Almost 40% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to buildings and construction.
Buro Happold and C40 have recommended seven polices to achieve to support Clean Construction in Ekurhuleni, building upon existing skills and action in the city. The policies build on the city’s strong informal waste management, encourage the use of reclaimed and recycled building materials, and leverage the city’s manufacturing base to pioneer low carbon materials.
Ekurhuleni is a sprawling, dynamic and industrial city. Formed in 2000, Ekurhuleni is one of three metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng Province, located next to South Africa’s economic capital, the City of Johannesburg, and the political capital, Tshwane City. The city is one of the most densely populated areas in South Africa.
Ekurhuleni is known as “Africa’s workshop” and South Africa’s transport hub. Its economic sectors are varied; they include manufacturing, finance, trade, transport, construction, electricity, and mining. This demonstrates the city’s capacity to work with locally produced materials, services and equipment in order to develop flagship projects with positive regional and national impacts.
Africa is one of the most vulnerable continents to climate change due to the number of stresses it faces and its low adaptive capacity. If unaddressed, Ekurhuleni’s existing environmental challenges will intensify, such as air pollution from industries and mines, polluted rivers and wetlands, and biodiversity loss due to urbanization.
To mitigate this, Ekurhuleni has set ambitious climate action goals, and is part of multiple national and international working groups focused on delivering bold climate action.
The city has developed several locally specific plans and commitments, such as the Ekurhuleni+ Challenge, which outlines a series of 2030 commitments. This includes a 30% clean energy mix and 50% reduction in solid waste sent to landfill. The city has also established a climate change sub-division and is in the process of developing a Green City Action Plan.
Ekurhuleni has numerous existing initiatives and urban characteristics that make it well-suited to transition towards a Clean Construction. Not only do these policy interventions support Ekurhuleni’s 2030 Challenge, but they also align with their goals to deliver low-cost housing, improve air and soil quality, and develop strong governance structures with local participation.
C40 and Buro Happold are continuing to support the City of Ekurhuleni to address other challenges that have arisen due to climate change, such as job creation and the provision of resilient public services.
Buro Happold and C40 are working with five other cities around the world to make the case for Clean Construction.