1. Climate Change and
African Cities

2. Overview Impacts on African Cities Adaptation Options
Mitigation Options
Opportunities for African Mayors
Key messages

5. Major African Cities at risk due to sea level rise Casablanca Algiers Alexandria Mombasa Dar es Salaam Maputo Durban Port Elizabeth Cape Town Luanda Douala Lagos Accra Cotonou Lome Abidjan Monrovia Conakry Dakar

6. The Impacts of Climate Change on African Cities
Extreme weather events damage buildings and urban infrastructure
Coastal cities affected by sea level rise
Water resources stress: floods and droughts
Human Health – malaria; waterborne diseases; polluted water
Food Security – Livelihoods – Tourism
Climate refugees move to urban slums

7. < Sea Level Rise
Landslides >
v Tropical cyclones
Flooding v

8. Adaptation & Mitigation
Adaptation = To manage the un-avoidable
Mitigation = To avoid the un-manageable
Adaptation and Mitigation are interconnected and mutually supportive

9. Adaptation Options for African Mayors
Climate proofing of urban infrastructure, e.g. seawalls and storm surge barriers
Investing in storm water drainage
Early warning systems
Enhance community resilience
Relocation of vulnerable settlements and infrastructure
Access financing mechanisms such as the UNFCCC Adaptation Fund
Insurance schemes

10. Mitigation Options for African Mayors
Energy efficiency in local government facilities, e.g. street lighting and water pumps
Foresighted transport and infrastructure planning
Compact and dense urban patterns to reduce travel distances and infrastructure networks
Promote energy efficient building materials
Landfill methane recovery
Protect forests and watersheds
Finance: Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)

11. Urban planning – Sustainable building
Urban transport modes – Renewable energy generation

12. Examples by African Cities
Solid waste management technologies: Durban, Antananarivo
Housing energy efficiency improvement: Cape Town
Rehabilitation and greening of public spaces: Malindi, Bujumbura
City-wide planning and management: Maputo, Kampala

13. Policies and Strategies for African Mayors
Raise public awareness on challenges and opportunities
Join networks to pool resources and share know-how and best practices
Improving climate change governance: linking local initiatives with national plans (e.g. NAPAs)
Appropriate by-laws for urban planning, traffic, infrastructure and building
Enhance environmental law enforcement capacity
Strengthening adaptive capacity of cities and communities
Involvement of key stakeholders (e.g youth, private sector)

14. Opportunities for African Mayors
Local Authorities to be part of national delegations in UNFCCC process
Report on city achievements as part of UNFCCC reports: sub-national policies and measures
Support programmes for cities towards a post-Kyoto protocol: UN-HABITAT, UNEP, UNDP, UNITAR, World Bank, ICLEI
African Climate Change Centre in Addis Ababa (UNEP GC25)
Direct involvement of large cities – sustainable development packages (post Kyoto)

15. 2009 Calendar for African Mayors
Raising the voice of cities in the global Climate Change debate:
17 March – Launch of Cities and Climate Change Initiative, Oslo
1 April – GC22 Dialogue on impacts of climate change on housing and urban finance, Nairobi
16 June - ICLEI World Congress Edmonton
28 June - World Bank Urban Research Seminar on Cities and Climate Change, Marseille
10 December - Mayors Summit at COP15 Copenhagen

16. Key Conclusions for African Mayors
Urbanization affects climate change, resulting in severe impacts to African cities and livelihoods.
The severest burden is born by urban poor in African slums.
Climate change actions by African Cities need to be expanded and capacities strengthened.
City initiatives need to be integrated in national action plans and global reporting.
The voice of African Mayors in climate change policy debates has to be raised urgently.

17. Thank you!