Jozi pioneers 'green bonds'

The City of Johannesburg is in talks with the JSE about introducing a "green bond" to stimulate funding of green municipal projects.

This announcement was made by executive mayor Parks Tau at the C40 Cities Mayors' Summit, in Sandton yesterday.

"We are currently engaged in a discussion with the Johannesburg stock exchange on the possibility of floating a municipality-initiated green bond . to facilitate access to finance for smaller and medium enterprises that would want to retrofit or develop new buildings and technologies in relation to climate change," said Tau.

He said the council had entered into a "dynamic" relationship with the private sector to stimulate green projects.

Discussions had started with the National Business Initiative, which had been brought on board to introduce standards for green buildings.

The summit is being held for the first time in Africa. Delegates are reviewing the work done by member cities, sharing best practices and mapping the future - putting climate change measures high on the agendas of municipalities and national governments.

Cities account for 70% of global carbon emissions and two-thirds of energy use.

About 87% of Johannesburg's electricity is generated from coal. The council now provides electricity to 80% of the city's inhabitants.

However, over the years, the council has reduced its reliance on coal-generated electricity by as much as 20%, mainly through increased energy efficiency and improved management of the demand for power.

The city's green transport project, which includes the Rea Vaya bus rapid transport network - cuts carbon emissions by about 380000t a year. When fully implemented, Rea Vaya will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 6million tons a year.

Tau said the council was converting the city's vehicle fleet to a dual-fuel system, making use of biogas.

During the summit, the Climate Action in Megacities Volume 2.0 report was released. It describes the actions taken by member cities in the battle against climate change.

The report shows that climate change projects had increased from more than 4000 in 2011 to more than 8000 last year.

There has been a 500% increase in cities implementing bike-sharing schemes in the past two years.

The number of cities using a green rapid transport system doubled between 2011 and 2013.

The number of African mega-cities in the C40 grouping increased to seven at this year's summit, with the accession of Cape Town, Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam.