Energy

Climate Change is now widely acknowledged as the greatest threat to the global environment. Adaptation to and mitigation of climate change are central to achieving the sustainable development goals of eThekwini Municipality’s Integrated Development Plan (IDP).The Environmental Management Department of eThekwini Municipality has identified climate change as one of the major threats to biodiversity. Recognizing this, the eThekwini Municipality has been engaged with the Climate Protection programme since 2001 and the Climatic Futures programme since 2004. Energy is a major factor in the climate change debate.

The first State of Environment Report for eThekwini Municipality was published in 2005 and covered a wide range of environmental issues including the impact of energy usage. Identifying energy usage as a key concern, the State of Energy Report was published in 2006. A pivotal recommendation of the State of Energy Report was the development of a cross-sectoral Energy Strategy for eThekwini Municipality with specific sustainability objectives identified for input into an Energy Strategy.

The development of such a Strategy is in line with National policy emerging from the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) through its Energy Efficiency Strategy launched in May 2005. The purpose of the Energy Strategy is to develop action plans and a methodology for implementing these as well as a monitoring plan. The development of the eThekwini Energy Strategy is part of the approved DANIDA Urban Environmental Management (UEM) programme. The successful outcome of the Energy Strategy is dependent on the implementation of various Sector Action Plans.

The eThekwini Municipality Energy Strategy is currently in process. In support of the Energy Strategy, a Catalogue of Renewable Energy Technologies Fit for Durban and 2 Greenhouse Gas Inventories have been developed in addition to the State of Energy Report.