-city collaboration. C40 has tracked the increasing level of actions from some 9 000 in 2011 to 11 000 at present. Of these, 64% are financed by the cities’ own budgets. Cities are increasingly finding innovative climate-resilient financing mechanisms.

At the same time, sustainable cities measure and report the impact of their actions, holding themselves accountable. Availability of credible data is essential. Cities are encouraged to report through international platforms, which can be facilitated

by C40 and ICLEI. Multilateral cooperation across the continent Xolile George, CEO of the South African Local Government Association, spoke on the importance of cities achieving multilateral cooperation across the continent.

Since inception, the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum has made impressive achievements. It is inspiring that the majority of city leaders across the continent have heeded the call for sustainable leadership, suggesting that the local government, the sphere closest to the people, is in good hands.

The rapid rate of urbanisation is our new normal. African cities have to plan today to meet the service demands of the future. Climate change poses an unprecedented risk and is the biggest challenge of our time, as Kofi Annan observed: it threatens the wellbeing of billions, and undermines the human rights to food, water and shelter, which is felt most acutely by the poorest of the poor. Climate-resilient strategies

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POST-EVENT REPORT are urgently required at a local, provincial, national and international level. As leaders, the local government has to join hands across borders and all levels of society. Multilateral cooperation across the continent must lead to Africa gaining increased development support aligned to African interests and enhance the exchange of lessons and good practice between countries.

Urbanisation and climate change are inextricably linked. The post COP-21 era has seen the coalescence of a number of development imperatives including disaster, finance, safety and environmental protection. However, countries’ nationally determined contributions (NDCs) have not reflected the role of cities, particularly in Africa. Cities must be mobilised to enhance urban development that realises mitigation opportunities and enhances resilience. African cities do not rank among the highest emitters generally, but certain cities are rapidly reaching that point: it is critical that they are supported in their growth and development.

The global climate change battle will ultimately be won or lost in the world’s cities. In South Africa, 18 cities or towns accommodate some 50% of the population, occupying only 4% of the country’s land mass but consuming half the country’s energy and fuel reserves while producing 70% of the GDP. These urban spaces require sustainable integrated development if they are to remain socio-economic drivers.

To drive inter-city collaboration and sustainable development, the most important lever is the benefit of inter-city learning and exchange and the adaptation of external good practices to local contexts. SALGA has fostered this within South Africa, collaborating with its counterparts in Africa, Europe and North America. These inter-association

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partnerships are essential to the cross-pollination of ideas and a culture of multilateral cooperation. For the NDCs to be successfully implemented, local government associations must ensure the cascading of NDCs to achieve the following three outcomes: • Quantification and inclusion of city-level contributions to emission reduction efforts, developing greenhouse gas inventories and tracking them across all sectors.

• Target setting and reporting: cities must set short-and long-term targets and define emission-reduction trajectories, e.g. aligning them with integrated development plans, and have reporting systems in place.

• Policy coherence: local government associations must assist the local and national government regionally to integrate and harmonise policies and regulatory instruments.

Mayors round table An outcome of the inaugural African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum in June 2015 was the Tshwane Declaration 2015, a pledge by the Mayors of African Capital Cities to pursue sustainable development trajectories. A working version of the declaration, which has not been actively monitored to date, was closely scrutinised by the Mayoral Delegations during ACCSF 2017 and a draft was produced, which was supported by all the delegations. Further to the approved declaration, which was to be translated into French and Portuguese, there was agreement that the City of Tshwane should provide a secretariat function to support the forum. This would include continuous engagements with each of the Capital Cities in between each annual gathering to ensure implementation of the declaration. City of Tshwane accepted the nomination

Mayors tours The Mayoral Delegations of the African Capital Cities were taken on a city tour on 15 June 2017.

The tour departed from the Lynwood Bridge City Lodge and the delegations were first taken to the Municipal Headquarters, Tshwane House, in the City’s Central Business District. Here they were taken on a tour of the building, led by the Executive Mayor of City of Tshwane, Cllr Solly Msimanga, during which all its sustainability features were discussed. The visit to Tshwane House also enabled a discussion on the final version of the Tshwane Declaration 2017, a direct outcome of the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum, as well as the handing over of gifts to each delegation, kindly sponsored by Nissan and Beka Schreder.

On departure from Tshwane House, the delegates were taken to Freedom Park, a cultural facility located on a hilltop with a panoramic view of the city and a tribute to the people and process that ensured the end of illegitimate governance and the advent of democracy in South Africa.

Here, they were treated to a tour of the facility as well as traditional South African cuisine.

After lunch, they departed for their last stop, the Menlyn Park Shopping Mall, which recently underwent a multi-billion rand refurbishment programme. The delegations were treated to VIP treatment and escorted around the mall whilst indulging in some retail therapy before convening again for a communal dinner at a restaurant with a local flavour, conveniently situated in the mall.

This was the closing dinner and several delegations left shortly afterwards. The balance of the delegates left on Friday 16th June and the last delegation left on 17 June.

This delegation, which was from Chad was taken on a personalised tour of both City of Tshwane and City of Johannesburg with a special emphasis on mosques as it was the month of Ramadan and it gave them the opportunity to prayer in dedicated facilities as well as experience the country’s heritage. The personalised tour also included the Union Buildings, the Struggle Icon Statues at the Groenkloof Nature Reserve, and the Hector Pietersen Memorial in Soweto, Johannesburg.

Before the official start of the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum, the delegates that had arrived in advance of the gathering were also shown around the city. On Sunday 11 June, four delegates were taken to the Wonderboom Airport Air Show, which they thoroughly enjoyed, and the following day, they were taken to witness a large-scale solar baking technology being developed under the auspices of the Swiss Embassy.

Thereafter, they enjoyed lunch on the banks of the sunny Roodeplaat dam, a relaxing start to the week.

All the transport around the city was provided

by Tshwane Bus Services as the city is in support of mass transit over private vehicular mobility in a bid to reduce its travel-related carbon emissions.

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SUMMARY OF THE MAYORS’ SUSTAINABILITY LEADERSHIP SHARES AND PROJECTS Nairobi, Kenya Nairobi is a sprawling city with five million inhabitants and many environmental problems. Population growth and slum development has put A strain on housing, roads, and water supply. The New Plan, which addresses housing and infrastructure needs, is being implemented. Densification of housing is proceeding apace. As the road network is completed and expanded, non-motorised traffic is being addressed. This entails keeping motorbikes out of these spaces. Water supply demand is 740 cubic metres daily but only 80% is being supplied. Water supply has to be negotiated with neighbouring regional authorities. Boreholes only supply 2%.

Another challenge is non-revenue water, which is lost through leakage and non-payment (30%).

A World Bank programme aims to redress this.

Finally, solid waste management is a challenge: 2 400 tonnes of waste are produced daily but only 1 800 are collected (80%). This is up from 50% over one year. The biggest challenge is waste disposal: the landfill is 98% full.

Jerve Henri Victoria, Seychelles Africa’s smallest capital, Victoria, is faced with challenges of fuel consumption. To reduce dependency on fossil fuel, the city has an incentive scheme for renewable energy investment.

Businesses and homes are being encouraged to benefit from all-year sunshine and install their own PVC systems. In 2014, a financial rebate system was launched in partnership with the UNDP and GF, worth US$1.3-million, to install PVC systems of 3kw peak. If successful this will reduce fossil fuel usage by 390 metric tonnes a year and offset 23 234 tonnes of C02. The project is providing people with skills and creating new small businesses. PV equipment is tax free and legislation has been passed to allow households and businesses to generate their own electricity. The Ministry of Finance and commercial banks have launched the Seychelles Renewable Energy and Efficiency Programme.

Tax rebates on hybrid vehicles also apply. This programme follows the installation of seven wind turbines in 2013.

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Juba, South Sudan Sanitation management, road planning, solar lighting, land-use planning and inter-city road links present challenges and opportunities. Juba is experiencing rapid population growth and urbanisation in a context of negative climate change impact, including floods, soil erosion and conflict. Sub-standard building, high rent and land demand and traffic congestion are the order of the day. Numerous sanitation challenges stem from inadequate infrastructure and services as well as weak institutional and financial arrangements and limited donor investments. The private sector plays a key role. Lack of reinvestment by the government deters institutional investors. The Juba City Reform Plan seeks to redress this through city-wide inter-agency collaboration, ring-fencing of revenues, electronic revenue collection, transparency, improving accountability for collective revenues. Opportunities include operating and maintaining facilities.

Kampala, Uganda The Kampala Capital City Authority’s vision is for a vibrant, attractive, sustainable city. It has a high migrant worker population. Service delivery challenges include roads and congestion, which has a funding shortfall: projects include the Kampala Institutional and Infrastructure Development Project to improve key roads in the city (World Bank funded) and improve traffic flow. Public and non-motorised transport: the private sector controls public transport; some routes are being revived; the Urban Transport Master Plan envisages a transition to public sector management. Pedestrian walkways are planned. Energy efficiency: widespread use of charcoal and wood fuel for cooking and fossil fuel dependency coupled with low awareness and adoption of renewable alternatives; introduction of solar street lighting and eco-stoves as well as biogas in public schools.

Gervais Henrie, Honourable Member of Parliament-Victoria, Seychelles

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POST-EVENT REPORT are to be taken more seriously by the provincial and national government. Ward councilors, not ministers, are the first to feel the displeasure of the community. Planning has to be proactive, in a long-term framework. Rapid urbanisation and mega-cities require forward sustainable planning.

Kagiso Thutlwe, Mayor- Gaborone, Botswana Gaborone, Botswana Gaborone has a large migrant worker population.

Much waste is generated. Some 15% is plastic, metal 6%, glass 5%, electronics 1%, paper 30%, garden waste 10%, and food 25%. Sustainable projects include: the Gaborone Waste Transfer Station and Recycling Centre, and the Waste Not Pilot Project.

This focuses on one city ward encouraging waste separation and raising awareness. The transfer station has been allocated funding. A challenge is that the landfill is 70km from the city. Trucks break down or sometimes cannot offload waste. Waste can’t be separated at the landfill so a waste sorting and recycling centre is very important. Recycled waste can be sold to waste beneficiators, especially in South Africa.

Lilongwe, Malawi Sustainable projects include street lighting, water and sanitation and road infrastructure. The city has budgeted for the construction of a state-of-the-art inter-city bus terminal. A waste-to-energy project is based at the city dump. Challenges include inadequate project funding and traffic congestion as well as a high traffic accident rate.

Windhoek, Namibia Urbanisation and informal settlements constitute a major challenge. Environmental challenges include poor sanitation and pollution. One solution: upgrade and formalise formal settlements by engaging with private developers to build low-cost housing. A special development framework will inform environmental impact assessments. Move Windhoek is a transport master plan designed to boost sustainability and increase urban mobility.

Windhoek is a leader in water management with

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water reclamation practiced since the 1960s (20% of water supply): new reclamation plants are in the pipeline. There can be no compromise with health and sanitation: resources are being allocated.

Waste management: Windhoek aims to reclaim its title of cleanest African city. Electricity and energy efficiency: a renewable energy policy is being developed.

Mbabane, Swaziland The revised State of Environment report includes management guidelines for biodiversity, water and sanitation, climate change, energy and air pollution.

The 2013 Integrated Development Plan allocates budget over a five-year period to achieve sustainable development goals. Mbabane is ISO9001 compliant. The waste management strategy sets out an integrated waste hierarchy. School learners are educated about hygiene and the environment.

There are two major waste recycling and buy-back centres producing ten tonnes of compost and fostering small businesses. Green economy initiatives embrace economic empowerment for all groups (youth, women). In 2016, 23 tonnes of waste were diverted from landfill. Several environmental partnerships exist to share best practices. Mbabane is the greenest municipality in Swaziland.

Tshwane, South Africa Municipalities need to be strict in approving building plans from a sustainability viewpoint.

Tshwane has the most green buildings in SA: it’s mandatory to include green building principles.

The green economy has the potential to uplift the youth. Mayors need to lead the way: Tshwane will take waste from neighbouring countries.

Expertise has to be shared, especially if mayors

Accra, Ghana Town planning and informal settlements: “build before planning” challenges can’t be redressed through brute force: participatory governance is required to engage the people. The Green Accra project aims to keep green spaces green to avoid encroachment. Road and traffic congestion: a park-and-ride service for the city centre seeks to reduce congestion and carbon emissions.

Electricity supply: 100% accessibility. Energy efficiency: smart meters have been introduced; people are becoming more energy conscious. Stormwater drainage and flooding control: the Asda Project is revisiting the entire Accra drainage system; dredging has commenced to combat flooding. Sanitation: there is a Sanitation Day every month where citizens combine forces to clean up. Waste transfer stations: all landfill sites are being evacuated; the Lavender Hill Project aims to treat fecal matter before it is released into the water. The mayor’s seven-point agenda addresses waste management, traffic management, infrastructure development, cash flow, asset management, economic development and job creation. Smart revenue collection increases funding for projects.

Abuja, Nigeria Town planning and informal settlements: perhaps the greatest challenge. Abuja is a planned city conceptualised as an integrated sustainable city with environmental issues at the centre. Different zones are sequentially integrated in a harmonised manner (grid-iron street pattern). Abuja’s neighbourhoods are only 30% inhabited with 30% infrastructure completed, but population influx has distorted the master-plan: informal settlements are proliferating on the boundary. Basic infrastructure is lacking: water, roads, electricity, sanitation, solid waste management.

Solutions: good urban governance (accountable, responsible); reorientation initiatives to conscientise population regarding sustainability: five-year development programme with the African Development Bank to build necessary infrastructure.

Bir Lehlou (provisional capital), Sahrawi City management has improved in the last few years: citizens are included in all tasks and the need for sanitation and basic services is widely accepted. Water is scarce: international donors have funded wells (20 litres per person). Solar energy benefits from day-long sun. Free Wi-Fi facilitates communication and learning. Tree-planting is planned to create green spaces. Saharan women play a leading role in the health and education sectors.

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POST-EVENT REPORT Banjul, the Gambia Climate change: sea defences protect from erosion (coconut trees). Solar street lighting covers a quarter of the city. By 2025, the whole city should be covered. Waste management: a waste-to-energy project is being set up.

Monrovia, Liberia Unplanned migration due to war has caused population explosion and growth of informal settlements: 50% of five million are youth: integration is a challenge. Primary objective: clean, green and safe. Solid waste challenge: 50% of waste was collected in the last year, up from 25%. Sea erosion: more and more land is being taken away, but people still build homes on the coast: they are priority candidates for low-cost housing; construction also provides work for youths. Historical sites also need to be developed.

Rabat, Morroco Since 2009, the city of Rabat’s sustainability strategy has been aligned with a national strategy of sustainable development aimed at combating the vulnerability, poverty and exclusion of the poorest social strata. Energy: the aim is to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels by 48% by 2030 through the implementation of the Moroccan solar programme—a series of projects around solar energy with a capacity of 2 000 MW—and the construction of the largest thermal power plant in the world (580 MW) as well as the largest wind power plant in Africa (300 MW). In general, the city’s sustainability programmes revolve around five strategic axes: local economic development, road infrastructure development, the enhancement of cultural parks, the preservation of green spaces, the modernisation of transport equipment, the regeneration of the urban fabric and improved access to local social services and facilities.

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso The guidelines contained in Ouagadougou Vision 2021 foresee the urbanisation of the city through spatial extension, population growth, mobility management, waste management, housing management, and the employment of young people and women. Spatial development entails the development and equipment of peripheral districts, the promotion of governance and effective economic development, and securing the urban environment of the municipality. A particular challenge is waste management, which has prompted the creation of the “green brigade”, a team composed of 3 000 women for the maintenance and cleanliness of streets. The establishment of 35 garbage collection centres with seven sorting centres, accompanied by a subcontracting programme to put in place a system of runoff water management, constitutes an important preventive measure against flooding.

Bujumbura, Burundi With a rapidly growing population, Bujumbura faces the challenge of urban development. Advances

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Clara Doe Mvogo, Mayor- Monrovia, Liberia have been made in street paving and the management of waste, energy and water. Burundi’s renewable energy potential is still underexploited: hydropower stands at only 33.84 MW of 1 700 MW, while wind and biomass are not exploited at all. The overall electrification rate is very low. A solar street lighting project has been launched to remedy this.

A waste management strategy is in the final stages of development and will be launched soon.

transport can provide a better management system.

Electricity supply is managed by a private company; the use of solar panels is encouraged. Some 80 to 90% of Libreville is covered with water: runoff control is done privately, followed by municipal hygiene control.

The same strategy is applied to sanitation infrastructure: solid waste is dealt with by a private company, Averda. Libreville’s healthcare infrastructure needs to be updated.

N’djamena, Chad The city’s green city development strategy aims at implementing protected politics of the environment by the year 2030. The mission is to achieve a Chad that is free from disease, hunger, and malnutrition.

This plan extends from 2018 to 2022. Five axes of development have been defined: agriculture and health, communication for behavior change, land protection, infrastructure and other investment, and research for the development of green cities. Seventeen different agricultural activities have been identified for improvement, including the application of organic fertiliser, non-organic fertilisers, and the use of pesticide for disease control. The treatment of household refuse and bio-degradable organic debris makes it possible to obtain biochemical compounds to achieve high production, which is a source of employment for the population.

Akanda, Gabon The municipality of Akanda is located in the north of Libreville. Its chief difficulty is essentially the non-decentralisation of certain state competences: road and congestion, public and non-motorised transport, electricity, and energy efficiency are the preserve of the state; however, the municipality of Akanda has implemented three programmes regarding the urban planning of informal areas, based on raising awareness and the promoting the availability of natural resources.

Akanda includes Akanda Park, an arboretum that covers rare species in the world with an area of 8 000 hectares. This calls for a balance between building development and preservation of the environment.

All wildlife species have now been listed.

Libreville, Gabon Libreville intends to become a city of the future. Since 2014, the municipality has followed a multi-sector development strategy to allow the city to become a business city. Informal settlements have to be taken into account. In Gabon, and especially in Libreville, there are two types of roads: national roads depend directly on the central state while urban roads depend on different municipalities, which is still a difficulty for the city due to the ineffective decentralisation of the state that has not yet allocated funds to genuinely maintain the road networks. Traffic congestion and bottlenecks are familiar problems. There is a large parking space deficit. Public transport and non-motorised

Bangui , Central African Republic Bangui is in a state of economic and social fragmentation reflected by incredibly poor infrastructure. In the face of this situation, detrimental to the development of the city of Bangui, the international Association of French-speaking Mayors (AMF) and the European Union are engaging in the development of a city development plan focused on water, sanitation and health.

This plan, which serves as a tool for improving local performance, could also strengthen the sustainable development of the city. The vision of the city of Bangui is to develop a participatory governance approach involving both men and women to combat major water-related diseases, and improve sanitation as well as basic social services. A realistic urbanisation plan to develop road infrastructure is under discussion.

Further projects include: to improve the quality of

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POST-EVENT REPORT basic social services, health centres, and primary schools in the eight districts of the city of Bangui; to increase accessibility to quality healthcare; to strengthen the capacity for garbage collection with the involvement of the population; and to increase the supply of drinking water in the 8 districts of the city of Bangui. The overall objective is to contribute to the fight against poverty and to develop an inclusive society through the implementation of a local sustainable development policy that fosters the local and economic development of the urban territory, aided by a population trained to use water resources efficiently and to participate in hygiene measures through these socio-economic programmes. To this must be added the strengthening of local elected officials and the creation of jobs for young people, which is a prerequisite for sustainable development. The municipal council is primarily responsible for the implementation and mobilisation of resources, and the monitoring and evaluation of each micro-project.

Moroni, Comores Communal services have only been an issue since 2015, when the Comores’ first election by universal voting took place. Institutional decentralisation is not effective in the Comores: many problems are encountered such as considerable delays in infrastructure and basic facilities: roads, congestion, lack of urban transport, public lighting, street addresses, geological hazards, hydro-meteorological hazards (tsunamis, cyclones), floods and health risks. However, to address these issues, there are projects underway: the study on the development of a city development plan; conservation and enhancement of the historic heart in relation to cultural heritage. Sustainable development actions are also in progress: mapping, rehabilitation of urban roads, widening of major roads, the development of a municipal drainage system and sewerage is in progress; land use policy combined with strict control; a project to build a waste sorting and management centre with the construction of a waste treatment unit and power generation based on organic waste.

Mr. Mohamed Daoudou, Minister Of Home Affairs-Moroni, Comoros

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Lalao Harivelo Rakotonirainy Ravalomanana, Mayor of Antananarivo Antananarivo, Madagascar Regarding household waste, systematic removal is not enough for the long-term discharge problem.

The promotion of urban agriculture is encouraged, partly as a solution to the waste problem, and also because it can improve nutrition, produce enough food to supply the cities, and create decent income.

To create green islands within neighbourhoods, community members are being mobilised for the systematic sorting of waste; household waste will be treated to produce compost for vegetable crops.

The proliferation of composting sites and green islets significantly reduces the cost of household waste management. Compost surplus will be sold to farmers in the surrounding rural areas.

Niamey, Niger The city is facing four major challenges. The first major challenge is the urban transport. The lease of the urban transport company of the city must be renewed. The second challenge is the establishment of a waste processing unit. Currently, rapid urbanisation has meant that the city of Niamey does not have a final dump. This raises the issue of a transit centre, because when wastes are collected, they must be taken somewhere before they are transported to the final centre. The third challenge is public lighting. The city has developed a solar kit acquisition project, and now the city is trying to replace most electric lampposts with solar lampposts.

Finally, the fourth challenge is that of flooding. But now the city is building a 5km dike for protection against recurrent floods and to increase agricultural production.

Nouakchott, Mauritania Nouakchott is a miracle city because it was built between the desert and the Atlantic Ocean, and is based on a water table that is within 3 metres.

The belt that protects the city from floods is often eroded by the impact of human activities and on the other side to the north there is desert encroachment. The city’s policy of rehabilitation and backup has created the necessary by taking precautionary

measures to stop the eradication of the protective belt.

Dakar, Senegal Dakar contains 25% of the Senegalese population and is faced with problems common to many overcrowded fast-growing cities. Dakar is also facing environmental vulnerabilities related to extreme weather: pollution of all kinds, coastal erosion, advancing sea, etc.

To bring solutions to Dakar’s many challenges, many innovative projects have been implemented.

Among these, there is a reprofiling programme which involves paving wide roads to fight against street silting. About 40% of garbage usually consists of sand. Other projects include the installation of more than 10 000 solar lampposts, traffic lights; road rehabilitation and expansion, and improving urban mobility with the creation of parking spaces.

São Tomé Principe, São Tomé São Tomé city is faced with challenges of density and overpopulation, which put pressure on solid waste collection and treatment. Climate change is also a threat. The city is responding with strategies of mitigation and adaptation. These include doorto-door collection of solid waste in 20 residential areas, the treatment of waste, and the building of sanitary landfills in partnership with the municipal chamber of Ogre Grande State.

Guinea Bissau The city of Bissau includes more than one-third of the population of Guinea Bissau. Located fewer than 5 metres above sea-level, Bissau is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change: droughts, floods, storms, heat waves, forest fires, and epidemics. Biodiversity is considered a transversal factor. For example, it is vital to maintain the wetlands, which recharge the groundwater and help to prevent floods. Civil construction is also geared towards preserving biodiversity. It is necessary to develop the sustainable management to promote sustainable economic growth.

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POST-EVENT REPORT

SIDE EVENTS AND SEMINARS Green Building Conference 2017

This year’s conference was structured around the theme of Changing Climate: Changing Cities, in recognition of the impacts of climate change on South African cities. The conference structure was based on spatial and temporal scales, commencing with the long-term temporal scale of climate change, and the impacts at a national spatial scale. From here, the programme progressively drilled down in both temporal and spatial scale through structural elements of the city including the natural environment and the constructed environment, illustrating that, ultimately, the two structural elements will need to become one.

Following the introductions and welcomes by stakeholders, the conference theme was introduced by Prof. Francois Engelbrecht from the CSIR who shared the latest climate change projections for South Africa and what these mean for human settlements, especially with regard to a hotter and drier climate.

He was supported by Dr Dirk Conradie, also from the CSIR, who indicated how buildings could respond to a hotter climate utilising passive design measures. These measures include effective solar shading and insulation from radiant heat.

After morning tea, the focus shifted to greening the city through various measures. Claire Janisch from Biomimicry South Africa provided examples of how adopting strategies employed by nature could assist cities in both adapting to while also mitigating climate change. Examples included green infrastructure such as constructed wetlands and sustainable urban drainage. Dr Piet Vosloo from the University of Pretoria provided a case study review of a green wall implemented at the university, and the benefits and risks associated with artificially created green walls. Graham Young, also from the University of Pretoria, discussed the emerging field of landscape ecology, recognising that increasingly, the boundary between landscape and building is rapidly disappearing. He provided case studies of projects implemented in Johannesburg where this new approach has been followed. This session concluded with a presentation from Yolandi Schoeman on the advantages of constructed wetlands as a green infrastructure tool, and the risks associated with its design and construction.

After lunch, the focus shifted to the built environment, with a keynote presentation by the international speaker Marcelo Ignatios, who shared

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Dorah Modise the work they are doing in the city of Sao Paulo. The presentation showed the many ways that South African cities could learn from approaches being adopted in international cities. This presentation was followed by a review of the South African Institute of Architects/Afrisam Sustainability Awards by Dr Daniel Ururah from the University of the Witwatersrand. The award is one of the most rigorous and, thus, prestigious sustainability awards on the continent, and the review showed the progress that has been made in the implementation of green design in projects over the lifespan of the award programme.

Following tea, Mfundo Xulu from the National Department of Public Works shared the green building vision that the department has developed and the programmes that will be implemented going forward, including the adoption of green building norms and standards for new government projects. This session was supported by a presentation by Henk Boogertman, an architect and Project Manager for the new Menlyn Maine Precinct in Pretoria.

This precinct demonstrates how people and the planet can be included in new precinct planning for South African cities.

The conference ended with a summary and conclusion by the conference chair, Llewellyn van Wyk, using The Lord of the Rings as a metaphor for the choices facing environmental design professionals as they grapple with changing cities in the face of a changing climate.

Sustainable Agriculture And Food Security Seminar 2017 Towards a truly sustainable agricultural system Hendrik Smith, Conservation Agriculture Facilitator, Grain SA The need for a (more) sustainable agriculture system is predicated on the major problems and threats faced and caused by agriculture. These include serious levels of water erosion, wind erosion, declining biodiversity exacerbated by the use of hazardous agricultural chemicals, and especially climate change. Now an established fact, climate change will test all agricultural systems to the limit.

In the face of declining agricultural yields worldwide, conservation agriculture (CA) promises to be a solution. A modelling case study showed a very large monetary benefit of adopting commercial CA systems, illustrating improved viability of maize production, as a result of cost reduction owing to

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POST-EVENT REPORT lower input use, increases in yields, less emission into the environment and carbon sequestration.

Carbon sequestration in the terrestrial biosphere is relatively cost-effective and has numerous co-benefits. Technological options have been widely proven, and are immediately available for wide-scale applications in diverse eco-regions. It is important to identify policies that promote the adoption of appropriate technologies by land managers in developed and developing countries.

Key principles of a sustainable agricultural system: Awareness and recognition of soil as a vital living ecosystem that sustains plants, animals and humans; 95% of terrestrial diversity is within the soil itself. We need a better understanding of soil life and biology and how to put that life back into the soil.

Designing agricultural systems by mimicking nature: Integrated soil fertility and acidity management, integrated weed management, integrated pest and disease management, integration of animals.

Sustainable agriculture is an interactive process between researchers, farmers and extension officers, which can lead to a farmer-led innovation process aimed at building on and improving farmers’ inherent capacity as researchers (innovation capacity), with researchers using and improving farmers’ observations and analyses.

Stakeholders across the value chain will benefit from using every opportunity to maximise learning with farmers.

Agriculture: The “new gold” Prof Willie Breytenbach, Stellenbosch University With regard to agriculture and food security in the framework of environmental sustainability and the green economy, the important questions to ask are: Who pays for sustainability? How green is nuclear energy? How safe are GMOs? What is the role of emerging farmers who grow staple grains (wheat, maize, rice, injera) as well as small farmers involved in pastoralism (meat and drink) versus cash crops? What is the appropriate role for foreign and local agribusiness investments and where are the markets?

Energy is a critical factor: modern farming requires reliable electricity. South Africa currently relies on fossil fuels and nuclear power. To expand nuclear power requires significant foreign direct investment. Hydropower is vulnerable to climate change: renewable energy based on solar, wind as well as methane offers a “green power” solution.

However, political will to fast-track renewable energy is currently lacking in South Africa.

“Food is the new oil”, according to Forbes.

The most lucrative cash crops are cocoa, cotton, coffee, sisal, forestry, sugar, rubber and palm oil.

The chief risk is fluctuating currencies and economic cycles. Meanwhile, food security depends on variables such as land, water, credit, skills, equipment and transportation, seeds, fertiliser, pesticides, and irrigation. The “green revolution”

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in Asia and Latin America offers lessons to reduce ecological scarcities and make sustainability profitable.

The “new gold” will be found in countries with a blend of cash crops and surplus food, with higher levels of urbanisation and higher production through efficient transportation and warehousing, mainly in Southern Africa (SA, Zambia, Botswana) and Eastern Africa (Tanzania, Kenya).

Creating agricultural entrepreneurs to ensure sustainable production of essential and specific crops Bennie van Zyl, CEO, TLU SA Agricultural entrepreneurs have to master the production factors: entrepreneurship, labour, capital, resources (land). Entrepreneurship as a production factor is the sum total of the expertise that an individual has to apply in his business. If the economy doesn’t support the minimum wage, it is irresponsible. Resources must be used in balance. Capital is not freely available—it is created by means of growth and savings. Farming expertise needed by entepreneurs includes acceptance of responsibility, a sense of urgency, decision making, and general management skills, all of which must be future driven and governed by passion.

The economy has to be done in the right way or not at all. Entrepreneurs account for fewer than 10% of the population—one cannot create

entrepreneurs but can develop those with the capacity. Profitability and growth is the goal. The market is the decisive instrument. Success begins with a sound and stable policy environment. Some 66% of the population are urbanised—the commercial farming sector is needed to produce food.

Sustainable production consists of: • Creating an environment where entrepreneurs want to invest (trust) • Ownership / property rights—collateral • Research and development • High-quality extension services • Training and experience (skills) • Cost and availability of finance • Support programmes Each farm is a business entity in its own right. The knowledge required to farm is very diverse and extensive. Training for crop production alone, for example, is not sufficient to become a grain farmer. Some knowledge of mechanisation, risk management, financial planning, marketing, labour management, etc. will also be required. The outcome always depends on the individual farmer.

Scalable and low-cost solutions for subsistence farmers Robin Hills, Food and Trees for Africa With the use of sustainable farming techniques, it is possible to achieve food security and generate income and employment through urban agriculture on an extremely low-cost basis, which can be scaled

Bopang Khutsoane, Department of Transport Prof.

Stephanie Midgley

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POST-EVENT REPORT

Hendrik Smith up to a commercial farmer level. How this can be achieved was illustrated with reference to numerous projects run by Food and Trees for Africa.

Started in 1990, Food and Trees for Africa is a South African national social, non-profit Company (NPC) and public benefit organisation (PBO) with a strong focus on B-BBEE compliance and carbon. It is the largest food security organization in South Africa.

Achievements to date include planting 4.5 million+ trees in communities across South Africa, establishing 5 000+ food gardens in historically disadvantaged communities and training 15 000+ schools since 2008. Its Farmer Eco Enterprise Development (FEED Africa) supports and grows emerging organic farmers through land and infrastructure development, training and mentoring support, to take produce to local and international markets. FEED projects are based on a three-to-five year enterprise development model of a “Core Farm” that supports the core farmers and many outgrowers to ultimately run their projects as independent businesses. Projects start with a feasibility study and are budgeted individually due to the varying size of farms, circumstances and number of people. The programme has won awards including Productivity SA Co-operative of the Year 2015, which went to the Bakotudi Cooperative—Thabazimbi, IDC Project of the Year 2015 (Mogwase, presented as example in Parliament), and the European SEED Award.

Other programmes including the permaculture-based Food Gardens for Africa, Trees for All, Trees for Homes, and Bamboo for Africa.

An important point raised was that the organisation’s approach to agriculture is particularly appropriate where drought is prevalent: “In many regions, drought is an ongoing phenomena we can’t do much about. We can only make our systems more robust and use terraces or contours (swales) to reduce runoff velocity on long or steep slopes.

Keep heavy equipment off exposed soil during the rainy season. Use gravel for parking areas. Don’t disturb

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soil in Autumn. Save natural vegetation wherever possible, as a buffer zone. Plant temporary vegetative cover (annual grasses or clovers) on sites that must remain exposed during the winter.

Use straw or hay to help protect exposed or steep areas until vegetation is established.”

Coordinated joint planning and partnership to combat drought and climate change: lessons from Smar tAgri and other interventions Prof. Stephanie Midgley, African Climate & Development Initiative, UCT South Africa is experiencing a climate crisis: high temperatures and the worst drought in three decades, even worse in the Western Cape, induced by El Niño and compounded by climate change, which is expected to bring more of this. Drought is exacerbated by failed conservation practices and systemic weaknesses e.g. overstocking, poor state of water infrastructure and poverty. The drought has tested the agricultural sector’s adaptive capacity and readiness for climate change and exposed weaknesses in planning in the short-, medium- and long-term.

Drought damages by mid-2016 amounted to at least R4 billion (wheat, fruit, potatoes, livestock— fodder), with more damages from storms, floods, hail and fires. This is unsustainable: We need commitment and investment in policies and practices that reduce and manage climate risks while also providing immediate relief to farmers. It is necessary to link Disaster Risk Reduction & Management, Climate Change Adaptation planning, and the transition to sustainable agriculture. This implies moving from a model of response and relief to one of risk reduction and resilience. Government assistance given primarily through provision of feed for animals and new boreholes is required, Drought relief has been inadequate. Cooperation from organised agriculture, fellow farmers and agricultural businesses is required. A lack of sufficient contingency

funds in government coffers translates into “too little too late”, leaving many poorer farmers, their workers and farming communities still in a very vulnerable position.

The agricultural sector is particularly vulnerable to climate extremes, variability and change—but the impacts will vary widely from place to place.

Smallholder farmers, newly established commercial farmers, and agri-workers, who have limited resources and experience existing stresses, are likely to be hit the hardest by these changes. A strategic and inclusive approach is required to build longterm resilience to climate change through “climate smart agriculture”, food security, and for placing the sector on a clear path towards sustainability and the Green Economy.

The SmartAgri Plan builds on the Western Cape Climate Change Response Strategy (WCCCRS 2014) and is first sectoral response framework and plan for the province, under the Dept of Agriculture and Dept of Environmental Affairs & Development Planning. It aligns with national climate change and agriculture policy frameworks and represents an integrated response built on extensive stakeholder engagement.

Areas for immediate attention include: • Bridging finance to keep farmers on farms • Optimise water usage (surface and ground water) • More accurate predictions of droughts and disasters and better communications with stakeholders on these matters • Develop a social security net to support mostly rural communities and agri-workers adversely affected by drought • Revisit water management and policies currently hampering new infrastructure.

The government has a key role in creating a co-operative and supportive environment as the key requirement for building adaptation readiness.

Sustainable agriculture increases resilience to climate stress. Conservation Agriculture (CA) has much to offer. CA is a farming system, which helps to restore agricultural soils and increases long-term production potential. Principles: minimum disturbance of soil, sound crop rotations, which include legumes, year-round organic soil cover. It is promoted by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry but uptake is slow in most parts of SA. SmartAgri Priority Project 1 is to promote Conservation Agriculture for all commodities and farming systems with the purpose of creating conditions that encourage the adoption of CA principles across the province. CA decreases wind and water erosion, siltation, soil temperature and soil water evaporation. CA increases soil water-holding capacity, beneficial soil micro-organisms, soil fertility, and profitability. CA increases the ability of soils to sequester (absorb and fix) carbon, and reduces greenhouse gas emissions through a reduction in the use of diesel and fertiliser. In the Swartland, “Although grain farmers suffered huge financial losses due to the lack of rain, most of the conservation agriculture farmers were able to recover their input costs. This placed them in a much

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POST-EVENT REPORT better position with regard to input costs for the next season, in comparison to farmers still practicing conventional farming who ended up with production loans that cannot be repaid.” (André Roux, Provincial Drought Dialogue, 23 June 2016.)

In conclusion, jobs are retained and generated and food security supported if agriculture, the government and business can jointly: • Reduce impacts of drought, climate variability and climate change; reduce year-on-year yield variability and price fluctuations • Increase yield potential through a coordinated transition from conventional to sustainable agriculture, with restored soils • Stimulate the agricultural value chain to become part of a transformative system-wide transition towards sustainable agriculture and food security • Develop viable financial models to support this transition, especially for smallholder farmers, and link them into a more sustainable agri-food system • Seize opportunities for investment in the Green Economy linked to this transition to a low-carbon and more resource efficient sector.

Sustainable Energy Seminar (Supply Side) 2017

Clr Darryl Moss R2.5-billion to black empowerment parties and local community trusts.

The following products are typically offered for IPP projects: Long-term debt, 15 years ZAR financing; Equity Finance to support the BEE/LEE partners; Lead Arranger; Underwrite to ensure complete financing package; and funding applied towards feasibility studies and project preparation.

Session 1: Utility Scale Projects in Africa Cllr Darry Moss, MMC for Infrastructure at the City of Tshwane Cllr Moss shared the vision of the city to embrace sustainable energy and laid out the many related projects and initiatives being operated and planned for the city.

Why Africa should make the switch to renewables Ross Harvey, Senior Researcher, South African Institute of International Affairs Africa has long invested in fossil fuel-based electricity generation but this is falling out of favour with investors, with US $5tn worth of fossil fuel-based investments set to be sold off in the near future, while demand for renewables is growing rapidly as costs come down. This may initially seem negative for Africa’s resource-based economies, but the fact is that Africa is also rich in the metals and other resources required for RE projects such as wind and solar: by embracing a diversified decentralised renewable approach instead of locking into energy mega projects. African countries can be climate smart and advance domestic economic development and prosperity.

From greenfield to green energy: Funding IPP start-up projects Lucy Chege, Development Bank of South Africa The DBSA has funded 21 projects in South Africa’s IPP Programme with projects totalling 2 550 MW – 5 CSP projects, 9 PV projects, 5 wind projects and 2 Peaking Plants (portfolio mix). Approximately R15.1billion across round 1 to round 3.5 under the REIPPP and the IPP Peakers: R12.6-billion in senior debt and

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How Africa can spread renewable energy to low-income areas.

Prof David Walwyn, University of Pretoria Prof. Walwyn puts forward the hypothesis that replacing a system of social grants with a subsidised means of individual households becoming energy prosumers (consumers and producers) will have benefits at a number of levels. Benefits include improved access to and the affordability of: electricity; local economic development and job creation; decreasing levels of poverty in low income communities, and simultaneously addressing the need for South Africa’s energy sector to transition to renewable resources.

Panel discussion The panel agreed that all factors were in place for renewable energy to emerge as the primary solution to new energy generation in Africa.

Session 2: utility scale projects in South Africa How renewables can provide base load energy for SA grid Prof. Dr Tobias Niemz, Centre Manager: Energy, CSIR Globally, wind and solar capacity have grown exponentially and along with that, the technology costs have dropped significantly, with comparative new-build LCOE in R/kWh (April-2016-Rand) of wind and solar in South Africa down to 62c. Add to this the country’s very high solar irradiation and wind resources show a competitive advantage in this regard. Thought experiment: a South African grid could run a mix of solar PV, wind and expensive flexible power at a cost 0.90 R/kWh at the

maximum—10% cheaper than alternative baseload new-builds.

Bio Waste to Energy Jaishila Rajput, founder, TOMA-Now Given the significant social, environmental, and economic benefits of developing an effective national value chain to produce electricity from harvested bio-waste from invasive species, this source of electricity should be treated as a priority by thegovernment and developed in partnership with the private sector.

H yd r o g e n f u e l ce l l s a s a s u s t a i n a b l e energy solution Fahmida Smith, Fuel Cell Coordinator, Impala Platinum Fuel Cell (FC) technology offers a massive competitive advantage for South Africa, as South Africa produces 75% of the world’s platinum, a key input in FCs. Beyond this. FCs have many advantages over other low carbon energy technologies: such as land/kWh, position of plant not dictated by availability of resources, output includes hydrogen, energy can be stored, and the capex is where solar started, and projected to decrease rapidly with uptake.

Panel discussion The panel discussed the possibility of moving to a renewable energy baseload paradigm based on wind and solar . Key roles to be played by other technologies, with biomass replacing gas/ diesel and Fuel Cells functioning as a significant energy efficiency solution through co-generation in industrial applications as a starting point.

Sustainable Energy Seminar (Demand Side) Session 1: energy efficiency Facilitating sustainable energy for African Cities Belinda Mills, Professional Officer: Low Carbon Cities, ICLEI Africa

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POST-EVENT REPORT SSEG financial implications for municipalities Richard Gross, GIZ Assumption—SSEG will hurt municipal income, but GIZ offers municipalities an administrative pack, tariff development tools, and training to enable smart SSEG policy rollouts likely to minimise impact on municipal income. The best policies balance fees and feed-in-tariffs in such a way as to protect municipal revenues and allow SSEG to be attractive to consumers. Key enabling actions include a sound application and registration, adequate metering, and tariff structures may need to be revisited.

Panel discussion The panel agreed that the market conditions and forces were such that SSEG, whether through investment by customer or through PPSs would result in significant growth into the future, that the regulatory environment was becoming more conducive, and that municipalities needed to accept this and adapt to ensure their future revenue is linked to SSEG. A systematic approach to long term industrial energy efficiency Tanya Van Zyl, National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa While a long-term systematic approach is key, companies sometimes fall off. What is important when implementing an Energy Management System (EMS) is, first and foremost, the commitment of management, along with that of the energy team, who must all understand that it will take effort and resources to harness the ongoing savings. To this end, communicating the achievements as evidenced from the M&V systems provides motivation for continued commitment.

Panel discussion Integrated systematic approaches to energy efficiency being key, panellists agreed that the market for energy efficiency was maturing and becoming more complex but that a significant opportunity remained embedded in outdated approaches and technologies.

Session 2: small scale embedded generation (SSEG)

Street lighting—part of a city environment Daniel Kasper, Beka Schreder Street lighting can be the foundation for a connected city, beginning with lighting itself, which is efficient LED-based lighting, with variable brightness and the possibility of sensors for further efficiency. The infrastructure of street lights themselves can be used to include multiple parallel functions such as security cameras and sensors to communicate across the city, including energy efficiency into a broader system of benefits.

Private PPAs as a key driver of SSEGs Richard Doyle, Energy Partners Market drivers for small-scale industrial and commercial solar PV include price of grid electricity, price of the technology, shareholder sentiment, long-term sustainability, and the regulatory framework. The PPA based business model offsets the high capex requirement, and the conditions are extremely positive. Capacity and investors built up under REIPPPP are looking for opportunities, trust in ESKOM is at an all-time low, awareness at an all-time high, PV and, thus, PPA prices are down 15% on last year, grid connection and regulatory framework is becoming favourable. The market is already at 300MW installed, with a potential of several gigawatts.

Cutting edge case studies of recent integrated energy efficiency projects Karel Cornielson, Energy Partners Energy Partners’ business model is to provide clean energy through an end-to-end ownership model across multiple technologies and customer segments. Key applications, off-take agreements for electricity in the case of roof top solar, units of steam in the case of a boiler, and units of cool air in the case of air-conditioning solutions. The company designs, constructs, and operates the interventions, structured through off-take agreements with client, where providing ongoing monitoring and reporting is key to operating the model.

Dec 2016 draft regulations: small scale embedded generation—Implications Emma Dempster, Senior Associate, Cliff Dekker Hofmeyr Proposed changes lift the moratorium on the generation of electricity for sale to third-party consumers and pave the way for the PPA business model, but with conditions and limitations.

Projects are only exempted if under 1MW and must be registered with NERSA, provided the capacity of the project in question does not take the total registered generation capacity over a total allowance stipulated in the IRP, indicated to be an initial 10MW.

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Overall summary Energy efficiency remains the ‘first fuel’ and opportunities to improve remain strong, but implementers must commit to a systematic approach to ensure savings are sustained. Large scale supply side generation of renewables in South Africa may be under pressure due to delays on the REIPPPP but at the same time Africa is offering significant opportunities for IPPs, while market conditions and changes to the regulatory framework, locally and nationally, are signalling opportunity for IPPs in the C&I sector.

Transport and Mobility Seminar: 14 June 2017 The Acting Director: Transport and Planning opened the seminar.

Naledzani Mashapa (PRASA) presented a broad view of the transport sector and how it pertained to non-motorised transport (NMT). He articulated the importance of dialogue and engagement with stakeholders in ensuring that the NMT sector moves forward. Mr Mashapa also spoke about the difference that exchange networks, transport curricula, consolidated policies and partnership investments can make to the NMT sector. It was also noted that NMT can be strongly linked with enterprise development especially in light of the hastening urbanisation of cities both in South Africa and across the rest of Africa.

Bongani Mntambo, Tshwane Bus Service and IRPTN Unit, challenged the audience to think about the difference between sustainable transport and unsustainable transport. This was done to challenge the business as the usual paradigm that we move about the world with. Mr Mntambo presented the integrated transport plan of the City of Tshwane where clear points were made about the need for spatial densification and the transformation of the urban design of cities that provide better mobility for all citizens of that city. This point

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POST-EVENT REPORT strongly linked in with Mr Mashapa’s thought about innovative transport strategies linking in with the Integrated Development Plans of cities.

Neil du Preez did not present and so Bopang from the Department of Transport presented the national department’s work on finalising the Green Transport Strategy.

Carel Snyman (SANEDI), who presented on the vision for electric vehicles as a solution to sustainable transport, stimulated thoughts about the vision of the development of a local electric vehicle industry that would clearly ensure that costs of fossil-based fuel would be outperformed by solar-based fuels.

Mr Snyman helped the audience envision a future of transport that would be based solely on renewable energies. For example, he presented a concept called TaaS (transport as a service) that will offer vastly lower cost transport alternatives as well as include a high-paced uptake of the electric vehicle (EV) in the market, which would cause disruptive impacts on the fossil fuel and auto market.

Hiten Parmar (eYilo) presented the concept of SMART technologies that could now be applied to the storage and distribution of energy using the electric vehicle (EV) as the energy hub. Mr Parmar spoke of the comprehensive uptake of EV globally and how this innovation is spawning innovation in many different sectors related to the EV. He spoke about how SMART technologies are being applied to vehicle-to-vehicle applications as well as vehicle-to-everything applications. This means that the EV is now a facilitator of energy to cars and buildings.

Mike Krynauw gave a presentation on Green Transport Indicators—greening logistics through efficiency and efficient vehicles. Mr Krynauw focussed his presentation on the 5 key goals of SMART logistics; the challenges and solutions with regard to logistics; the type of measurements that would be required to understand modal shifts and the role of the data warehouse in helping to better monitor these indicators.

Sydney Bruckner (Engen) shared Engen’s AdBlue concept. AdBlue, he explained, is a synthetic urea solution produced from the organic compound of urea and pure, demineralised water. Mr Bruckner explained that AdBlue is injected in measured quantities into the vehicles exhaust gases, and with the help of the catalytic converter changes the exhaust gas, NOx, which is toxic, to two harmless substances: nitrogen and steam. It effectively reduces NOx by 90%.

The MMC, Councillor Sheila Lynn Senkubuge shared a holistic view of the need for better transport and mobility interventions. She began by quoting a rather gloomy statistic (from a World Health Organization study) that the City of Tshwane has the second highest pollution level in the country. Cllr Senkubuge, however, continued to say

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that this is the reason why operating a rapid bus transport system; operating a bus system that uses compressed natural gas (CNG) and exploring solar power charging is of the utmost importance. She stressed the need for a resilient, resource-efficient and socially inclusive transport strategy that would work to curb pollution and benefit the residents of the city.

The Sustainable Mining Seminar Sustainability Week 2017 Sponsors: • City of Tshwane • Council for Geoscience Facilitator: Lloyd Macfarlane

• Improved financial provision regulations under NEMA • Improved clarity on standard of DMR monitoring and enforcement and on who funds concurrent rehabilitation • More clarity on closure procedures • The opportunities to continue mining old mi What needs to happen?

• Change the law • Enforce the regulations—make the system credible • Calculate all the costs and learn to say no • Encourage investment, create jobs and think long term • Focus on whole deposit mining.

Session1: Mining at the service of the nation James Lorimer, Shadow Minister, Mineral Resources, Democratic Alliance Sustainable extraction: mining as a tool to advance economic and social change South Africa has a US $2, 5 trillion mineral endowment and the mining industry is responsible for tax revenues of R16bn/year. The industry employs 447 000 people and each job supports around 10 people.

However, South Africa’s poor history of environmental sustainability means that meaningful and permanent damage is being done to land and water resources. There are 6 000 abandoned and derelict mines, and only a few are rehabilitated each year.

The total cost of rehabilitation sits at around R40 billion.

The situation is worsened by the R6 billionn per annum illegal mining industry, of which the hawks are only investigating R200 million. There is no legal consequence and no credibility for the law.

South Africa requires better environmental regulation and a single environmental system.:

Mariette Lieferlink, CEO, Federation for a Sustainable Environment Achieving a balance between environmental and socio-economic development considerations through the concept of sustainable development.How is it possible for the economy to continue to grow infinitely within the constraints of a finite planet — there is only one earth. Until enough social pressure can be exerted and today’s perverse economic incentives corrected, our modern economies will continue to function like planet-guzzling monsters engaged in an unsustainable feeding frenzy.

Our laws are clear (The National Environmental Management Act (107/1998)), and yet mining companies are failing to comply, and devastating our ecological resources.

Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) is responsible for the most costly environmental and socio-economic impacts. There are significant human, livestock and natural consequences already.

Our national economic growth has been driven by an externalised cost model and this can no longer be sustained.

Tshego Motsoenyane

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POST-EVENT REPORT Henk Coetzee, Council for Geosciences Rehabilitation and mine water management Acid mine drainage is formed when sulfide minerals oxidise in an aqueous system in a mining environment and mining opens up pathways for water ingress. This has caused major problems in the Witwatersrand basin.

How would we mine the Witwatersrand if we discovered it tomorrow? And what should we be doing now to stem and undo this ecological disaster?

• Reduce existing environmental impacts with appropriate effort to a socially accepted and reasonable level • Reclaim mine sites for value-added reuse promoting long-term regional development • Invest in robust remediation solutions requiring no or limited active aftercare (self-sustaining systems) • Ensure long-term availability of information and knowledge to support institutional control and public awareness Rehabilitation doesn’t always have to be perfect. We need to reduce environmental impacts with appropriate effort—to a socially accepted and reasonable level.

There are many practical and inexpensive rehabilitation solutions that utilise natural processes and materials.

Information and communication is crucial.

The lack of information on historical mine sites is a serious stumbling block in addressing mining legacies. How do we ensure that the information we generate today remains available for future generations?

Theresia Ott, Rio Tinto Viewing the environmental factors in the context of business risks for mining companies There is a huge requirement for biodiversity management and rehabilitation in South Africa, and yet mining companies cannot be expected to perform the full range of management and mitigation functions that are necessary to make this happen.

Coastal dune restoration has taken place over more than a decade at the Rio Tinto mineral sands business in Richards Bay and the net positive effects of an effective programme have resulted in dune restoration and reforestation in this very sensitive ecological area.

It’s possible to take a holistic view on any project and to calculate and plan for reasonable rehabilitation, during and after operations. This doesn’t, however, require stakeholder engagement and stakeholder participation from the government and local community organisations if it is to be effective.

Session 2: Reducing the social and environmental deficit Tsegho Motsoenyane, Chief Operating Officer, Ncamiso Mining Restoring the balance: Post impact rehabilitation of mine dumps Is South Africa leaving a legacy of ruin?

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Mare-Lisa Fourie There are over 6 000 derelict and ownerless mines in South Africa, and most become a state liability.

Only 10 are rehabilitated per year.

Gold mining produces 562 000 times more waste than gold, and Johannesburg has over 270 tailing piles making up roughly 6 billion metric tonnes.

Worse still, toxic, radioactive mine residue covers around 124 square miles in Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Although sustainable and responsible mining is now receiving more attention and consideration, we still face the haunting question: How do we restore the balance in a poor economic climate?

Funding for post-mine closure rehabilitation in retrospect, is a huge issue which severely hinders efforts to restore the land.

Most mine dumps and closed mines still bare economic value and can be mined to generate income to fund the rehabilitation process. The Afrisam Sub-Nagal project and the Springs rehabilitation case studies demonstrate this effectively.

Although there are many challenges, we owe it to our future generations to prioritise the rehabilitation of these mines. Putting together the right resources and the right intentions can only have positive effects.

Graham Trusler, CEO, Digby Wells Environmental Sustainable environmental and social solution for mining Mining is inherently unsustainable. We are mining a finite resource, which will become depleted.

Sustainability through mining is, however, possible: we need to build sustainable businesses and communities. We need to leave behind a legacy we can all be proud of. This has not always been the case in the past and the industry needs to acknowledge that.

The legacy that we leave behind needs to include better infrastructure (roads, houses, water,

power, hospitals, and schooling), and needs to develop humans through capacity building and training, and through health and nutrition programmes. We also need to establish and maintain sustainable businesses, which are often agriculturally based in rural areas, but which may also include services and engineering.

Mining has failed in many ways. Waste management facilities have not been left in a sustainable condition and water management and control has not been done with a sustainable future in mind.

Agricultural land has not been returned to the condition it was in before mining, and communities have been left to fend for themselves in downturns, and yet the technologies exist to be able to get this right. We need the willpower from all stakeholders: the government, the mining industry, communities and NGOs. In order to leave a sustainable legacy: • Mining companies need to invest for the long term • Governments need to invest mining revenues wisely.There needs to be a plan for when mining finishes • The different roleplayers—industry, communities, regulators and NGOs need to hold each other accountable.

• Mine plans need to consider a sustainable closure.

There are various case studies that demonstrate the value of a truly sustainable integrated system.

Suvania Naidoo, Head Researcher, UNISA Acid mine drainage in South Africa: developments, actors, policy impacts and broader implications Acid Mine Drainage (AMD) has been described as one of the most significant environmental threats facing South Africa. A problem is that there is a difference in its definition, between

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POST-EVENT REPORT two groups of roleplayers—the South African government, and consultants/activists/NGOs. AMD is understood by different people in different ways, depending on their particular interests and institutional affiliation.

How sensitive is this emerging AMD policy framework towards the demands and requirements of sustainable development? A more elaborate definition of acidic mine water is required—one that focuses not only on the underground mine water but also on the formation of mine residue-induced water contamination above ground.

At this stage, there is no comprehensive empirical statistical data that exists in the public domain on the socio-economic aspects of AMD. It can be generalised to make a case for the nature (but not the scope or extent) of the socio-economic impacts.

be ring-fenced, but the problem is what form the guarantee is in. Some forms are better than others, which eliminates the ability to access those funds.

It has been difficult to calculate external costs and to deal with them during mining transactions.

The reconciliation strategy is interesting. We are using good quality water from Lesotho to dilute the poor quality water in the Vaal system. This costs much more than treating the mine water would. We are not looking at things broadly. We have the tools.

Politicians are not necessarily experts in the domain that they are responsible for. We need to support the ministers that are inheriting these issues, and we need someone representing the environment as a stakeholder, in equal voice.

Recommendations • More research on the socio-economic impacts with regard to AMD should be conducted in the future to understand better and to limit the negative impacts that AMD has on health, agriculture, food security and other developmental aspects • Policy documents on policy-making in general should focus more on the socio-economic impacts • Social scientists should be requested and allowed to become more involved in support of the official processes of policy-making.

• More researchers should take part in direct fieldwork and engage with stakeholders Panel discussion A lot of responsibility is being placed on mining companies, some fair and some not. Often mines are expected to make up for government absence.

It’s about short versus long term mining.

We need mining and we don’t need all the resources that we have. Why then extract from sensitive areas? If we have 80% of the worlds platinum resource in a specific area, is it necessary to licence other open pit mines in water sensitive areas – it makes no sense.

The draft water quality management legislation will amend legislation so that there is no mining in these areas.

Communities sometimes conflate the role of mine and government. The trick is to create a social licence to operate. The mine asks the community to carry the risk, so there must be something that is ploughed back. The communities must ‘want’ you to be there.

Sometimes government in an area is not set up to handle social and environmental investments. The company then needs to make up the gap.

Mines sometimes take over risk from bigger companies leaving the site. They have to take over the rehabilitation. It’s often more of a commitment than was disclosed.

Big companies concurrently rehabilitate, and then revalue their long-term liability from time to time. The liability changes and so the balance sheet item is reduced or increased. The trust should

The conference was opened by a welcome from the Member of the Executive Committee for Utilities of the City of Tshwane. He highlighted the challenges facing the city in balancing the infrastructure needs of the city against the available funding resources.

The conference was divided into two sessions, the first dealing with establishing priorities and the second a case study for integrated infrastructure design and delivery.

The first session began with a presentation by Louise Worsley on the importance of stakeholder-driven project management in order to deliver successful projects. This was followed by a presentation by Louwrens van der Merwe from GIBB on how planning for climate change transverses all levels of the government, and what the various roles and responsibilities are. Robert Best from Project Management South Africa then presented a model that supported the adoption of an innovative circular business model for the built environment, instead of the linear (and wasteful) processes currently adopted.

After tea Llewellyn van Wyk presented a research project aimed at designing and implementing an integrated infrastructure model for South African cities. The research aims to convert infrastructure services to a circular model where high performance buildings were supported by off-grid energy generation (hybrid solar, biofuel generation and battery storage for distributed energy generation), water supply (water harvesting, reuse), and sanitation (on-site waste water treatment) that were all mutually supportive and co-dependent with a zero waste outcome.

Following questions and discussions the session was concluded by the chairperson, Llewellyn van Wyk.

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Sustainable Infrastructure Conference 2017

Annelize van der Merwe, Director: Green Economy Industries Investment Renewable Energy Policy Module South Africa’s vision for inclusive growth and development is heavily based on decent jobs and equity.

The NDP, NGP and IPAP are all promoting a globally competitive economy that produces and trades with the rest of the world in innovative and value added products and services. The aim is: • Create 5 million jobs by 2020 • Beneficiation of our own minerals and natural resources • Improve physical industrial infrastructure • Regionally spread industrial development.

The Green Economy is a key focus area for the SA government, which has been identified as an area of growth that could contribute significantly to job creation.

The Green Economy Accord was signed in 2011 and identifies specific opportunities for the Green Economy. A study by the IDC shows that green jobs would be created through manufacturing of key components and equipment for the renewable energy industry.

The dti is working closely with industry associations to develop policies that will enable further investment. A study is being undertaken on the localisation potential for the CSP, solar and wind industries—continued commitment to this opportunity is important. The government has identified Special Economic Zones as a mechanism that will contribute towards the realisation of its economic growth and development goals, and is committed to supporting and facilitating the designation, regulation and development of Special Economic Zones in South Africa.

Ndivhuho Raphulu, Director, National Cleaner Production Centre of South Africa (NCPC) Resource efficiency and cleaner production, transitioning towards a low carbon economy The increasing scarcity of energy, water and virgin materials, coupled with the need to

The Green Manufacturing Seminar – Sustainability Week 2017 • Sponsor: NCPC-SA Facilitator: Lloyd Macfarlane Session 1: a roadmap for sustainable manufacturing

Annelize van der Merwe www.sustainabilityweek.co.za

POST-EVENT REPORT address waste and pollution challenges in industry requires cleaner, greener solutions such as resource efficiency and cleaner production (RECP). RECP offers preventative strategies and methodologies, which, when applied continuously, can increase efficiency and reduce resource use. Not only does this minimise environmental impacts by saving energy, water and materials, it translates into real bottom line financial savings for businesses.

The National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa NCPC-SA is the implementation partner of RECP methodologies in industry in South Africa, and one of a growing number of NCPCs around the world that is affiliated to RECP Net. Through its range of subsidised services, the NCPC-SA works with industry to transition to a low carbon economy by helping companies to review and improve the way they do business.

P h i l l i p p a Ro d s e t h , E xe c u t i v e d i r e c t o r, Manufacturing Circle Sustainability best practices The Manufacturing Circle (MC) promotes the interests of manufacturers to enable job-rich growth in South Africa. MC conducts research and engages with key stakeholders to actively encourage the benefits for the broader economy, influence policy, and highlight opportunities and key priorities for manufacturing growth.

The MC also meets periodically with government ministers, heads of key state-owned entities, provincial and local government leaders, and other business sector leaders, believing that in order to put South Africa on a higher, job-rich growth path, and to enable us to compete and succeed as a manufacturing destination in the global economy, we need to prioritise certain goals: • Achieve a competitive manufacturing environment • Attain a supporting international trade position • Advance the reputation of South African manufactured products.

Sustainability measures Many of our members are actively pursuing methods, practices, and processes to engage in sustainable use of natural resources—particularly water. Engagement with on-site renewable electricity production is an area of focus. In addition, recycling measures contribute to managing key inputs in a sustainable way.

Competitiveness Adaptation to renewable energy sources makes domestic manufacturers competitive by supplying sustainable power to producers. Recycling can also lower input costs and contribute to cost saving.

Panel discussion

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The drivers of RECP are primarily the lack of resources (such as water in the Western Cape for example), and the growing costs of resources.

“THE INCREASING

SCARCITY OF ENERGY WATER AND VIRGIN MATERIALS, COUPLED WITH THE NEED TO ADDRESS WASTE AND POLLUTION CHALLENGES IN INDUSTRY

”

Stated differently, the reduced costs resulting from installed RECP technologies are becoming increasingly attractive.

Compliance is also a driver—multinational companies are insisting that subsidiaries subscribe to standards and programmes. Consumers are also demanding that products and operations and sustainable.

Utility costs are about 80% of the driver of change. However the government incentives such as MSEP, 12L, and the automotive incentive scheme, and others are becoming major drivers in the manufacturing sector.

SA has one of the most active labour movements and because of the drive for productivity and growth, technology has been seen as a safer more productive way of operating—this is, of course, not a great scenario for job creation.

Implementing RECP into micro enterprises is tough. Opportunities with small to medium enterprises are there but often the capacity to implement them is not. The NCPC sees these as great targets for us to focus on.

More could be done to enable supply chains from so called ‘townships’ to industrial areas. This would require engagement with municipalities and other stakeholders. NCPC is providing training in these areas, which should also accelerate supplier development. Communication around this and other issues is going to be increasingly important.

The dti is formally encouraging investment under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Session 2: Manufacturing Opportunities in the Green Economy Victor Manavhela: Regional Manager: NCPC-SA Industrial Symbiosis Green economy opportunities through industrial symbiosis In biology, the definition of symbiosis is “an interaction between two different organisms living in close physical association to the advantage of both’”. Similarly, in industry, symbiosis can exist when there is collaboration between two or more

organisations around materials use, particular where waste or by-product is more valuable for the other organisations.

South Africa landfills almost 90% of the waste generated in various waste streams. This leaves only 10% of the waste going for recycling but many forms of waste can be input materials.

Symbiosis is a resource efficiency approach where unused or residual resources of one company are used by another. Resources such as materials, energy, water, assets, logistics and even expert knowledge can all be used elsewhere. Symbiosis usually results in mutual economic, social and environmental benefits, and it plays an important role in circular economy. Symbiosis is sometimes referred to as Industrial Ecology Lee Hendor-Ruiters: Regional Manager NCPC-SA: Eco-Innovation Green economy opportunities through eco-innovation The Eco-Innovation project is being implemented via the NCPC-SA in South Africa with the support of the European Commission, with the project co-ordinator being UNEP. The key partners are RECPnet, RE institutions, governments, UNIDO, industrial associations, academia and research institutions.

Quite simply, Eco-Innovation is lifecycle thinking.

The project objective is to create conditions for service providers, to support SMEs to improve their sustainability performance through eco-innovation, and the three priority value chains are: • Food processing and packaging • Metal processing • Chemical use and production Delivery mechanisms are: the development of tools, capacity development, national demonstration projects and cooperation.

The South African region will be focusing on the metal processing industries initially and there are already case study examples to refer to.

Eco-innovation (EI) in South Africa There is no clear policy around EI but it is strongly supported by various environmental policies. EI is the unintended outcome of sustainability activities and there is plenty of EI innovation in research, technology, standards and regulator y approaches.

• Eco-innovation provides an ideal approach to promote the application of sustainable business practices along value chains (greening supply chains) • Eco-innovation operates at the level of a company strategy. It aims to embed sustainability into DNA of a company.

• It promotes systemic innovation based on a holistic life-cycle approach throughout company’s operations—products (goods / services), processes, market approach and organisational structure.

• It aims at influencing and involving stakeholders along the entire value chain.

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POST-EVENT REPORT • Initial focus of the eco-innovation intervention is on sectors with highest potential for decoupling (IRP recommendation).

• The proliferation of sustainable business practices (Maresa Pretorius from Hotel Verde and Janette Horn from Sun International).

Panel discussion Two potentially powerful projects being undertaken under the NCPC-SA banner, in the form of industrial symbiosis and eco-innovation. The challenge is to explain the meaning of these processes to the target audiences in the relevant industrial sectors, and training and awareness will be a major focus.

Industrial symbiosis is running workshops where manufacturers are invited to a round table format workshop. They can present their situations and challenges. The Switch Africa Green programme has also allowed NCPC-SA to access more people in this type of forum. Companies can talk about what their waste streams are and can discuss the lifestyle approaches that might make them more efficient, particularly in collaboration.

The Belgotex example is interesting. Initiatives were initially based on compliance and then became based on competitive advantage. As the company took one step, the next step showed itself as an opportunity. The company has managed to drive reputation and to differentiate itself in its sector.

The IS and EI projects will be attempting to inform companies about how they can be changing their narrative and leveraging their stories for advantage.

This not only drives the business case for those participating but serves to increase awareness among other businesses of the benefits of implementing sustainability practises.

Jacqui Taylor , Agritourism South Africa Agritourism as a tourism development opportunity Agritourism is a commercial business at a working farm or agricultural operation conducted for the enjoyment of visitors to generates supplemental income for the owner. Tourism activities can include anything from educational services provided by farmers e.g. bread making, cheese making, olive picking, nature reserve on farmers land, accommodation, camping, hiking, cycling, fishing, petting farm animals, game farms, direct sales to tourists of produce and cultural / historic farms. There is a growing market for agritourism internationally, and typical agritourists include travellers who: • Seek and enjoy authentic personal experiences they can discuss with others • Enjoy exploring the countryside and natural surroundings • Involve themselves in holiday activities, are sociable and like to engage with the local people/farmers • Are active/adventurous in their pursuits and enjoy a wide variety of experiences • Place a high value on contrasting experiences (different from their daily lives) • Are young couples in their twenties seeking weekend getaways • Are mainly self-drive travellers • Are Germans—“self-challengers.”

Responsible Tourism Dialogue 2017 The 6th annual Responsible Tourism Dialogue was held in the dity of Tshwane as part of Sustainability Week. The Responsible Tourism Dialogue provides tourism businesses with a platform to gain insights on the latest developments in tourism.

2017 was declared the Year of Sustainable Tourism Development by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). It was, therefore, appropriate that the annual Responsible Tourism dialogue focussed on tools to help support the industry in implementing measures that will contribute to sustainable development. The dialogue, therefore, had two focus areas: • Understanding of new ways to implement change and • Collaborative initiatives and tools to effectively and efficiently support the creation of a more sustainable industry.

The following topics were selected as approaches to support the industry: • Agritourism as a tourism development opportunity (Jacqui Taylor from Agritourism South Africa) • The local economic impacts of events (Richard Wyllie from TKZN) • The role of tourism associations in sustainable tourism development (Niki Glen from STPP and N3 Gateway)

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The main aims of agritourism are to attract visitors to rural areas away from major cities, to increase employment and income of farming

communities, to help stop the migration of people to the major cities, to enhance community pride, quality of life, rejuvenate regional culture and to support the agricultural industry through reducing impacts of seasonality.

To earn additional income, farmers are turning to tourism as an additional source of income. While sustainable agriculture is still the main business activity for small and large farmers, agritourism provides opportunities to diversify income and reduce risks. It is important when considering an agritourism facility, that cognisance is taken of the impacts of agritourists on the farming land and on farming ethics as well as the costs and benefits of establishing a tourism facility on the farm.

Agritourism is also not always straight forward.

Some of the key challenges that need to be given some thought include: • Access to financing for agritourism development • Agritourism signage—this is not common practice in South Africa yet • Agritourism marketing—this needs to be mainstreamed through current marketing initiatives; • Quality standards & facility development for agritourism businesses—there are no standards for South Africa currently; Then it is also key to remember that farmers’ main priorities are running a productive farm, while tourism often requires availability of staff to meet and greet, take visitors on tours, serve food and beverages and so on. Opportunities, therefore, need to be created for people from the farming community to grow into these positions.

Agritourism, like other tourism, requires many small touches, such as providing information on where to go, safe parking, cleanliness, local food, and local produce such as soaps and delicacies.

The Agritourism Association of South Africa (AASA) was established to assist farmers to educate

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POST-EVENT REPORT tourists on the practice of sustainable farming, to build environmental awareness, including awareness of the importance of biodiversity, to empower farm staff through tourism and entrepreneurship training (SETAs), educating tourists on farming ethics and farming methods. An example is organic farming which, also makes local, farm fresh products available for sale directly to Agritourists.

Agritourism can provide an excellent addition to the tourism offering within a destination, especially in rural South Africa, where agriculture is a key economic sector. However, this requires close collaboration between tourism and agriculture, but will ultimately benefit both industries while contributing to local prosperity and economic transformation.

For more information on Agritourism and AASA, contact Jacqui Taylor at jacqui@ agritourismsouthafrica.com The local economic impacts of events presented by Richard Wyllie from Tourism KwaZulu-Natal (TKZN).

KwaZulu Natal hosts several world-class events annually. Events have a positive socio-economic impact on local communities and attract participants and spectators mostly from outside of the local area—i.e. tourists. The province’s four largest annual events are the Midmar Mile (February), the Dusi Canoe Marathon (February), the Comrades Marathon (May/June) and the Tsogo Sun Amashova Durban Classic (October).

Collectively, these events attract more than 140 000 people, of which some 67% are tourists.

Events bring huge benefits to a region, including: • They alleviate seasonality—all the events above take place outside of peak tourism seasons; • They assist in the branding/marketing of a destination—the various events have become synonymous with the cities / regions that host them. As an example, the Comrades

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Marathon is strongly associated with Durban and Pietermaritzburg.

• They increase the competitiveness of a

“AGRITOURISM CAN PROVIDE AN EXCELLENT ADDITION TO THE TOURISM OFFERING WITHIN A DESTINATION, ESPECIALLY IN RURAL SOUTH AFRICA” destination. A destination can only host such events successfully if it is able to provide the right level of service to ensure all aspects of the event are successful. They, therefore, also contribute to tourism growth and development while creating a number of economic spin-offs e.g. additional jobs and innovative new ventures.

• The collective direct economic impact of the four events is more than R705.5 million (Comrades alone contributes more than R605 million of this).

• Many events, including the ones mentioned, spread benefits across multiple municipalities, as travellers have to travel either by road or air to get to the event destination. In addition, services such as accommodation need to be supplied by neighbouring towns to deal with demand during the event. Events leave a legacy within the local region as locals continue to benefit from the tourism capacity that caters for the event.

It is therefore clear that events can positively impact the long-term sustainability of destinations.

Many examples of smaller events in the province exist, such as Talana Live, the Karkloof Classic and Splashy Fen, which have created lasting impacts for the communities in the areas. If a destination possesses a unique quality or has a unique attraction, annual events can be a good means of stimulating interest in the area and creating repetitive tourism.

Many different stakeholders benefit from events, including accommodation providers, restaurants, tour operators, other tourism attractions in the area (e.g. arts and craft shops, museums). As an example, international tourists arrive week before Comrades Marathon and stay on after. The opportunities for day and overnight trips, therefore, accrue not only to the event destination itself, but also to nearby destinations.

As a final comment, Richard emphasized that the negative impacts of events must not be ignored.

However, the positive impacts can far outweigh the negatives if they are appropriately planned for and managed.

For more information on actual event impacts and case studies from KZN, contact Richard at Richard@zulu.org.za The role of tourism associations in sustainable tourism development presented by Niki Glen from Sustainable Tourism Partnership Programme and N3 Gateway Tourism Association The focus of this presentation was on associations representing tourism businesses in a specific geographical area, usually within one or more municipal areas i.e. Local Tourism Associations (LTAs) and Community Based Tourism Associations.

Historically, LTAs were established across South Africa to primarily fulfil a marketing function and to provide industry-related information to its members. LTAs are either public sector or private sector managed. More recently, however, KZN has established CTOs, a structure to which all tourism businesses must belong to obtain a business license.

CTOs have been established to coordinate tourism activities, market and promote tourism in the area and to support tourism development and capacity building. CTOs are private-sector managed nonprofit, which are supported by the public sector, while being community based (i.e. promoting tourism interest of a whole community).

However, a fundamental issue with many CTOs and LTAs, is that the majority are not self-sustaining.

Experience has shown that most do not have sustainable business models and sustainable revenue sources, they are mostly staffed by volunteers who serve on the committees for limited periods (i.e. there is a lack of continuity). Most critical, however, is that most associations do not believe that they are expected to make money. The outcomes are that tourism destination, businesses and communities do not optimally benefit from these structures.

Tourism businesses are left to fend for themselves (or often choose to market and promote themselves independently of a destination), and many collaborative opportunities are missed while the destination’s competitiveness is reduced.

Through the work that Niki has done with the STPP and the N3 Gateway, however, she has been able to identify key attributes of associations that do work well and have built up resilience over time, thus becoming more sustainable. Typically, these associations are well funded through their member base as well as through government support and grant funds, they provide good value for money for their members through competitive destination marketing, they look after the interests of all tourism stakeholders in a destination and many are able to appoint full time staff to manage their day-to-day operations. These associations are managed and maintained by people who have a passion for tourism while also possessing good business acumen. Their focus extends beyond pure marketing, and includes the identification of opportunities to grow tourism within their destination (e.g. new ventures, events and diversifying

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POST-EVENT REPORT product mix), helping to create a sense of pride within the destination.

These associations have recognised the need for all tourism stakeholders to collaborate and for the need to form partnerships with other local businesses, e.g. banks, insurance companies, vehicle dealerships etc. Each partnership represents revenue generation opportunities, e.g. supporting new ventures means that that venture will ultimately become a member, selling locally produced products at tourism information centres generates commission income and so on. Associations are, therefore, able to benefit not only individual tourism businesses, but also other businesses, the whole destination and the communities in the destination. They provide examples of how tourism can support local economic development, and all associations should strive to achieve this. In her role as the General Manager of the N3 Gateway, one of Niki’s main objectives is to support weaker CTOs and LTAs to learn from the stronger associations in order to help transform the industry. LTAs and CTOs have a rightful and important place in the industry and have the potential to play a much larger role in creating sustainable industries.

For more information on building capacity in associations, contact Niki Glen at niki@stpp.co.za.

Maresa Pretorius, Hotel Verde and Janette Horn, Sun International.

The proliferation of sustainable business practices – case studies Maresa introduced the term “thrivability” and quoted Appropopedia’s description of the word as “Fundamentally thrivability is visionary—it is about co-evolving a future we want, rather than avoiding a future that terrifies us. It is about acting with enthusiasm toward an opportunity rather than away from catastrophe. It is about becoming a good ancestor”. Hotel Verde believes in using every tool at their disposal to make a better quality of life, building and working within a thriving ecosystem in which there is no waste and which enhances the renewal of natural resources. Hotel Verde does not only address the “green” issues in their operations, but have invested significantly in the development of their own staff—in other words, they have created a platform for the business, the people and the environment to thrive.

Hotel Verde’s initiatives to become a carbon neutral hotel and Africa’s greenest hotel have been well documented. They have incorporated these principles in all their new hotel developments, which are expanding into Africa. Hotel Verde does not only adopt these principles because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes business sense and it is the only means of assuring long-term sustainability of the business. As an example, their planting of indigenous gardens and measures to recycle grey and black water is paying dividends in a time when the rest of Cape Town (and Western Cape) is facing severe water shortages due to ongoing drought. Other examples mentioned include their low dependency on

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Eskom power, regenerative elevators and energy producing gym equipment as well as efficient heating and cooling systems. And because they have implemented these measures, customers are more easily educated on the need to save water and energy and are more eager to participate in initiatives during their visit.

Sun International aims to fully integrate sustainability considerations into their local and international business operations and divisions in an attempt to continually improve their guest experience and ensure a sustainable industry. They have made great strides towards implementing initiatives that impacts climate change, Additional initiatives that address triple bottom impacts include guest interaction with local communities, guest donations added to their check-out bill— allocated to socio-economic development projects of their choice, no bath plugs in the Western Cape, left-over food donations to local communities and charities and endemic planting in all their property gardens.

The initiatives that both businesses (Hotel Verde and Sun International) have implemented, serve as examples to other tourism businesses that there really are very few things that cannot be done.

Both organisations provide examples of where a commitment from leadership, careful planning and partnership with the right experts have yielded enormous business benefits, which can be expressed in terms of monetary and brand value.

Conclusion The Responsible Tourism Dialogue once again stimulated interaction between industr y experts and the tourism stakeholders. This year’s dialogue looked at a number of solutions to common sustainability challenges that the industry faces. The tools and approaches presented are simple and easy to implement, with all presenters showcasing to the industry that there is no challenge that has not yet been

overcome in some way or by someone. The key to success is to learn from what has already been implemented elsewhere, thus speeding up in the race for creating a more impactful and sustainable tourism industry

Vision Zero Waste Seminar Kevin James, CEO, Global Carbon Exchange Strategies to maximise waste materials recovery: separation at the source, recovery from waste Today, landfill waste represents the ultimate in human stupidity. In a waste hierarchy that runs through a gamut of desirability from reduce to reuse, recycle, produce energy, incinerate, landfill is the least desirable option. ‘Zero Waste to landfill’ is the vision for the future. Benefits to companies include: • Enhance brand equity: innovation, reputation, license to operate, transformation • Make money: access and expansions, to new markets, energy and other commodities • Save money: resource efficiency, waste minimisation • Risk contractor integrity, illegal dumping, data quality, waste handling, legislation This can be achieved through an approach that incorporates assessing a company’s current status, reviewing its strategy, developing an integrated waste management plan and implementing and managing the plan. Waste risks are identified through site audits identifying the flow of waste streams and processing; collection and waste area management; processing costs; downstream facilities and operations.

Each processing step is sorted according to risks related to contractor integrity, data quality, illegal dumping, and waste handling, and rated on a scale of 0 - 3 for reputational, operational, legal, financial and healthy and safety risk. GCX found that risks broke down as follows: waste

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POST-EVENT REPORT handling 33%; data quality 30%; contractor integrity 27%; illegal dumping 10%.

A zero-waste-to-landfill timeline was given for Sun City, beginning with waste audits in 2015 with projected zero-waste achievement in 2020. In this timeline, short-term solutions include diversion to existing alternative waste processing facilities; medium-term solutions include in-vessel composting and a community waste-to-green-brick initiative; long-term solutions include waste-to-energy, waste-to-brick and waste-to-protein solutions.

Further examples of waste-to-energy initiatives on other sites were mentioned, with the insight that “biological” solutions (biogas) are more technically complex to maintain than purely kinetic solutions: An interesting example of the latter is an abattoir pyrolysis facility that companies could build, own and operate themselves.

Victor Manavhela, Regional Manager, National Cleaner Production Centre South Africa (NCPC-SA) Achieving industrial symbiosis In South Africa, landfills take up almost 90% of the waste generated in various waste streams, leaving only 10% of the waste going for recycling. Landfill is still the cheapest option to dispose of waste. In Rand values, R7.6-billion of resources are recycled and R9.4-billion landfilled. Municipalities spent R8.3-billion in 2011 to send R9.4-billion worth of resources to landfill, suggesting that waste could be the “new gold”. For this to happen, however, it would be necessary to shift to a circular economy in order to achieve industrial symbiosis, in which the waste of one is the resource of the other. The symbiotic relationship between the Nile crocodile and the bird that cleans its teeth is a good symbol for this.

Industrial symbiosis is a resource efficiency approach where unused or residual resources of one company is used by another. Resources include materials, energy, water, assets, logistics, and expert knowledge. Companies identify unwanted resources in their possession, compare these with

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resources that they lack and try to find matches.

This approach typically results in mutual economic, social and environmental benefits, plays an important role in the circular economy and is sometimes referred to as industrial ecology. There is a fourstage process flow that the National Cleaner Production Centre is able to facilitate: Synergy identification (potential resources); discussion of resources exchange and relationship facilitation; synergy implementation; and synergy completion (transactions are verified and agreements are signed, securing future synergies).

There are 336 companies in the NCPC network.

Some 2 558 underutilised resources have been identified. A total of 25 synergies have been completed.

Key performance indicators comprise: • Waste diversion: 15 200 tonnes diverted to date, 55 800 projected over five years • Greenhouse gas savings: 12 097 tonnes of CO2 to date, 45 485 projected over five years • Industrial water savings: 259 760 cubic metres to date, 920 800 over five years • Cost savings: R2 250 000 to date, R18 650 000 over five years • Virgin resources use reduction: 9 460 tonnes to date, 420 000 over five years.

Case study: landfill space in Ekurhuleni is running out, with construction and demolition waste exacerbating the problem. The NCPC brought together Eco Match and the Ekhuruleni Municipality to stockpile the aforementioned waste types at the Simmer and Jack and crush it, a process that diverted 9 500 tonnes of waste, generated R504,500 in revenue, and saved 4321 tonnes of CO².

The crushed waste was used to create housing material for the erection of new housing. Wood collection to factory and sorting created hundreds of new jobs; chipping and silicawood processing created 12 jobs; casting and production created 25 jobs; transport and logistics created 10 jobs; erection of housing created 60 jobs; finishing of housing created 240 jobs; maintenance of housing created

40 jobs; marketing and sales created 10 jobs; and administration and financing created 10 jobs.

Under the NCPC’s current approach, synergies are facilitated provincially (GISP, KISP) employing mainly a retrofit model based on the industrial setup.

Collaborations are sought with other players at local and provincial level, and partnership agreements are sought with provinces (GISP Economic development and GDARD). Currently, they are working on two industrial sites (Epping and Wilsonia in East London). This approach is leveraging on partnership funding with UNIDO. Based on the governance model in the industrial park, ISP is an enabler for green industrial park achievements. Consequently, future planning for parks will be influenced by ISP models such as “build and recruit”.

Panel discussion General consensus was reached that the vision of zero-waste / industrial symbiosis represents tremendous opportunities for the private sector to invest and for the public sector to achieve it’s goals. It is encouraging from a private sector perspective that initiatives such as the NCPC are already far advanced.

Further government incentives and administrative streamlining can only bring things forward.

Cheri Scholtz, CEO, PETCO Generating jobs through waste material recovery PETCO is the trading name of the PET Recycling Company, a non-profit company incorporated in 2004 (13 years ago) to represent the South African PET plastic industry’s joint effort to self-regulate postconsumer polyethylene terephthalate (PET) recycling. It is an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) organisation i.e. the PET industry has voluntarily taken responsibility for finding end-of-life solutions for their products: PETCO was started, funded and managed by the PET industry.

PET bottle recycling has grown from 16% (R22.6 million) in 2005 to 55% (R360 million) in 2016.

However, recycling jobs are not a panacea for South Africa’s unemployment problem (6.2 million people). Recycling is subject to the same economic environment as any other manufacturing business and is exposed to recessions and rising input costs.

If poorly funded and executed, independent waste management plans could fall severely short of the sector’s potential, or reverse gains made so far—at huge cost to citizens. As challenging as this scenario is, though, it is worth getting right. To this end, measurement is important. Measuring jobs correctly permits informed decisions. Although measurements are ideally 100% representative of the real world, they don’t have to be, and are unlikely to be. Industry and the government must agree amongst ourselves and with each other on how to report on progress. Internal measurement is up to the given organisation but external measurement methods require agreement between stakeholders.

These include Stats SA, SARS, the Department of Labour, the Department of Environmental Affairs, the International Labor Organization, industry, the

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POST-EVENT REPORT CSIR, and others. Plans will be awarded, measured and expectations set based on the numbers agreed to. The road ahead could involve a possible increase in landfill picking, with an emphasis on an increase in the quality of non-landfill jobs, an increase in semi-skilled labour (buy-back centres, MRFs etc), some increase in skilled labour (recycling centres), and the need to avoid clashes. Recycling has an inherent advantage in that little to no formal skill is needed to get onto the first rung on the ladder.

“THE CRUSHED WASTE WAS USED TO CREATE HOUSING MATERIAL FOR THE ERECTION OF NEW HOUSING ” Dr Cameron Richards, AgriProtein Nutrient recycling through insect mass rearing Nutrient recycling involves using organic waste to feed fly larvae to create protein for animal feeds. This sustainable protein source will supplement the increasing demand for animal protein as current sources are limited.

It is a global project focused on the fish and chicken feed industries, catering to a growing world population.

A growing world population and an increase of wealth is fuelling demand for fish and meat, specifically from China and India. “Between now and 2050, the world’s population will rise by a third, but world demand for agricultural goods will rise by 70% and the demand for meat will double” (The Economist). The key to successful animal and fish farming is feed quality and its cost. Protein determines growth and is the most costly part of bulk animal feed. Today’s protein comes mainly from soya and fish meal but these sources will not be able to cope with the demand of tomorrow—fishmeal and land availability are depleting. The protein feed industry is worth £70 billion p.a. Prices for soya and fishmeal have more than doubled in the last five years. Historically, fish feeding was insignificant, now fish farming is growing as fast as it can, to counter effects of empty lakes and near shore stock levels. Farmed fish need manufactured protein.

Black soldier fly larvae are an efficient nutritional substitute for fish meal and soya cake meal, with a much lower environmental impact. Soy meal carries external inputs and costs of US$3 300 per tonne of

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meal, with a heavy toll on land and biodiversity; for fish meal, the figure is US$2 700, with a heavy toll exacted on marine life; the figure for black fly larvae is only US$50 per tonne. That is because the larvae are fed on abbatoir and organic waste and grown inside a factory prior to being packaged as a powder and fed to larvae, fish and pigs. Broilers fed on fly meal on average have the same quality standards in terms of weight, muscle mass and pH as broilers fed on soy and fish meal.

Masopha Moshoeshoe, Executive Director, New GX Enviro and Logistics Case Study: the Atteridgeville Recycling Facility The City of Tshwane (CoT) has a crisis of diminishing landfill airspace. The city closed three of its eight landfill sites between 1 December 2013 and 1 January 2014 as they had reached their capacity.

The CoT’s busiest landfill, Onderstepoort, is due to close in 2019. The CoT requires over R4bn of waste infrastructure to address its waste challenges. The CoT’s draft independent waste management plan suggests that the City requires three large-scale multiple waste stream recycling facilities, one community-based material recovery facility and one waste-to-energy facility. The CoT’s waste characterisation requires: additional waste drop-off sites that accept multiple waste streams; MRFs to process the dry recyclable waste stream (and to support separation at source); composting facilities to process the organics waste stream; building rubble crushing facilities to process the building rubble waste stream; and a waste-to-energy facility to process the non-recyclable waste stream.

Launched by the CoT and New GX Enviro in 2016, the Atteridgeville Recycling Eco Park was conceived to fulfil these objectives. Situated at Maunde Street in Atteridgeville next to the closed Kwaggasrand landfill site, it is available to all to recycle paper, plastic, bottles and cans. It is one of the first large-scale projects in the waste management sector in the country and will create formal and informal jobs as well as bring opportunities to SMME businesses in Tshwane. The “Boa Gape” recycling programme will be rolled out in phases to certain zones of Regions 3 and 4. As part of the CoT’s commitment to a green economy, the recycling park will divert 65% of recyclable waste in certain areas in Tshwane from landfills. After 15 years, New GX Enviro will transfer ownership of the facility to the city at no cost.

The programme will assist the city to achieve the government’s target of a 34% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020 and 42% by 2025.

Panel discussion The importance of measurement and accurate data was agreed upon by all participants. For any waste scheme to become commercially viable and sustainable, potential investors require reliable information as to the project’s likely return on investment. This poses challenges to municipalities that are unable to furnish such data. At the same time, participants agreed that the support of progressive municipalities such as the CoT and government departments

such as the Department of Environmental Affairs, means that there are endless world of waste conversion possibilities across all economic sectors.

Sustainable Water Seminar 2017 Raymond Siebrits (GreenCape) opened his presentation with a broad overview of Green Cape’s work in the water sector. One component of its work is the production of annual water “intelligence reports”. This year’s report, he noted, identified the following as major business opportunities: Water reuse, recycling and resource recovery (especially by industry). Mr Siebrits then used the current water crisis in Cape Town to articulate causes, impacts and opportunities within and by the sector, where he focussed on the opportunities by size, impact and ease of implementation. Examples ranged from awareness programmes to treatment and full water recovery. The take-home message was: commercial and household investments into use efficiencies and recycling of water exhibit good private sector business opportunities.

Anton Earle (SIWI) spoke on the topic, Regional Water Governance and Financing Water Infrastructure in Africa. Mr Earle opened his presentation with an overview of SIWI and then shared an interesting binary view on the role of water in conflict in the near future. He highlighted the fact that water quality, not quantity, is now the growing concern globally. However, he did take time to indicate that physical water scarcity and associated dependency are growing issues around the world. Mr Earle proceeded to tie socio-economic and urbanisation trends from around Africa into economic water scarcity concepts that highlighted the high-level of risk Africa is exposed to. He finished his presentation highlighting key challenges facing societies in Africa: regulatory environment; transparency, integrity and stakeholder participation; and the value versus the price of water.

Nanotechnology was the major topic of Prof.

Edward Nxumalo’s (UNISA) presentation. He began his presentation by sketching his research unit’s broad vision: our vision is to become the premiere organisation to provide nanotechnology-based water treatment solutions and services for South Africa through ground breaking water research and training programmes. This vision formed the basis of his presentation: how composites, nanocomposites and nanomaterials can be used for water purification and detection. He concluded the presentation of composites and nanomaterials by sharing a case study performed in Mpumalanga that had, as its ultimate goal, to develop affordable sustainable potable water production membrane filtration systems.

The Strategic Water Partners Network was well represented by Nick Tandi. Mr Tandi’s presentation was opened with a controversial newspaper headline from The Mercury: R7 billion of tap water

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POST-EVENT REPORT wasted. This provided a splendid platform for Mr Tandi’s presentation theme, which sought to raise awareness of the extent of the municipal losses in some of the country’s metros. Mr Tandi expanded on some of the bottlenecks that cause these problems and a potential solution that would unlock funding to water services authorities who, in turn, could provide critical services to contractors (non-revenue water). Mr Tandi moved from non-revenue water loss to water user efficiency in the agricultural sector where he described the problems and opportunities existent in this sector. One fantastic opportunity described by Mr Tandi is the use of the Water Administration System (WAS), an integrated information system for the reduction of water distribution losses on irrigation schemes. He showed exciting statistics with regard to water savings from water user associations around the country that are using the WAS. Alex McNamara (NBI) spoke on the topic, Water Risk and Resilience in South Africa. After sharing a snapshot of work that the NBI is involved in, Mr McNamara used the Water CDP as a platform to share a few key messages: • Water is an increasing risk factor for South African business: company concerns related to drought and water stress have increased substantially since 2015.

• However, a number of underlying water risks remain underestimated: a discrepancy persists between expert identified and company identified water risk in South Africa.

• Companies are encouraged to broaden their understanding of water risk, including within their supply chains and surrounding context.

Then Mr McNamara shared a little perspective on resilience. He summarised the concept of achieving water resilience in one diagram that described the need to understand your operations, your context, your strategy and your engagement, while communication should be a unifying thread running through all of these concepts.

One of Faith Chikeya’s (ICLEI) opening slides of her presentation set the scene for the rest of her session: A bold re-imagination of how African local authorities are to best guide the transition requires a careful, holistic and systemic approach to service delivery. Ms Chikeya used this sentence to explain to the audience all about the SURe (Sustainable Urban Resilience) Water for Africa project. It is a project that has, as its overall objective, to contribute to sustainable climate change resilient urban water planning mechanisms and actions in six local authorities (LAs) also ensuring multiplier effects to six participating local authorities (PLAs) within the region. The local authorities were: Lusaka, Blantyre, Nelson Mandela Bay, Walvis Bay, Francis Town and Bulawayo. Some of the key outcomes were: increased capacity and understanding by municipal staff of the project impacts of climate change on water and sanitation services and improved packaging of information. Consolidated

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Raymond Siebritz data availability could enhance the municipalities likelihood of identifying future funding and access to resources.

Chule Qalase (NCPC – SA) highlighted the great need for industrial water efficiency. In fact, Ms Qalase showed, by way of case studies, the total Rand and water savings procured as a result of practising NCPC water efficiency recommendations. For example, at two of South Africa’s biggest poultry abbatoirs, an assessment was conducted and the following found: Results showed—101 459 kl of water to be saved at monitory savings value of R2 399 850 for the two sites. Then at ABI Premier Place assessments were conducted and results showed that—70 083 hl were saved, while a total identified savings of approximately R190 697 was made with a 1-month payback!

The Reporting Workshop 2017 Facilitator and Presenter: Lloyd Macfarlane The Reporting Workshop at Sustainability Week 2017 consisted of two sessions: Session 1: using sustainability and reporting to create competitive advantage Panellists Lloyd Macfarlane – Managing Partner, GSA Campbell Consulting Direshni Naiker – Environmental Analyst, Belgotex Floors Kia Abbott – Senior Consultant, PSP-ICON The primary drivers of corporate sustainability are typically: • Values • Compliance • Competitive advantage Whereas compliance has been the leading driver, competitive advantage is the fastest growing driver of change, with benefits being realised internally through resource efficiency, employee retention, risk management and productivity, and externally through differentiation, credibility and reputation, value proposition and stakeholder engagement.

The business case for sustainability, therefore, is based therefore mostly on the organisations ability to leverage sustainability for these internal and external advantages.

In terms of external benefits, a company’s customer value proposition is its most powerful tool, and sustainability can meaningfully impact the value proposition as presented to, and experienced by the customer.

The Belgotex case study was discussed. The case study demonstrated how the company leveraged various achievements for competitive advantage, under the following headings: • Resource efficiency • Waste and recycled content • Water efficiency • Energy efficiency and renewable energy • Credibility and reputation • Manufacturing and operational standards • GRI sustainability reporting • Green Tag eco-labelling • Differentiation • Green Tag • Carbon neutral flooring • Session 2: using the framework to identify impacts, risks and opportunities in the value chain Panellists: Lloyd Macfarlane – Managing Partner, GSA Campbell Consulting Pieter Conradie – Head: Integrated Reporting, Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership, University of Pretoria Loshni Naidoo – Project Director, Integrated Reporting, South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) The panel explained and discussed certain primary concepts and principles: • Integrated reporting • Value creation • The six capitals The panel then introduced the workshop process that had previously been used to establish, impacts,

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POST-EVENT REPORT risks and value creation in a typical manufacturing operation value chain. The audience was asked to participate in the discussion and the six capitals lens was demonstrated as a useful mechanism for the objective.

The panellists went on to discuss how a company’s ability to control value creation in its value chain is often very limited. Some compromises are inevitable and companies should be using materiality to determine focus areas, and should be innovating to continually find ways to mitigate impacts and increase value for key stakeholders and environmental and social constituents.

City Resilience Workshop2017 The local government plays a crucial role in building climate resilience through planning human settlements and urban development; the provision of municipal infrastructure and services; water and energy demand management; and local disaster response, amongst others. This is an attempt to address service delivery issues in light of climate change and to pragmatically acknowledge and mainstream climate change agendas into local government development plans. Thus, climate change considerations need to be integrated into municipal development planning tools such as Integrated Development Plans, and municipal service delivery programmes.

The establishment of the City Resilience Forum is one of the efforts that has been undertaken in response to this. The forum aims to create a platform for Metropolitan Municipalities, other cities and DEA to facilitate and influence an integrated approach in the implementation of climate change response thus enhancing social, economic, and environmental resilience, and emergency response capacity. As part of enhancing the implementation of the Cities Resilience Programme, the department collaborated with the City of Tshwane to host a Cities Resilience session during Sustainability Week 2017 conference which took place from 13 – 15 June 2017.

drought and sea level rise. Further barriers that require attention include the institutional barrier, which should be addressed through both vertical and horizontal integration. He further emphasised the need to develop thought leadership and champions for climate resilient cities.

Lessons Learned: facilitating city engagement The following are key in ensuring that cities engage effectively to ensure effective integration of climate change into their planning processes: • Find champions: gain support from the Mayor or City Council and Executive Management • Vertical and horizontal integration: engage a diverse, cross-sectoral range of organisations.

• Engage with science and research/knowledge: Cities and Climate Change Science Conference is planned on March 5-7 2018 in Edmonton (Canada). Data, assessments, mapping • Don’t marginalise climate adaptation planning: mainstream climate change risk and interdependency considerations into existing everyday asset management, risk management and disaster response practices.

• Involve academia: engage academic and research institutions in adaptation planning efforts to enhance the robustness and credibility of such efforts.

• Further underscored: the need to outline the socio-economic implication to climate change in relation to cities resilient.

• Greater emphasis was also made on the importance of engagement with bodies of knowledge and the scientific community. It was further proposed that collaboration on research outlining the barriers and options for

climate-resilient approaches could be crucial in guiding the design of interventions. This proposition will have a significant contribution towards the programming of the CRF. Presentation by national treasury on cities support programme City responses to climate change are not seen as core to a city’s development agenda and they are not integrated and aligned across municipal plans, functions and budgets. They also face a number of financial barriers in accessing the incentives, scale of investment and business models required to transition to greater climate resilience.

The presentation and discussion highlighted that South African cities are performing poorly on economic development and factors including climate change. Furthermore, climate change has been identified by the World Economic Forum – Global Risk Report of 2017 as a key risk. The IRMSA has identified water and drought as some of the key risks that require attention.

The presentation further identified climate finance for transition, which includes international sources and fiscal reforms as well as market-based instruments.

SA government intervention has accepted its share of global responsibility in addressing the impact of climate change. Access to finance is one of the key enabling mechanisms to address climate change. In this context, there has been greater emphasis on having the framework for coordination with clear responsibility of various sectors and outline clear performance indicators. The framework should consider both the horizontal and vertical integration.

Mr Hasting Chikoko from C40 and Ms Anthea Spears from the National Treasury Cities Support Programme gave presentations focusing on the following key issues: Presentation by c40: Climate Resilient Cities: adaptation is essential to ensure the long-term prosperity of cities and their ability to mitigate. C40’s business plan aims that all C40 cities will have comprehensive action plans to become low-carbon, resilient cities by 2020 and a participation standard that requires cities to have an adaptation plan by 2020.The global covenant of mayors requires that 68 cities have a risk assessment and adaptation plan. Mr Hasting Chikoko emphasised the interdependency across sectors as critical towards building climate- resilient cities. These crosssectoral interdependencies include the thematic areas of energy, water, transport, solid waste,

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POST-EVENT REPORT It was underscored that climate change considerations remain outside the mainstream of service delivery.

SA’s public environment expenditure: Environment responsibilities are distributed across spheres of government: The National Treasur y presented the Environment expenditure as follows: R269.8 bn* (5 years 2011/12 2017/18) *high level, excl. tax incentives, loan guarantees, SOE environment expenditure, and 11 national departments.

Department of Environmental Affairs receives a small portion, with the bulk going to the National Department of Transport and Department of Water and Sanitation. Government grants with direct/indirect environmental spending are allocated to energy, infrastructure, municipal disaster grants, public transport infrastructure, urban settlement, water, etc.

How can they be optimised for climate and water outcomes? Significant domestic investments in public goods, including water, transport and energy, are necessary to ensure alignment with climate change policy priorities: • Responses must be aligned with and integrated in city and sector plans, programmes, functions and budgets • Understand adaptation and mitigation potential and per formance of existing programmes • Understand existing spend and additional needs • Build into existing finance streams and mechanisms • Programmatic approach enables leverage and alignment of fiscal spend with investments from multiple financing instruments A discussion between panel members and city representatives took place to address the following issues: • What is the role of cities in responding to climate change and how have they begun to respond to climate change?

• What is the scientific focus on cities and climate change and how is it addressed in relation to national and international commitments such as e.g. NDC, SDGs? • Identify and understand the urban adaptation finance gap through the identification of investment needs, design of bankable projects, barriers to direct funding and investment, and development of attractive project proposals.

• What funding mechanisms are there for cities to take advantage of and what can be done to provide a space to ensure that cities are better positioned to obtain funding in terms of proposals and the necessary documentation?

• What are the limitations, barriers and opportunities for cities in their mission to become more resilient?

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The key outcomes were as follows: Vertical integration:what are the lessons?

It’s vital that we assist sectors to understand their roles in responding to climate change, creating scenarios, and demonstrate how they can start owning climate change and stop looking at it as an environmental issue.

Financial barrier: how do we start moving from bankable projects?

It’s vital to start linking climate risk with core municipal functions, and that will ensure that when funding is sourced, it’s responding to the impacts of climate change. There is a need to establish an institutional framework for vertical and horizontal coordination that is coordinated by the mayor indicating how implementation of climate change is going to be carried out in the city. This should be adopted by the HODs of all the relevant sectors. This should then be downscaled to the deliverables of the officials and the departmental mandates.

What if there is buy-in from the private sector on resilience as compared to mitigation? The key is to remove political influence and to privatise some of the functions. Will this be inclusive? Public Private Partnerships (PPPS) are currently being scrutinised

by Treasury to ensure that there is inclusivity. There is a need to develop capacity in the requirements for the PPPs in other African cities, noting that National Treasury is driving the selection criteria for the PPPs. Further possible benefits from the PPPs include the fostering of partnerships and innovations; establishment and discovery of more resilient technologies. In this regard, private sector participation in transition towards climate resilient cities was over emphasised. Further discussion points underscored the need to engage with insurance companies in assessing and understanding the risk associated with climate change. It was indicated that climate change should be at the core of the operational strategies of the cities, thereby ensuring greater support from top leadership. The linkage between climate change and service delivery was emphasised and the need for its inclusion in the IDP was a key point of the discussion.

The fact that cities are trying to protect the revenue that they generate also hampers private partnerships. So the Cities Support Programme is also trying to start engaging cities and the private sector to identify where the blockages are in terms of cities contributing effectively to GDP. A proposal was that a study needs to be conducted to understand the barriers and challenges that cities experience and this should be an integrated approach. Another option is for the private sector to start carrying out feasibility studies on climate resilience projects and develop them into bankable projects. Research should be conducted on behalf of the cities.

Integration—SITAs are currently carrying out capacity building on engineering issues and green buildings: how is the issue of climate change incorporated? We need a holistic large-scale approach to start engaging the citizens. There is a

huge gap in terms of capacitating our communities.

Clear stakeholder mapping is key at a local, community and provincial levels.

Mainstreaming climate change response at city level Climate change and extreme events, especially drought, feature in the Global Risk Report as key risks for 2017. The challenge is how cities continue to provide effective service delivery in the midst of changing climate, in particular, the development agenda. As aforementioned, building resilience within the city space by climate-proofing city infrastructure and mainstreaming the climate change agenda into city plans enables cities to better meet their service delivery goals. Furthermore, since climate change is a cross-sectoral issue, this requires integration into national and global development agendas and plans. The questions remain: • What is the enabling environment?

• What are the priorities and action plans for alignment?

• What kind of resources, particularly finances are needed?

• What kind of support can be given to cities to enable a response?

Integration Who fits where and why, and what are the benefits?

Various stakeholders, including those that contribute to the City Resilience Forum, were engaged in spearheading the development and maintenance of resilient cities. Key stakeholders included C40 (C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group), ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental now Local Governments for Sustainability), National Treasury, SACN (South African Cities Network), SALGA (South African Local Government Association) and the various city representatives from the eight metropolitan cities as well as the secondary cities, which all have a common interest to transform into resilient cities as well to influence local policy and actions.

As a result of the efforts of the stakeholders involved, various climate actions such as formulating city climate change response plans, transitioning to green economies, building within the specified areas and planning for a future where climate change is of high priority, amongst others, are the current measures taken to ensure great impacts are achieved. The benefits of these measures are of a social, economic and environmental nature. Climate-proofing infrastructure, for example, will save cities a great amount of money and save lives in the face of extreme events brought about by climate change. With that, finances and financial positioning still impede the achievement of such and other goals. Therefore, a collaborative effort is necessary between the communities within the city space, city officials and national government to achieve the ultimate state of resilience within cities.

WAY FORWARD • The need to foster PPPs is crucial to protect cities’ revenue from the impacts and risks associated with climate change;

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POST-EVENT REPORT • Collaboration on the study on barriers and options will be crucial to inform programme intervention; • Scaling up of key adaptation interventions for the country; • Active citizenry in addressing the risk associated with climate change inclusive of active engagements at local levels: C40 is willing to work with the DEA to deliver on the NDC and, therefore, future engagement is critical.

Green Economy Entreprneurship and Business Incubation Workshop 2017 Mr Lufuno Tshikovhi, Executive Director of Business Support Operations Division in the Economic Development and Spatial Planning Department of the City of Tshwane, opened the session with a strong emphasis on SMMEs as a vehicle for job creation. He also outlined the need and importance of value optimisation that SMMES could play in supply chains.

Thereafter, a panel was formed with the following participants: Mr Khudusela Pitje, founder and CEO of New GX Capital Holdings; Mr Zwelibanzi Mnguni, founder of Destination Green Recycling and; Mr Eric Noir, partner in Abundancebydesign and a founding director of Green Building Council South Africa The panellists were given five minutes each to tell the audience about their businesses and then the first question was asked of the panellists: What differentiates a green economy business from any other? Here, a couple of core ideas were given about profit not being the motive; that the business forms around purpose and that a green economy business must be aware of a poverty mentality.

The second question, once you have an idea, what are the first steps you take in taking it forward, elicited the following responses: try and rally supporters/investors around that idea; test the idea in the market and bank ideas where possible; approach potential mentors to help groom you and the business.

The closing question was: What is your single most important piece of advice for budding entrepreneurs? The following responses were given: an entrepreneur needs to keep persevering, often in the face of great trial; work out of a place of passion; problem-solvers make good entrepreneurs.

Essentially the debate circulated around these three questions with fantastic debate between panellists and audience.

Project Bankability Workshop 2017 Umar Banda, Acting CFO for the CoT, provided an excellent context for the discussion from a municipal perspective, emphasising the need for municipalities to access private sector funding through bankable business models and projects.

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Panel Dr Kibbi Komen, City of Tshwane Alvino Wuldshutte, Development Bank of South Africa Anton Earl, Stockholm International Water Institute Masopa Mashoeshoe, NewGX To transition towards more sustainable cities, municipalities need to invest in a series of best practice service delivery projects from electricity generation to water treatment, and from waste management services to public transport and even food security. At the same time, and due to financial constraints, municipalities cannot simply pull funds from the fiscus, and so must find ways to access private sector funding. The private sector will readily invest in such municipal projects, but in most cases must attract institutional debt finance to cover the capital costs. Effectively, there is no lack of public sector political will, no lack of private sector ingenuity, and no lack of funds earmarked for these types of investment, but still the number of projects remains limited and difficulty of rolling out projects remains high. How does one solve this?

Capacity Build capacity in municipalities to identify and differentiate excellent projects and to develop bankable proposals. Capacity building to take place through a k nowledge transfer while working on projects, so initially outsourcing may be the solution.

Feasibility Covering the initial cost of determining a projects’ feasibility is a stumbling block, as suppliers are unwilling to perform initial work on risk knowing the project may not progress or would then go to tender.

This can be addressed by creating funding tools that subsequently draw return from successful projects.

Business models In order to harness investment, there must be an income stream against delivery of the services, and then multiple business models may be adopted such as Power Purchase Agreements, off-take agreements, public private partnerships, and build-operate-transfer, to name a few.

Profitability The project developers must demonstrate a minimum internal rate of return in order for the banks to consider a proposal and this may vary from 9% to 16% depending on the investment category.

Technology The capital requirement is usually for the purchase of plant and equipment, which is required to deliver the output/outcome, and the performance of this machinery in terms of its qualitative and quantitative outputs is fundamental to the feasibility of the project. In this particular space, many technologies and approaches

are new and as such, investors will require onerous due diligences and warrantees, so a well-prepared technology partner with adequate back up is necessary, often limiting suppliers to large multinationals.

Scale Due to high costs associated with addressing all the areas of risk in such projects, the project ticket will often be set by lenders at a high level, and this can be overcome by batching projects of a similar kind.

Private equity Banks will seldom lend the first 20% of a project, requiring the developers (or others) to come up with the first 20 - 30%, the equity portion, and this can often be the impediment to the project going ahead. Equity lending is available, however, and in some cases, the municipality can also make this investment to enable large projects to go forward.

In summary What is required is for municipalities to develop an administrative project bankability framework targeting specific high margin service delivery activities, proven technologies, trustworthy suppliers, and to mandate outsourced professionals in the short term to facilitate a funded project pipeline. If successful, service delivery can be enhanced, and more creative ways found to address additional categories of projects over time.

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POST-EVENT REPORT Youth and the Green Economy Dialogue and Youth Hackathon 2017 Over the last five years, the concept of a hackathon has taken the world by storm. This scientific approach to solving business challenges has persuaded business and government in Africa and globally to exploit the untapped genius of techno-savvy individuals at a fraction of the cost of the conventional method. Hackathons provide a venue for self-expression and creativity through technology. People with technical backgrounds come together, form teams around a problem or idea and collaboratively code a unique solution from scratch. In summary, hackathon brings people together to use technology to transform ideas into reality. As evident in the of the City of Tshwane (CoT) as a youthful lively city with a high concentration of research and academic institutions, the ACCSF served as an apparent podium for youth to exhibit and execute their talents in a highly impactful manner. The forum also avails networks to young entrepreneurs that can turn their innovative solutions into commercially and sustainable enterprises that are relevant to the African continent and can have potential economic spin offs.

To guarantee that the innovative solutions that came out of the hackathon and the dreams of targeted aspiring entrepreneurs do not cease post the ACCSF, the CoT (City Strategy and Organizational Performance – Research and Innovation Department, Executive Mayor’s Office - City Sustainability Unit and relevant internal department) will partner with The Innovation Hub to explore prospects for absorption into The Innovation Hub’s incubation programme and other forms of post hackathon support.

Background On 13 June 2017, the CoT in collaboration with Geekulcha and the Innovation Hub hosted the first actual hackathon session which took place at the CSIR International Convention Centre (ICC), Jade Conference Room. The session was coordinated internally by the CoT Senior Innovation Specialists Thato Shuping and Sipho Nxasane, externally by Geekulcha CEO Mixo Ngoveni, and the Innovation Hub E-kasi Labs Programme Manager, Buthi Makamma. The first session of the hackathon served as a platform for hackers to brainstorm, network, and to have detailed and elaborate discussions collectively among themselves in order to derive innovative technological or social solutions to specific problems the city is currently facing. The rationale behind the session was to create an enthusiastic competitive condition between hackers in the form of enlightening them about who they are competing with and most importantly their proposed solutions to the identified problems.

In motion, the first session of the actual hackathon included 12 heterogeneous teams, and among the 12, there were six individual rival competitors competing among themselves, namely:

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• Sebenza team, which proposed a project they named Waste Management Systems • SOSA team ( Individual) proposed a project named Solar Street Lights • Morrow Energy ( Individual) proposed a project named Tshwane Hack Cols to Water, • Hydro-Power • Beyond energy (Individual) proposed a project named Re-energising the Informal Economy • Greyts Group proposed a project they named Clever Meters • Mamelodibiz proposed a project they named Ekasi E-waste • Beyond Energy (Individual) proposed a project named Solar Panels • Lutamo (Individual) proposed a project named Count Down Meters • Aero-Tech proposed a project they named Air- Monvol • Green Trend proposed a project they named Bioethanol Extraction.

Mayoral interaction session The second phase of the actual hackathon sessions included the mayoral interaction session, where young competitive hackers were afforded an opportunity to hypothetically engage the mayor socially by giving a detailed elaboration of their proposed innovative solution to the identified challenges the city is currently facing. In layman’s terms, the rationale behind the mayoral briefing session was to enlighten the executive mayor about the detail project proposals that were proposed by potential hackers. The mayoral briefing session also served as a platform for hackers to build, demonstrate and showcase their technological prototypes to the executive mayor with the aim of creating an atmospheric condition for attracting funders and investors in order to provide them with business go ahead.

Pitching sessions The third and last phase of the actual hackathon was a pitching and presentation session, where hackers were afforded an opportunity to present

their innovative, technological and social ideas to the entire panel and audience at the session.

Sebenza team The first team to take the podium was the Sebenza team with a project entitled Waste Management Systems, which was proposed by Kikomeko Ibrahim, Abulele Ntshengulana, Loyd Mafoo, Nkosana Ndlela and Fhulufhelo Maumela. In their innovative proposition and challenge identification, the Sebenza Team identified one of the most crucial loopholes in the CoT’s Waste Management Systems by proposing to introduce what they call the Smart Bin. In their detailed elaboration, the Smart-Bins comprise of four waste filtering sections, a separate section for each waste, for example organic, paper, glass, and plastic waste sections. Furthermore, each section of the bin will comprise a password that will be used to monitor, track and locate the houses, which utilises the bin mostly in order to be rewarded. Literally, the organic section of the bin will be stabilised chemically to eliminate hazardous conditions such as air pollution. Moreover, a detection system will be used to monitor the utilisation capacity of the bin in order to notify the administrator of the company to send municipal waste collectors for waste material dispositions and recycling.

SOSA Lights The second team was the SOSA Lights with a project proposal named Solar Street Lights proposed by Kagiso Maila. According to Kagiso, load shedding is caused by a huge amount of pressure on the power grids, which triggers power cuts. He also mentioned that power cuts serve as catalysts for both organised and occasional property crimes such as carjacking, robberies and accidents due to the disfunctioning of street lights, particularly in informal settlements.

In addition to the above mentioned challenges, Kagiso further emphasised that, in the case of informal settlements where there is no access to electricity, citizens usually encounter fire incidents were properties are burned down due to the use of carbon fuels as sources of energy. As a young technocrat, Kagiso has proposed eco-solar street lights with an automated charging power bank

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POST-EVENT REPORT electricity, thereby deterring consumers from negligently leaving electric switches on.

Winners: First Place, Phateng Secondary School and a motion sensor that will produce electricity using sun radiations with no cables required for it to function. This is not an ordinary solar street light, but a street light that will accommodate and supply surrounding households with electricity to use for TV, radio, charging cell phones and most importantly, for light energy in their houses.

EMA EMA was the third team which took to the podium with a project proposal named Tshwane HackColsto Waters. Sizwe Mavuso was of a view that the CoT is facing high shortages of water due to various contributing factors such as climate changes, aging water infrastructure, urban growth, water leaks and most importantly, there is a culture of not recycling water. According to EMA, statistically it has been revealed that 15 000 South African citizens are migrating to Pretoria each month; this poses a huge demand for water supply which the city alone cannot sustain. As part of the solution to the identified water challenges, the City is currently facing, EMA has proposed an alternative water redistribution prototype or method termed COLSTO modular.

In their detailed elaboration of the above mentioned prototype, EMA indicated that, a COLSTO is a compact 25L modular plastic container purposely designed with plastic polymer containing ultra-violet coats to deter damages arising from harsh weather conditions. Moreover, it has male and female couple connections that connect and secure passing water through the system; the connections are sealed with food graded silicon seals to deter water leakages. EMA indicated that side handles and a vertical groove behind the tank for mounting and securing the tank onto a wall or flat vertical surface are vital features of the COLSTO. MMD In proceeding with the actual hackathon sessions; the MMD team were the fourth team with a project

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proposal they entitled Hydropower. The y proposed a solution to the municipal supply of electricity via Eskom, a current challenge or problem the city is facing. The Hydropower system proposed by the MMD utilises turbines, which function both manually and automatically depending on the amount of water available at water reservoir. This also depends on the utilised amount of water circulated in order to generate electric power. As part of their proposition, the MMD emphasised that they are willing to provide Hydro-powerised systems to assist the city in generating backup power for households, businesses, industrialised, nonindustrialised, educational facilities, government department and hospitals.

Furthermore, the team have indicated that the energy will be stored in capacitors in the generators to the charges, and in case of power failures, these hydro-power systems will automatically switch on and release direct current, which will be converted to the alternating current/electricity we use in our homes in a less harmful and cost efficient manner.

Morrow Energy The actual hackathon session gave opportunities to young technocrats such as Rebecca Mooka who proposed a solution to one of the most crucial challenges the city is currently facing, which is the misuse and inefficient use of electric energy. For instance, the persistent habit of unplugging electric appliances, leaving lights switched on during the day and other electrical appliances in operation such as geysers and televisions. The Morrow Energy provided alternative better solutions for the City regarding these costly habits by introducing a vital sensor that will be connected to each and every households electric meter boxes (pre-paid /billed electricity). It operates via a wrist watch gadget, which comprises of an app that will provide users with access to information and municipal updates. The wrist watch gadget will operate remotely by producing alarm sounds that will alert consumers about the misuse of energy/

Beyond Energy Beyond Energy was another competitive team which took part in the innovation challenge by proposing an innovative solution termed RIE to address energy poverty in the informal economy within the CoT. According to the founder of Beyond Energy Thabani Madlala, statistically it is reported that employed people in the trade sectors within the city have poor access to basic amenities and lack access to modern energy services in order to be productive in their business environment (Mkhize, Dube and Skinner, 2013: Skinner and Hayson, 2016). In his detailed elaboration, Thabani Madlala further emphasised that the trade sector plays a major role in the market for goods and services in the city, comprising 42% of informal sector employment and predominantly represented by the urban poor. Moreover, there has been a particular drop in women’s participation in trades, and a significant decline in informal traders selling food.

The proposed solution to the above-mentioned challenge the city is currently facing is an attempt to socially and bureaucratically increase economic opportunities and improve the livelihood of traders using solar energy particularly for those trading food.

Furthermore, Thabani Madlala indicated that, the proposed solar-powered products (i.e. food vending carts and refrigeration) will be used for a wide range of revenue generation and productive uses.

Greyts The Greyts team comprised of three founders, namely Bongani Seqhoto, Tshegofatso Makgobathe and Samson Masilela. The agenda of the Greyts team is deeply rooted in the concentration of water and sanitation issues, problems of meter pipes, tap leaks, customer complaints about overcharged water bills and most importantly, being less informed about water cuts. As part of their challenge alleviation, the Greyts team has invented a device they called Clever Meter Reader that will automatically switch off meters during peak hours with an alternative option to switch it back on. This device will have the ability to alert users when using water excessively and be able to display how much water has been used, including its costs and water cut offs, on a daily basis.

Mamelodibiz Mamelodibiz was one of the teams which took part in the actual hackathon challenge with a project entitled Ekasi-EWaste, proposed individually by Monde Zuma. According to Monde Zuma, statistically it has been proved that, only 11% of South Africa’s e-waste was being recycled. Thus, the focus will be on each and every township within the CoT in order to implement a successful Electronic Waste system that is installed in the backyards of households, offices and buildings etc. Mamelodibiz will firstly initiate an education awareness programme aimed at providing

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POST-EVENT REPORT information as a solution to the damage of having electronics waste lying around our homes, offices or the community at large.

In the process of informing the larger community of the benefits of electronics waste recycling, Mamelodibiz aimed to achieve a minimum of 50% collection of electronic waste. Upon collections, Mamelodibiz is offering to sort and recycle the waste with the aim of creating employment for fellow youth residents in townships. This will be achieved by recovering valuable resources that can be reused in manufacturing.

Lutamo In the pitching process, during the actual hackathon session, the Lutamo team mentioned that the CoT’s residents continuously exhibit behaviours that are not related to saving water. This is evident in the continuous increment of water bills by the municipality to deter the excessive and inefficient use of water by residents. According to the founder of Lutamo, Aaron Monyai, the only solution to deter water loss, leakages and excessive use of water in the city is by introducing a prototype he termed a Count Down Meter. This special meter is programmed to measure how much water a specific household uses on a monthly basis; the aim is to establish an automatic means of water deterrence in order to enforce an allocated subsequent amount of water for each and every household.

Aero-Tech Team Aero-Tech also took part in the innovation challenge hosted by the CoT by proposing an innovative solution to one of the most critical challenges the city is currently facing, which is the issue of air pollution. In their presentation, Richard Corbishley, Marco Linde, Darius Bosch, Jacques Bosman emphasised that Aero-Tech is building a device that is capable of recording various elements and compounds contained in the air in order to determine

whether a specified location within the jurisdiction of the city produces an abundant amount of pollution.

The device uses a gas sensitive sensor to collect the data needed. The data will then be processed, by the device, and sent to a server to be stored. Because of the long periods required to collect accurate data, the device is powered by a battery, which is charged using a small solar panel mounted on top. The aim of this project is to create an affordable, modular way to monitor air pollution for industries in need of the Atmospheric Emission License and ultimately share this data to the public for social awareness.

The project could potentially be done in conjunction with the South African Air Quality Information System (SAAQIS) and externally in collaboration with the City of Tshwane.

Green Trend The innovation challenge has given birth to young social technocrats such as the Green Trend proposed by Andile Mbyuyazi and Renold Maja with a project proposal they entitled Bio-ethanol from Biomasses. In their detailed elaboration, Green Trend indicated that due to the increasing environmental concerns related to the use of fossil fuels and the large amount of waste in the city, the greenhouse effect has escalated to its highest potential, thereby exhibiting harsher conditions each and every year. As part of the solution to the emerging challenge the city is currently facing, Green Trend proposed to ease the waste management burden for the city by converting biomass (waste fruits and related products) into bio-ethanol through the process of fermentation.

According to Andile Mbyuyazi and Renold Maja, biomass includes products, by-products, residue, and waste from agriculture, forestry, related industries, non-fossilised and biodegradable organic fractions from industries that will be convert into bio-ethanol and traded with those in need of it.

Umcebo Solutions In their information session during the hackathon, Umcebo Solutions was of a view that the CoT is experiencing high percentages of power usage across the 7 regions of the city. Rabaji Kebuileng and Mbuyane Gugulethu proposed a social innovative solution to the above mentioned challenge the city is currently facing by suggesting a numerical increase in the public broadcasting awareness sessions on the usage of electricity, particularly in informal settlements. Moreover, Umcebo Solutions highlighted the importance of adopting ISO standards in relation to the establishment of Green buildings in all municipal property in the city to ensure a successful preservation of electricity city wide.

In conclusion, the solutions that will be developed during the Tshwane Innovation Hackathon will require post development support from a number of stakeholders in the form of mentoring, professional services, technical product development services, office space, and intellectual property advise, among others. These stakeholders, in collaboration with the CoT will work with the winning team to develop the top idea to the point where it can be piloted or implemented by the city.

As one of the city’s partners, The Innovation Hub will provide a modified form of incubation support to a limited number of winners and will manage the allocation of seed funding over nine months according to progress towards specific milestones developed during the training and mentoring phase. This will ensure that investment in seed funding is directed at product and business development, increasing the probability of a sustainable enterprise.

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POST-EVENT REPORT

ATTENDANCE Attendance per session (Estimated)

Total attendance New registrations on Day 1

779

New registrations on Day 2

348

New registrations on Day 3

139

UNIDO Event

40

Ecological Awards (not already registered)

250

Youth & the Green Economy (not already registered)

100

Youth Hackathon

53

Total Unique Attendees

1709

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African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum

475

Sustainability in Mining Seminar

27

Green Building Conference

185

Sustainable Energy Seminar (Two days)

69

Food Security Seminar

59

Sustainable Transport and Mobility Seminar

41

Green Manufacturing Seminar

63

Sustainable Water Seminar

45

Sustainable Infrastructure Seminar

77

Responsible & Sustainable Tourism Seminar

45

Youth and Green Economy

150

City Resilience Conference

33

Reporting

15

Entrepreneurship

34

Project Bankability

34

Vision Zero Waste Seminar

51

Eco Logic Awards

300

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POST-EVENT REPORT

CARBON FOOTPRINT The Wonderbag: a recipe for social change The Wonderbag is a revolutionary, non-electric heat retention cooker that allows food that has been brought to the boil by conventional methods to continue to cook for up to 12 hours without using additional energy usage.

Reliance Compost: growing greener generations Reliance Compost, a company near Cape Town, produces certified organic compost. The use of high quality compost leads to fertile soil, excellent crop yields and a stable income for communities.

Background The most common way of cooking in South Africa is using an electric stove, with the majority of households and organisations being connected to the national grid. Managed by Eskom, the energy that is supplied is largely generated from coal, a fossil fuel and a significant cause of greenhouse gas emissions.

Cooking with a Wonderbag significantly reduces cooking times and energy use, leading to electricity savings and the reduction of emissions. It also prevents the use of other polluting and dirty energy sources like charcoal, gas, paraffin, and wood, which also drives down greenhouse gas emission.

Formed in 2007, Natural Balance Global PTY (Ltd) is a South African social enterprise that owns, manufactures, and distributes Wonderbags throughout the world. In South Africa, Natural Balance has registered the Wonderbag project as a carbon offset project, unique to any other carbon offset project in South Africa.

The challenge South Africa faces a lack of fertile land, soil degradation and pollution of its rivers and groundwater – all serious environmental challenges that need to

The Wonderbag project The Wonderbag has significant sustainable development benefits. Firstly, the programme creates employment in South Africa, where the bags are used in large numbers. Secondly, field surveys indicate that users of the bags have reduced fuel bills and finally, there is published evidence that reduced consumption of fossil fuels drives down illnesses caused by fumes, smoke, and soot.

Wonderbag users also experience an improvement in the quality of life, child-care activities and overall productivity. In countries where firewood and charcoal are the main cooking fuels, the Wonderbag plays an important role in fighting deforestation. The long hours associated with firewood collection (and safety risks) are significantly reduced.

Cooking with a Wonderbag also leads to a lower water usage due to reduced evaporation.

Carbon credits The Wonderbag project is registered under the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS), thereby allowing companies to credibly offset their carbon emissions whilst making a sustainable social impact in South Africa. The Wonderbag’s environmental impact is measured and monitored by internal and external researchers and audited by independent auditors as required by the VCS guidelines.

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ID: 2017/30050/287/1 oihfriohcvuhvuguv

ALIVE2GREEN has offset 118.937 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for Sustainability Week 2017

with carbon credits from the Wonderbag Project (VCS): 59.47 tCO2e Reliance Compost Project (CDM-VER): 59.47 tCO2e Climate Neutral Group invests in emission reduction projects which combine energy, environment and developmental solutions into sustainable business opportunities in developing countries.

Our offset projects are carefully selected for their wider social and environmental benefits. These socially progressive projects simultaneously reduce carbon emissions and improve the quality of life of people who are threatened by the impacts of climate change. As such, they are a powerful tool for sustainable development.

27/07/2017 oihfriohcvuhvu

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POST-EVENT REPORT be addressed. A major cause of these issues is the excessive use of chemical fertilisers.

The solution In contrast, the use of organic compost enriches the soil and ecosystem without negative side-effects. In this project, controlled microbial compost (CMC) is produced and sold by a local company called Reliance Compost. CMC is mostly made up of municipal garden and park waste generated by the City of Cape Town. Suppliers of raw material include garden service companies, private gardeners, municipal contractors, city parks departments and various cleaning operations.

Reliance Compost chips the green waste and trucks it to the composting facility where it’s produced aerobically in a process lasting six to eight weeks. CMC production replaces dumping of garden refuse at municipal waste dumping facilities and other places where the waste would decompose anaerobically, leading to an increase of methane emissions into the atmosphere.

Using high-quality compost leads to fertile soil, good yields and a stable income for rural farmers. This is an important first step to job security and helps to prevent mass migration from rural areas to the cities. The project reduces greenhouse gas emissions, thus mitigating the impacts caused by climate change Carbon credits This project is registered as a Voluntary Emission Reduction (VER) using the guidelines of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), thereby allowing companies to credibly offset their carbon footprint in order to make a sustainable environmental and social impact in South Africa.

The project’s social, economic and environmental impacts are measured and monitored by internal and external researchers and audited

by independent auditors as required by the CDM rules and regulations. Overall, carbon emissions (CO2e) have reduced by 25% since 2016

Sustainability Week

Conducted on:

Sustainability Week events and activities

Reporting Period:

1 Jan – 30 June 2017

Site:

Alive2green head office CSIR International Convention Centre

Carbon Dioxide Equivalent Emissions (tCO2e) Scope 1 0

Other 0

Scope 2 25.864

Total tCo2e

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Scope 3 93.073

118.937

www.sustainabilityweek.co.za

POST-EVENT REPORT

MARKETING AND COMMUNICATIONS This report outlines the media results and coverage achieved for Sustainability Week 2017 (SW2017).

The following media items were distributed during the reporting period: • Sustainability Week 2017: a media release about the highlights of Sustainability Week.

• African Capitals: a media release about the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum.

• Green Stars: a media release about the Green Building Conference.

• Mining: a media release about sustainable mining in South Africa.

• Media invitation: an invitation to the media to attend Sustainability Week 2017.

• African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum: a media release exploring the highlights of the first day of Sustainability Week.

• Following the distribution of the media releases, Reputation Matters liaised with the following media: • SABC 2: An interview on Morning Live with Cape Media and the City of Tshwane.

• SABC 3: SABC Network attended the event. They conducted an interview with the City of Tshwane and took footage of the Youth and Green Economy Hackathon.

• Classic FM Requested an interview with the Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane as part of a panel discussion on sustainable building; unfortunately, the Executive Mayor was unavailable at the time of the interview. However, Sustainability Week received a mention and Dorah Modise, keynote speaker at the Green Building Conference, formed part of the panel discussion.

• SAfm: two interviews took place: one with Dorah Modise about the Green Building Conference and a second interview with a representative from the City of Tshwane about the Hackathon.

• Reputation Matters also assisted with the setting up and distribution of the digital press pack.

• Reputation Matters engaged with Newsclip on behalf of SW2017. Any print and broadcast SW2017-related articles and/or interviews that took place in the media were communicated directly to Alive2green as soon as they were received. All media coverage is available on Google Drive for easy access.

• SW2017 achieved the following: • Advertising Value Estimate (AVE): R 2 595 091.15. This is the amount that SW2017 would have paid for advertising had they advertised in the identified media channels.

• Public Relations value: R 10 380 364.60. This is the credibility value created for SW2017.

• Circulation figure: 12 822 312. This is the number of people who were exposed in total to all the media channels that SW2017 was mentioned in,.

Unfortunately, not all the circulation rates are available for online media.

This number would be considerably higher if these figures were available.

The graph below illustrates the media channels through which media was received during the month:

www.sustainabilityweek.co.za

Figure 1 media channels through which media was received The majority of the media coverage received was through print media (38%), followed by online media (31%) and. Broadcast media, which includes television

The graph below illustrates the overall themes of media coverage received: (20%) and radio (11%), made up the remainder.

Figure 2 media themes throughout SW2017 General mentions of SW2017 in the media made up the majority of coverage received (30%). This is followed by the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum (24%), which includes a focus on the City of Tshwane. The remainder of the media coverage received related to various activities and discussions at SW2017: The Youth and Green Economy Hackathon (11%); Eco-Logic Awards and sustainable mining (both at 10%); green mobility and green building (both at 7%) and lastly the Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security seminar (1%).

To conclude: with experts and professionals from across the country gathering to take the dialogue around sustainability to the next level, it is not surprising that the media jumped at the chance to cover the various aspects of the conference. It was a pleasure for Reputation Matters to be a part of Sustainability Week and help to achieve maximum media coverage for it; we look forward to Sustainability Week 2018.

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POST-EVENT REPORT

SUSTAINABILITY REPORT

SUSTAINABILITY

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2016 REPORT

respond to global and national challenges, spurred by demand for more sustainable solutions.

Scope and boundary The report is intended to provide all stakeholders with relevant information regarding the economic, social and environmental impacts arising from the event. The boundary of this report is limited to the events, activities and products linked to Sustainability Week; however, we have also included certain product and company information that is deemed relevant for stakeholder groups.

This report covers the period from January through June 2017 and incorporates the previously mentioned events and activities of Sustainability Week taking place in South Africa. This is the third annual report that is aligned with GRI Reporting Guidelines, and Alive2green reports annually on sustainability performance at Sustainability Week.

Materiality This report is intended to provide insight into those issues identified as the most relevant or material to Alive2green’s organisation of and involvement in the Sustainability Week event, for the company, and for its key stakeholder groups.

SUSTAINABILITY

WEEK

These material issues are determined annually by means of a workshop of Alive2green executives and associates, who are representing the view of key stakeholder groups, and who are able to identify the issues that are of concern, that impact and that influence the company and its stakeholders.

The results of the process are captured in a materiality matrix which, along with further information about materiality and key stakeholder groups can be viewed on page 37 of this report.

Assurance Alive2green has employed the services of independent consultants GSA Campbell to ensure that best practices and principles are applied to the greatest degree possible in the development of this report.

The company has not elected to assure any report content in this reporting cycle.

Contact information Alive2green 28 Main Rd, Rondebosch, Cape Town Gordon Brown Chief Executive Officer 021 447 4733; 083 259 8948 gordon.brown@alive2green.com

HOST CITY:

About the report This report of Sustainability Week 2017 incorporates all seminars, workshops, events, exhibitions and activities that are included, or associated with the Sustainability Week brand, and which took place between the 31 May and 2 June 2017. The report aims to convey relevant information regarding sustainability performance to all interested stakeholders. Compiled with the assistance of GSA Campbell Consulting, the report is aligned to the GRI G4 Reporting Standard of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). Information regarding the specific indicators covered in the Report can be found in the GRI Index Table on page 43.

Sustainability Week is a multifaceted and integrated event that traverses sectors and emphasises opportunities for investors, policymakers, business people, and consumers to improve environmental and economic performance—be it through achieving efficiencies, introducing alternative approaches, and by unlocking value.

Sustainability Week showcases innovation and seeks to inspire and educate attendees. Multiple platforms highlight the actions and interventions of leading thinkers, policymakers, practitioners and producers as they set the benchmark for how to

2015

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EVENT REPORT INCORPORATING SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE

SUSTAINABILITY WEEK 2014

Advancing the green economy in South Africa and the region

EVENT REPORT INCORPORATING SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE Sustainability Week is a brand owned by Alive2green and operated in association with various industry stakeholders.

SUSTAINABILITY

WEEK

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In partnership

23-28 JUNE 2015 *Sustainbility Week is a brand owned by Alive2Green and operated in association with various industry stakeholders

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CEO’S MESSAGE How is sustainability relevant to the organisation?

The singular focus of our media channels is to share knowledge and best practice in respect of sustainability, making sustainability central to our reason for existing. Sometimes, however, we get so bogged down in meeting this primary objective that we forget how important it is for us to also use our best endeavours to operate sustainably, and we have to guard against being the proverbial mechanic with the broken down car in the back yard.

What is the overall vision and strategy for the short term, medium term (e.g. 3-5 years), and long term?

Our vision is to be regarded as the most important source of sustainability-related content in South Africa on each of the sectors we cover. Our immediate strategy is to continue to hone our skills and to improve the delivery of media platforms, both qualitatively in respect of content and delivery mechanism, and quantitatively in respect of the number of people engaged. We will strive to do this organically but also through partnerships with expertise providers and by expanding the number of co-located events on the Sustainability Week Calendar.

In the medium term we will seek to expand geographically into African markets. We will do this with caution, starting with neighbouring countries, and with opportunities that open up relationships.

Our long term vision is for our channels to become regarded as the most important source of sustainability-related content in Africa. In order to achieve these objectives, we will need to be financially successful but will not achieve this at the expense of people or the environment.

What are some of the strategic priorities and key topics for the short/ medium term with regard to sustainability?

Strategically, it’s fundamental that we constantly remain at the forefront of the issues and deliver the latest thinking. A key risk in our business is that the mainstream media takes over the discourse and that dedicated channels such as ours become marginalised. This is also a risk to the sustainability discourse as a whole because mainstream media is news and trend-driven and, thus, intrinsically fickle, and it will only cover green economy while it’s deemed to be ‘newsworthy’. Our editorial strategy is, thus, to delve deeper into the detail behind the main stories, to share the nuances, and the insights, and to make the arguments, and in so doing, continue to create reader/delegate value.

www.sustainabilityweek.co.za

Gordon Brown

What international standards does the organisation subscribe to or incorporate?

As we are not manufacturers or constructors, we do not have to meet any specific standards, but where there are voluntary standards that affect us we will adopt these, and examples are having our publications ABC Certified (Audit Bureau of Circulation) and by following the GRI standards for this report.

How do these standards relate to a long term organisational strategy and success?

Expansion locally and more importantly, regionally, requires trust, and companies earn trust by operating at consistently high standards, and where possible, for this to be verified through third party certifications and awards. We will begin to look at this area more closely.

What are the broader trends (e.g macroeconomic or political) affecting the organisation and influencing sustainability priorities?

Like all sectors and businesses, the green economy and, indeed, our business is affected by the waxing and waning of the economy, and by macroeconomic shocks. Some, like Eskom’s rolling blackouts actually benefited our business, but the recent devaluing of the Rand increased the cost of many clean technologies, negatively affecting green economy businesses such as our own. A

slow growing economy also has a negative impact on the sector as in many cases, the green economy interventions require capital and, thus, access to finance, and in a slow economy businesses and lenders become risk averse. At the same time, many green economy interventions cut costs and during tough times, businesses are more likely to invest in cutting costs, so there are swings and roundabouts.

What were the key events, achievements, and failures during the reporting period?

Sustainability Week is a key event for us and has kept the flag flying high, and this is due, in no small measure, to strong partnerships. .

What is the outlook on the organisation’s main challenges and targets for the next year?

The outlook for the organisation is extremely bright due to new event opportunities opening up, and due to an improved profitability outlook within the publishing business due to a rationalisation of titles.

What are the goals for the year ahead?

Our goal for 2018 is to expand the focus of Sustainability Week to show how the emerging digital economy and the green economy are merging, effectively creating a new, smart, green economy.

Gordon Brown CEO Alive2green

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POST-EVENT REPORT

Overview Sustainability Week has been hosted by the City of Tshwane for the past four years, and is an amalgamation of Alive2green’s green economy sector events, along with a number of independent events, such as the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum, and most recently, the EcoLogic Awards among others, sharing a single platform and marketplace. Sustainability Week is the largest diversified green-economy-focused event in Africa, and among the most long-standing in the sector. Sustainability Week’s primary market is green economy companies and organisations in South Africa.

Alive2green is a media company promoting and delivering content on sustainability and related best practices across multiple sectors. The company works in partnership with leading research institutions such as the CSIR, industry representative organisations and government departments to develop and produce publications, events and websites that communicate the fundamental issues, SUSTAINABILITY

• • • • •

About the company Alive2green (Pty) Ltd is a private company in the Republic of South Africa owned by Cape Media Corporation and is the sole owner of the Sustainability Week events and properties.

Alive2green is a member of the Green Building Council of South Africa, the Western Cape Government’s 110% Green initiative and is an organisational stakeholder of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). The company is also a member of the Cape Chamber of Commerce and has affiliation agreements with various industry organisations such as: • The South African Institute of Architecture • Bizcommunity • Food and Trees for Africa

• • • •

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thereby seeking to facilitate in the most effective way possible the knowledge transfer needed to advance towards a sustainable future.

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MARKETS & PRODUCTS / DIVISIONS MARKETS AND PRODUCTS

Sustainability Week Event Alive2green are the organisers of Sustainability Week, incorporating the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum.

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Sustainability Handbook Series Alive2green publishes peer-reviewed handbooks on multiple sectors, working closely with industry experts and researchers, and industry representative bodies. The handbook series forms an invaluable resource of thought leadership and case study content for multiple industry sectors.

Market – the Green Economy Alive2green provides content about the green economy relevant to the public and private sector in South Africa and regionally.

www.sustainabilityweek.co.za

POST-EVENT REPORT

REPORT CONTENT

Report content The process for defining report content was led by the event committee and consisted of committee meetings and certain engagements with stakeholders. In analysing the information to be included in the report, the team considered the questions: “Who is our reporting aimed at?” and “What decisions will they be able to make from our reporting?” In this context, it is the intention of Alive2green that this report: • Informs and adds value for all stakeholders with a valid interest in the group and event; • Considers all issues that can impact on the group’s ability to create value for these stakeholders; • Reports as comprehensively as possible on the known and potential impacts of these issues for the group and its stakeholders.

In identifying the issues and information to be included in this report, the team considered the

relative importance of each matter in terms of its known or potential effects on Alive2green’s ability to continue creating value for all stakeholders. These matters were then prioritised for relevance to the intended users of the report, so that non-pertinent information need not be included. Alive2green is of the view that this process is well aligned with the ‘reporting principles for defining report content’, as defined by the GRI. The event team made themselves available to address questions and issues as they arose during the planning for this event.

Materiality Alive2green undertook a process that was aimed at determining the material issues for the company and for key stakeholder groups. This process would serve to inform the content for engagement and would also provide the company with clarity around which issues should be managed. Materiality was

determined by a process similar to that used to identify key stakeholders. The event committee used a workshop to determine issues of importance to the company and of importance to key stakeholder groups, including risks and opportunities relevant to the South African context. The major issues impacting and influencing the business and key stakeholder groups were plotted on the matrix in order to establish the relative importance of certain issues compared to others.

Material issues The best possible speakers The success of the event is clearly impacted by the presence of the most appropriate and effective speakers. Our policy is to create a network of strategic editorial advisors, including consultants and where appropriate partners and even sponsors. This network assists us to develop the speaker invite list. A dedicated team of staff members runs the

Sello J. Mphaga

www.sustainabilityweek.co.za

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POST-EVENT REPORT

REPORT CONTENT process, ensuring that different views are incorporated and integrated. A challenge is the need for continual massaging of the timing of finalising the programme against the recruitment of new partners and sponsors.

Correct audience attendance/delegate numbers Our marketing strategy is key for this issue, targeting predefined groups of people, media and representative organisations. As discussed in the CEO’s report, a challenge for future events will be to improve the delegate booking process to allow greater pre-event engagement. Post-event engagement has provided valuable input for next year’s event.

Sponsor engagement/management Our aim is to ensure that we have delivered on our promises to sponsors, or exceeded expectations. Dedicated staff members are appointed to facilitate this process, and checks and balances are put in place. Potential improvements include more face-to-face meetings and possibly a preevent group meeting of sponsors and exhibitors.

Perception There are no specific policies governing the material issue of perception because it is allpervasive. All aspects of the event can create both a positive and negative perception; managing this involves putting together the best possible event, and doing so in a manner that has the least negative impact. We also endeavour to demonstrate our efforts to our stakeholders through information boards, and through the post-event report. Potential growth in this area could be to clarify our stance on problematic issues (e.g. serving meals that are not sustainable choices) so that more effective communication reaches all service providers.

Environmental impacts Energy use, waste and water are discussed in the Environmental Sustainability section of this report, and procurement issues are discussed in the Economic / Environmental sections of this report.

Marketing effectiveness As indicated above, marketing of the event is carefully targeted to appropriate individuals,

representative organisations and sector-focused media. Management takes place on a daily basis involving the CEO, and sales, event and marketing managers. Potential improvements include more direct meetings with the media and organisational partners.

Event sustainability Event management The organisers of Sustainability Week are increasingly committed to ensuring that the events and activities taking place before, during and after the week are as sustainable as reasonably possible in terms of their impact on the environment. The team is aware of the typical impacts and material issues that are associated with Sustainability Week, however, every year brings a few new challenges, even if they are in the form of dealing with (and even training) new supplier representatives, for example.

‘Event greening’ activities included correspondence and engagement with certain key suppliers such as venue, caterers, exhibitors and sponsors regarding ways in which they could reduce the impact of their involvement, and how they could assist us to report on sustainability. Various other interventions that relate to specific environmental issues, such as energy, water and procurement were been discussed and actioned with key role players Stakeholder engagement Because the success of Sustainability Week is dependent on effective engagement with all stakeholder groups, the company conducted a stakeholder identification process by means of a workshop. This ensured that we were clear about who to engage with, how to engage and what to engage about. Using guidelines provided by GSA Campbell Consulting, the committee conducted a stakeholder identification process that examined how the events impact or influence stakeholders, and how the events, and the business impact or influence stakeholders. This data was plotted on a matrix that allowed the team to establish the relative importance of each key stakeholder group.

The team engaged with stakeholders proactively about key issues, including the GSA Campbell Event Greening Guidelines, which seek to create awareness and understanding of sustainability impacts and the avoidance thereof. Links to the Guidelines were included in email correspondences with stakeholders leading up to the events. The table overleaf contains the list of key stakeholder groups and some information regarding engagement around Sustainability Week.

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MECHANISM FOR ENGAGEMENT AND FREQUENCY*

FEEDBACK AND RESPONSE

Delegates

The event team used email and media platforms to communicate with delegates and potential delegates. Relevant delegates were targeted, based on their industry and job function.

Delegates were able to communicate with the event management team via the Sustainability Week website, and via email. Through these and other platforms, delegates were able to submit questions/issues and the event team was able to respond to questions/ issues raised.

Sponsors and exhibitors

The event sales team communicated with sponsors and exhibitors via phone, email and meetings.

The event marketing team communicated with exhibitors and sponsors using email and advertising. See more detail in the media schedule section of this report.

Meetings were held so that the sponsors could discuss issues they may have after the event. A2G responds to each item raised and will be following up with action points taken down under each issue in an ongoing process. Exhibitor liaison process involves the sales team following up for comments and feedback and where necessary, to refer those comments to management for further action/interaction.

Employees and associates

Employees and associates were communicated with using email and in a number of daily, weekly and monthly meetings.

The organisation held a post-event meeting in which all employee-related issues were raised and addressed.

Facilitators and speakers

The event team communicated with facilitators via email and telephone in the run-up to the event

We seek an ongoing relationship with our speakers and facilitators who, by nature of their expertise, are also potential contributors to our publications.

Suppliers and service providers

The event team emailed the suppliers and service providers as required. Suppliers and service providers were able to communicate with the event management team via scheduled meetings and phone calls in which responses to their queries and issues were provided.

We deal with suppliers on an issue-by-issue basis.

Local and regional community

The growing relationship between A2G and the City of Tshwane is becoming increasingly important. Green Home Fair and the youth project are related to this community (see CEO’s report). Because the City of Tshwane procured 200 seats per day, a fair number of regional businesses supported this event. They see Sustainability Week as a large and important event for the city. Editorially, we will continue the relationship between Tshwane and the issues raised in the editorial component of the event.

Local and regional communities were able to communicate with the event management team via the Sustainability Week website and via email. Through these and other platforms, community members were able to submit questions/issues and the event team was able to respond to questions/issues raised.

Media

We were very successful in achieving a high-media return through earned media process (editorial). Our PR agent tracks that and apportions a value to that it was valued at R12 500 000.00. Stories in the media (business-to-business media, e.g. engineering news) show that 25% of their content comes from statements made by key people at events and the ACCSF plenary was featured on the front cover of Pretoria News.

Industry associations, affiliates and institutions

The event management team attended industry forums and events to meet key role players from industry associations, affiliates and institutions, communicated with these organisations and negotiated agreements in order to market to their members.

Municipality

The event take place in the City of Tshwane and the city Is a primary partner in the event, hosts of Sustainability Week and Conveners of the African Capital Cities Sustainability Forum, a seminal even at Sustainability Week. The city leverages the event to advance its internal sustainability objectives and outreach to residents.

Government departments

The event management team attended events to meet key role players from government departments and communicated with government departments through emails and phone conversations and in a number of instances, worked with government departments on aspects of editorial content.

www.sustainabilityweek.co.za

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ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY Climate change Alive2green is subject to general business risk associated with climate change. The financial impact of increased tariffs, carbon taxes and emissions regulations will reduce the organisations’ potential to operate as effectively without corresponding increases in funding.

However, given that the activities of Alive2green and the event are directed specifically at climate change mitigation and adaptation, an opportunity exists for Alive2green to show results and to demonstrate leadership in this space, which may even serve to position the organisation as an essential solution to climate change mitigation, potentially increasing access to funding. Examples of sustainability practices are detailed in other sections of this report.

Suppliers Alive2green follows an active policy of attempting to procure the best environmental choice locally, whether it is for food, paper or publishing, within certain price parameters. In this context, ‘local’ means based in South Africa. An effective management approach involves ongoing identification of suitable suppliers, building relationships with existing suppliers and ensuring that staff have up-to-date information at their disposal regarding developments in various procurement categories.

There is room for improvement in that we could be more proactive in educating suppliers and emphasising the importance of sustainable procurement, which would encourage and influence suppliers to make their own changes. This

GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT Alive2green’s highest authority is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), who is an Executive Director of the Board of Directors. Directors report to the CEO. The directors have functional portfolios and are responsible for the development and execution of company strategy. Shareholders use the board meeting platform to provide their input and to influence resolutions.

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The primary purpose of the Board is to implement the strategy in a way that is true to the values of the company. The Board manages and keeps abreast of financial performance and other key objectives of the business. Environmental, social and governance issues are key to the content of our discussions.

Meetings are scheduled once a month to address necessary actions e.g. if a strategic action is yet to

should take place in product presentations and manufacturing processes where possible. For example, we have been engaging our printing supplier —a relatively small BEE company—for the last two years about becoming FSC (Forestry Stewardship Council) certified. This is, in our view, an important supplier requirement and yet it seems more important to influence our existing suppliers than to abandon the relationships in order to seek out an already-certified supplier. We remain committed to suppliers that are willing to engage around these issues—suppliers that understand our journey and the role that they play.

be implemented, or if an issue has been specifically flagged for reactive response. The agenda reflects the dynamics of required response rather than a list of standing items. Operational meetings are held on an ongoing regular basis to supervise various operational centres, provide review and feedback to middle management, and ultimately achieve the operational objectives of the business.

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POST-EVENT REPORT

SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY

Human Capital, Diversity And Training; health and safety Employment value system Alive2green subscribes to the principles of broad-based black economic empowerment and provides on-the-job training. Staff at Alive2green are expected to uphold the company ethos in their dealings with customers and suppliers. Open, honest and respectful communication and freedom of expression is encouraged and the company ensures a safe and healthy work environment for all employees.

Nine out of a total workforce of 25 are permanent employees, three are contract staff and 13 are volunteers. eleven are female with two in senior management and three in mid-management. The list below details the workforce involved on the Sustainability Week activities.

Sustainability Week 2016 consisted of implementing event greening measures, establishing the event’s overall carbon footprint, and then offsetting the Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (electricity) and all scope 3 emissions except delegates’ flights with the Joburg Waste to Energy Project. The carbon footprint report was generated using the ReportFast online system, and the carbon offsets were facilitated by Climate Neutral Group in South Africa.

Employment and remuneration As a relatively small business, Alive2green offers the best possible packages it can afford to administrative staff and offers competitive basic-plus-commission packages to sales staff. The company boasts high levels of staff retention and long service; however, attracting good employees remains an ongoing objective for management. Alive2green’s employees are executives and consultants, generally not represented by bargaining councils or unions in South Africa. Therefore, no employees are members of such organisations or bodies.

Workforce at the event: • Training and education Education and training are treated as very important at Alive2green and this is particularly relevant in the context of Sustainability Week, which required staff to possess the skills and experience required to manage so many moving parts. An additional requirement is that staff understand certain basic tenets of corporate sustainability. This is important given that employees are required to engage with key stakeholder groups that need to understand the value proposition of the events.

Volunteers who work at Sustainability Week are trained beforehand and a large number of these volunteers have worked at a number of Alive2green events in the past. Volunteer retention is excellent. Volunteers this year were mostly students in the architectural, engineering, technical or science faculties of tertiary institutions in the local community. Volunteers were paid a stipend that covered food and transport for the time that they were at the event and most of the volunteers view the week as an opportunity to engage with prospective future employers or influencers.

Corporate social investment Community development In 2014, Alive2green established a new platform that focuses on youth and the role they can play in the green economy. The ‘Youth and Green Economy’ dialogue continued to be successful on social media platforms and at the event. Website traffic from this group initially grew very quickly and has increased steadily over the last two-and-half years. It is our belief that those ‘members’ of this community are not only emerging as a key stakeholder group, but are developing in their careers, and in their ability to influence the organisations that they will represent in the future. This, in our view could be equated to a ‘downstream strategy of influence and growth’—a sustainable approach in itself.

Youth and the green economy Likes: 7 186 www.facebook.com/pages/ Youth-and-the-Green-Economy/437554116287231 Other social and environmental initiatives Alive2green elected to support the Joburg Landfill Gas to Energy Project by purchasing carbon credits. The initiative to offset the carbon footprint for

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POST-EVENT REPORT

ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY Energy and emissions Large events such as Sustainability Week can be major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The use of electricity, heating, air conditioning, transportation and paper all contribute to climate change in some way. Electricity and fuel consumption were regarded to be the most material environmental impacts for Sustainability Week and it was important to measure and mitigate consumption wherever possible. This included creating awareness among key stakeholders. Roughly 90% of electricity generated in South Africa comes from coal-fired power stations, which emit tons of CO2 (Carbon-dioxide) into the earth’s atmosphere. Events are also usually associated with the use of planes, cars, buses and trains that use carbon-emitting fuels to various degrees.

A carbon footprint is an effective measure of the emissions associated with the event. A carbon footprint can generally be defined as the total set of GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions caused by an organisation, event, product or person. For the third year in succession Alive2green undertook a GHG reduction and offsetting initiative in an attempt to make the event ‘carbon neutral’, using the ReportFast carbon management and reporting platform. Part of the responsibility to reduce the carbon footprint for Sustainability Week rests with exhibitors and participants, and so all attendees were encouraged to select low-carbon options. The initiative to offset the carbon footprint for Sustainability Week 2017 consisted of implementing event greening measures, establishing the event’s overall carbon footprint, and then offsetting the Scope 1 (direct) and Scope 2 (electricity) emissions with the Joburg Waste to Energy Project facilitated by the Climate Neutral Group in South Africa.

• Source of paper products – the company is increasingly ensuring that these emanate from sustainably managed forests.

• Printing approach – the company chooses uncoated paper to ensure maximum recyclability.

• The event programme was printed on Hi-Q paper - A4 size, print run of 2000 (80 pages, 90g matt art).

• Reusability – the company prints generic signs where possible to ensure reusability and offers bins for used lanyards and plastic sleeves.

• Recycling – the company ensures that materials used for publications are recycled or redistributed and that waste separation processes are put in place during the event.

Water And Waste As mentioned above, the event management team is keenly aware of the necessity of water conservation and waste management and, therefore, the venue was specifically chosen for its good sustainability practices in this regard.

Products and services Alive2green specifies uncoated paper and insists on paper products for its publications that have come from sustainably grown forests. Alive2green is in the process of negotiating with our printer of choice to obtain Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certification.

The company made use of reusable and recyclable signage and marketing materials for the event, and waste products from the event were separated and recycled. The event committee chose the CSIR International Convention Centre—a venue with excellent energy, water and waste policies and practices.

Alive2green products play a role in spreading the message about sustainability, by stimulating the green economy and by facilitating knowledge transfer and providing a source of information for green business and entrepreneurship.

Customer health and safety The event met all Joint Operations Committee (JOC) requirements for customer health and safety. The JOC was established to ensure that all events held in Gauteng are safe and that event organisers comply with all the by-laws and regulations for the region. The venue, used for many large events and exhibitions, was chosen as it already had multiple health and safety amenities in place.

Packaging responsibility Packaging materials were avoided or recycled where possible, and the following materials were reclaimed for re-use: • Delegate badges (after the event) • Delegate bags not wanted.

Materials As a publisher and events company, Alive2green produces a large quantity of printed materials, and takes the following into account when procuring such materials:

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CONTEXT INDEX

In compiling this report, we have referred to, and incorporated the principles of the GRI G4 Reporting Guidelines (CORE) where possible. We regard this report to be generally aligned with the principles and have highlighted (in grey) the aspects of our reporting, which are not yet compliant with the Guidelines.

INDEX

DESCRIPTION

INFORMATION OR SECTION

PAGE(S)

CEO’s Message

41

STRATEGY AND ANALYSIS G4-1

Senior executive statement

ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE G4-3

Name and reporting organisation

About the Event and Company

42

G4-4

Primary brands, products and services

About the Event and Company

42

G4-5

Location of headquarters and operating structure

About the Event and Company

42

G4-6

Number of countries; names of countries of significant operation About the Event and Company or impact.

42

G4-7

Nature of ownership and legal form

About the Event and Company

42

G4-8

Markets served, sectors served and profile of customers/benefi- About the Event and Company ciaries, profile of customer base

42

G4-9

Scale of the reporting organisation including number of em- Social Sustainability ployees and operations

47

G4-10

Number of employees by employment contract and by gender

Social Sustainability

47

G4-11

Percentage of employees covered by collective bargaining agreements

Social Sustainability

47

G4-12

Describe the organisation’s supply chain (types, number of lo- Economic Sustainability cations of suppliers including any sector-specific characteristics of the supply chain)

G4-13

Changes occurring within the reporting period regarding size, No changes structure or ownership

46

COMMITMENTS TO EXTERNAL INITIATIVES G4-14

How the precautionary approach/principle is addressed

The Alive2green values and fundamental purpose reflect the organisation’s commitment to avoiding environmental and social harm and the precautionary approach or principle is informally applied at all levels in the organisation

G4-15

External economic, environmental and social charters or principles About the Event and Company subscribed to/endorsed

42

G4-16

Membership of associations and national or international advo- About the Event and Company cacy organisations

42

IDENTIFIED MATERIAL ASPECTS AND BOUNDARIES G4-17

Organisational structure

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Governance and Management

46

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POST-EVENT REPORT

G4-18

How report content and aspect boundaries have been identified/ Report Content defined and how the organisation has implemented reporting principles

43

G4-19

List all material aspects identified in the process for defining report content

Report Content

43,44

G4-20

For each material aspect, report the aspect boundary outside of the organisation

Report Content

43,44

G4-21

For each material aspect, report the aspect boundary within the organisation

Report Content

43,44

G4-22

Restatements of information

Report Content

G4-23

Significant changes to report content/scope (material aspects) No significant changes from previous reports

STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT G4-24

List of stakeholder groups engaged by the organisation

Stakeholder Engagement

45

G4-25

How are stakeholders identified

Stakeholder Engagement

45

G4-26

Approaches to stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder Engagement

45

G4-27

Stakeholder concerns and how the organisation has responded. Stakeholder Engagement Report the stakeholder groups that raised each concern

45

REPORT PROFILE G4-28

Reporting period

November 2016 – July 2017

G4-29

Date of most recent report

2017

G4-30

Reporting cycle

Annual

G4-31

Contact point

Gordon Brown, CEO and Programme Director gordon.brown@alive2green.com

G4-32

“In-accordance� option chosen, GRI content index chosen, external assurance report

Contact index

G4-33

Policy and current practice on independent assurance, and Alive2green is confident that the systems and reporting whether the highest governance body is involved in seeking processes for Sustainability Week are delivering accurate information, based on methodologies obtained through assurance for the sustainability report consultations with third party consultants. No assurance over the contents of the report is therefore deemed necessary at this time.

GOVERNANCE G4-34

50

Governance structure including the highest governance com- Governance and Management mittees, and committees responsible for decision-making on economic, environmental, and social impacts

46

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SUSTAINABILITY PERFORMANCE AROUND MATERIAL ISSUES INDEX

DESCRIPTION

INFORMATION OR SECTION

PAGE(S)

MATERIAL ISSUES: Attendance, management, speakers, marketing effectiveness, perceptions, stakeholder engagement The management approach to identified material issues is discussed in the Material Issues section of this report. For each issue, the company will attempt to introduce indicators that provide a realistic measure of performance against objectives. Where relevant, and over time, GRI performance indicators will be included.

This report includes responses that are aligned with the following GRI Performance Indicators, which are generally relevant to the identified material issues.

G4-1

Senior executive statement

CEO’s Message

41

G4-PR7

Total number of incidents of non-compliance with regulations and voluntary codes concerning marketing communications, including advertising, promotions, and sponsorship, by type of outcome

No marketing industry fines, penalties, complaints or issues have been recorded.

42

G4-24

List of stakeholder groups engaged by the organisation

Stakeholder Engagement

45

G4-25

How are stakeholders identified

Stakeholder Engagement

44

G4-26

Approaches to stakeholder engagement

Stakeholder Engagement

45

G4-27

Stakeholder concerns and how the organisation has responded. Stakeholder Engagement Report the stakeholder groups that raised each concern

45

G4-EC2

Climate change related financial implications and risks and Stakeholder Engagement opportunities

46

G4-EN3

Energy consumption within the organisation

Recorded and monitored for purpose of tracking carbon emissions (Scope 2)

38

G4-EN15

Direct GHG emissions (Scope 1)

Carbon Footprint

38

G4-EN16

Energy indirect GHG emissions (Scope 2)

Carbon Footprint

38

G4-EN17

Other indirect GHG emissions (Scope 3)

Carbon Footprint

38

G4-EN19

Reduction of GHG emissions

Carbon Footprint

38

G4-EN27

Extent of impact of environmental impacts of products and services

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SUSTAINABILITY

2018

WEEK ••••• ••••• •••••

CSIR INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION CENTRE

5-7 JUNE 2018

smart resilient African cities “ Developing by funding a capacity and technology In partnership

transfer is a key global climate strategy

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