Futurecasting Cape Town: Myth-busting carbon neutrality in Cape Town 

Conversations to visualise the future
Friday, 29 July 2022
10:00 – 11:30am

Register here

The Bellville public transport interchange is the busiest in Cape Town and features all modes including rail, buses and minibus taxis.
Credit: Ashraf Hendricks

Cities around the world are ramping up their climate action ambitions in recognition of the urgency needed to address climate change and increase the resilience of their residents, infrastructure and economies.  Most of these cities have made the bold commitment to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, some even sooner. Building on its twenty-year history of responding to climate change, the City of Cape Town recently joined this growing group of cities by setting carbon reduction targets and developing an action plan towards the goal of a becoming carbon neutral city by 2050.

For developing cities however, achieving carbon neutrality – particularly the intermediate deep cuts required by 2030 from some ‘burden sharing’ methodologies – can be controversial. Given the significant efforts required by everyone to achieve this goal, ongoing engagement is key to ‘myth-bust’ perceptions and unpack the local context to build buy-in among all sectors across the city.

This Futurecasting Cape Town webinar will bring together City officials and related experts to cover the following areas:

  • The thinking behind Cape Town’s carbon reduction targets and the City’s approach towards achieving carbon neutrality in its appropriate local context.
  • Concerns and trade-offs around carbon reduction approaches in Cape Town and how these are being addressed
  • Latest developments in the carbon reduction space: insights from South Africa’s carbon verification industry and the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Atlantis
  •  Embracing carbon neutrality as competitiveness – how can we make the most of finance opportunities?

Opening remarks: Gareth Morgan, Executive Director: Future Planning and Resilience, City of Cape Town

Facilitator: Megan Euston-Brown, Director, Sustainable Energy Africa

Panelists:

  • Adrian Stone, Manager: Data Management and Integration Platforms, Sustainable Energy Markets Department, City of Cape Town  
  • Tim Hadingham, Manager: Investment Facilitation, Enterprise and Investment Department, City of Cape Town
  • Kevin James, CEO, GCX Africa
  • Cerin Maduray, Finance Sector Specialist, WWF South Africa

The Futurecasting Cape Town series, convened by the City of Cape Town’s Resilience Department with support from the Western Cape Economic Development Partnership (EDP) provides an opportunity to model the future around critical issues facing Cape Town and influence decisions that will reflect shared values and drive innovation. The series underscores a key element of the City of Cape Town’s Resilience Strategy towards collaborative partnering with business to support resilience. Speakers from across sectors are invited to share insights and ideas for a common inclusive and resilient future.