Sustainability Feature: City of Cape Town's climate change strategy

US president elect Joe Biden has signalled a shift in speed at the global level of the green economic transition. At a local level Cabinet has approved a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, but it still plans to burn coal on this date.The government called the low emission development strategy (LEDS) “the beginning of our journey towards ultimately reaching a net zero economy by 2050”. The strategy is a response to the Paris Agreement’s call for countries to set out long-term climate strategies. It draws together existing policies, planning and research across economic sectors. Among these is the Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), which is how South Africa plans its electricity supply.
The 2019 version of the IRP outlines a transition from polluting coal generation to renewable sources like solar and wind. But 5,000 MW of coal power capacity is forecast to still be operating in 2050.To talk about how this is translating at local government level Michel Avery speaks to Kadri Nassiep, executive director of energy at the City of Cape Town.