- Date of Ceremony August 13 2021
On Friday, 13 August 2021, the C40 Cities Finance Facility hosted a virtual closing ceremony to commemorate the projects delivered with the City of Tshwane.
The City of Tshwane joined the C40 Cities Finance Facility in the second phase, as one of 14 new projects to receive funding to support the development of low-carbon and climate resilient projects in cities. CFF’s support for Tshwane focused on promoting both clean energy and urban mobility, providing technical assistance for two projects:
- First, a combined heat and power biogas plant at the Zeekoegat wastewater treatment works. This plant is expected to cover at least 20% of the works’ energy needs and brings significant potential for operational savings, business continuity, climate change mitigation and increased deployment of the technology across South Africa.
- Second, a bicycle lane along the city’s Solomon Mahlangu K69 corridor, which will be connecting the residential and low-income area of Mamelodi with the job opportunities in Pretoria East. The project represents the first step towards a coherent, connected and safer cycle network across the City of Tshwane. The project is in partnership with the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport.
The ceremony began with an introduction by Jordan Griffiths, Acting Chief of Staff for the City of Tshwane, who stated his firm appreciation for the work conducted and the effort put forward by the city team. He stressed the importance of establishing a path forward and making sure the city aggressively pursues access to finance to make this project a reality. In addition, in resonance with Griffiths words, Hastings Chikoko, C40’s Regional Director for Africa, highlighted the importance of immediate action from cities in the fight against climate change, considering the latest report published by the IPCC this month.
“The partnership with C40 Cities Finance Facility created a more sustainable living space in our capital city…this is the reason why our City Sustainability Unit is based in the Mayor’s office; we place priority on the sustainability agenda and our ability to drive it forward”.
“There is a call to action, we need more programs and projects that can enable cities to deliver that action. However, there is an elephant in the room: how do we finance those actions? This is what the CFF addresses. We try to provide all the necessary elements to mobilize resources for projects”.
In representation of CFF’s funding partners, the closing ceremony included video messages from UK Minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Minister of State (Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change) at the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and Dr. Jürgen Zattler, Director-General for International Development Policy, 2030 Agenda & Climate, German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
In addition, Shabari Shaily-Gerber, Head of Urban Economic Development, British High Commission in South Africa , participated in the virtual ceremony. She stated that 2021 is the year of COP26 in Glasgow and cities will need to play a leading role in driving climate action.
“The UK government is truly pleased with the successes of the CFF in South Africa, we appreciate the collective approach to work directly with the city of Tshwane, taking into consideration the city context, as well as the gender and equality approach which cannot be ignored”.
After the messages from CFF’s funding partners, the city teams provided technical summaries on the two projects supported by the CFF and showcased the achievements as a result of the collaboration:
- David Ntsowe, Divisional Head of Bulk and Wastewater Services provided highlights on the technical assistance for the Zeekoegat CHP & Biogas Project.
- Lourens Swanepoel, Divisional Head of Transportation Planning, updated on the current status of construction at K69/ Solomon Mahlangu Drive and gave insights on additional plans for a better integration of cycling and walking into public transport to ensure the development of intermodal systems in urban mobility.
The technical portion of the closing ceremony was concluded with Sello Mphaga, Divisional Head of the City Sustainability Unit, who reflected on the necessary next steps to scale up ambition for both projects, as well as lessons learned from the collaboration with the CFF. Sello indicated that the city’s ambition is to incorporate the Climate Action Plan into city plans to ensure compliance and stated that the executive mayor wants Tshwane to become a champion for a carbon emission free future
“We have demonstrated that vertical integration is possible because if it was not through this collaboration, we would not have managed to push a project that belongs to a different sphere of government. It is critical that we replicate these lessons learned to other areas outside of the city of Tshwane”.
The ceremony ended with closing remarks from Ms Gifti Nadi, C40 Deputy Regional Director for Africa, and Cllr Dikleledi Selowa, Member of the city’s Mayoral Committee, Roads and Transport, who both highlighted the successes of the partnership between CFF and the municipality of Tshwane.
Check out the videos below and see what the CFF accomplished in the City of Tshwane!