Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
low levels of literacy and skill development, the highest HIV infection
rate in South Africa, and the persistence of both petty and violent crime.
Further, the city has a history of unsustainable development practices
and a lack of adequate protection and conservation of its globally sig-
nifi cant biodiversity.
Climate protection planning in Durban has confi rmed that climate
change brings with it new environmental inequities. Experience and
assessments in Durban have demonstrated that the city is faced with a
situation whereby the harm associated with climate-driven change falls
disproportionately on poorer communities and deepens existing inequi-
ties. Poor and vulnerable communities stand to lose their livelihoods and
lives, while wealthier communities are better able to fi nd protection from
climate events and more likely to lose or reduce their wealth as a conse-
quence of climate impacts. However, given the signifi cant range of local
developmental and environmental challenges that Durban faces, global
climate change has been a relatively recent addition to the city's planning
and management agenda. Work on the development of a Municipal
Climate Protection Program (MCPP) began in 2004 and has been under-
taken under the auspices of the city's Environmental Planning and
Climate Protection Department (EPCPD).
From the outset, the EPCPD acknowledged that local decision makers
and stakeholders were more likely to be concerned about the local
impacts of climate change, particularly those that affected or reinforced
local development needs and pressures, rather than being interested in
more generalized changes in global climate. As a result, the fi rst step in
the development of the MCPP was the initiation of a research project
with the help of local consultants and staff from eThekwini Municipality
aimed at understanding the local impacts of climate change in Durban.
This resulted in the preparation of the
Climatic Future for Durban
report
in 2006, which summarizes a number of critical changes and impacts
expected to affect the city (CSIR NRE 2006).
The key fi ndings of the climate projections for the period 2070-2100
indicate that both the maximum and minimum temperatures in the city
will increase, as will the number of days with temperatures exceeding
30°C. An increase in the total amount of rainfall will be combined with
a change in distribution, resulting in longer drought periods and more
intense fl ooding. In the coastal zone, a number of economic and tourist
areas may be affected by sea-level rise, which will be worsened by
extreme events such as fl ooding and storm surges. Given these predicted
changes, the city is vulnerable at a number of levels, including increases
