EThekwini Municipality is a steering Committee Member of the C40 Cities for Climate Leadership Group (C40), represented by Mayor Mxolisi Kaunda as the Vice Chairperson for Africa. 

While there have been numerous agreements on the international platform, between national governments, the Paris Agreement is a breakthrough. Over 190 countries have agreed on the Paris Agreement which sets an ambitious limitation of global warming, to 1.5°C from pre-industrial levels, enhancing resilience and funding elements. 

It was unclear for cities what actions would be required to meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement. C40 commissioned Deadline 2020, a piece of research that primarily sought to identify key sectors within cities that offer high abatement potential. In addition, trajectories of greenhouse gas emissions up to 2050 for cities were developed. There were four trajectories and are a function of Gross Domestic Product per capita and greenhouse gas emissions per capita. 

The latest research from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a stark warning. Current commitments and efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are not sufficient. This is meant to spur further ambition and action towards decreasing greenhouse gas emissions. 

From a South African National government level, there are various pieces of legislation, regulations and plans that provide a supporting platform for the emergence of green buildings in eThekwini Municipality. These include: the National Development Plan (NDP), Spatial Planning and Land Use Management Act (SPLUMA) and mainly the National Building Regulations (NBRs). At a Municipal level, the Spatial Development Framework (SDF), Integrated Development Plan (IDP), Land use schemes and the Durban Climate Change Strategy (DCCS) lay the foundation for the C40 New Building Programme. In addition, the eThekwini Municipality annually updates the greenhouse gas emissions for local government emissions and for all other emissions that occur within the eThekwini Municipal Area, also known as community emissions. 

As a result, C40 has developed a programme to assist four South African cities develop mechanisms that will result in all new buildings net-zero carbon buildings by 2030.

More information on the programme can be found here​.