Green Economy related projects

Key focus areas (list of projects)

Resource conservation and management
Sustainable waste management practices
Water management
Environmental Sustainability
Green buildings and the built environment
Sustainable transport and infrastructure
Clean energy and energy efficiency
Agriculture, food production and forestry
Sustainable consumption and production

Environmental Sustainability

Legacy projects: COP17 - A low carbon international event

South Africa hosted the 17th session of the Conference of Parties (COP17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the seventh Meeting of the Parties (CMP7) to the Kyoto Protocol (UNFCCC COP17/CMP7 also known as COP 17). This auspicious event was held in the City of Durban from 28 November to 9 December 2011 in Durban, South Africa.

Legacy projects: 2010 FIFA World Cup

Greening the 2010 FIFA World Cup

South Africa, through its National Greening Programme was committed to integrating environmental principles into the planning and organisation of the 2010 FIFA World Cup™. The initiative was intended to sensitise the local and international football community to environmental sustainability issues and the securing of a long-term foundation for environmental concerns in national and international football.

Carbon Offset Programme

LED Lightning Retrofit Project

LED lighting technology has come to maturity and is now able to deliver a similar or better light experience whilst offering electricity savings of up to 90% compared to incandescent lights and 50% compared to CFLs. With South Africa facing an immediate energy crisis, Demand Side Management projects are essential for safeguarding against blackouts and protecting the nation’s economy.

This first programmatic CDM project in the world using LED lighting consists of the massive retrofit of inefficient lighting with LED in housing, street lights, hotels and office buildings and Lemnis Lighting’s LED wide range of products with high efficiency and the mesopic light concept for outdoor will be used.

Co-benefits of the project are the introduction of 10,000 off-grid solar lights in rural areas. Although carbon emissions from kerosene lights are saved, they have not been included in the carbon program.

Soil and More Reliance Project

Situated in the heart of the beautiful Cape Boland region, Soil & More Reliance produces world class certified organic compost. Approximately 25,000 m³ of chipped green garden refuse is collected monthly on 10 conveniently placed Drop-Off facilities and Landfills around the City.

Some of the biggest environmental problems South Africa has to face are lack of fertile land, soil degradation, and pollution of its rivers and groundwater. One of the main factors causing these problems is the excessive use of chemical fertilizers and pest and disease control agents.

The main input material for producing Soil & More eliance’s compost is municipal green waste, as well as alien vegetation that presents an environmental threat in the Western Cape. By removing this alien vegetation from the water, Soil & More Reliance helps fight river pollution while producing high quality compost that is designed to replace chemical fertilisers.

TICOS and Sunfires Solutions

This project seeks to stimulate Southern Africa's largely ignored solar potential by recruiting community-based entrepreneurs to promote solar and fuel efficient cookers in three areas: Soweto, Polokwane and Acornhoek.

Through the entrepreneurs, the project will support the distribution of 1,500 solar & fuel efficient cookers in each area (i.e. 4,500 households), to reduce 37,000 tonnes CO2e over 6 years from implementation. Funding will enable a subsidy to be given for each stove making it financially accessible for the poor whilst still ensuring its value is retained.

Additionally the project supports the education of environmental, social and economic issues around fossil and nsustainable wood fuel use to promote the benefits of solar and fuel-efficient stoves in the three areas.

NOVA Highveld Air Quality Project

The project is active in 11 municipalities in four South African provinces on the Highveld: Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Free State and KwaZulu-Natal. The Highveld, at an altitude of 1,500 meter and higher, often experiences temperatures as low as zero degrees Celsius in winter.

The area is rich in coal and water, with the result that huge mines, heavy industries and large power plants have been established here. They attract large numbers of people from rural areas and neighboring countries.

Many dreams of finding a job and a steady income have never been realized, with the esult that sprawling informal settlements are found around every town and city.

Mainstream Renewable Power South Africa

The 180 MW wind project is located in the Jeffrey's Bay is proposed near Jeffrey's Bay within the Kouga municipal area north of the town in the Eastern Cape Province.

The facility is proposed on the coastal plateau inland of the towns of Humansdorp and Jeffrey's Bay. The facility will cover several farms, the majority of which are located immediately inland of the N2 highway, with the project area being approximately Skm north-west from the closest inhabited residential area of Wavecrest,at Jeffrey's Bay.