Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
capacity of offi cials and decision makers in Durban to achieve social
equity and economic development, it also has broad implications for
good-governance objectives. In a context in which international fi nancial
institutions and other donors condition their loans on progress around
these goals, municipalities such as eThekwini appear politically and
economically strangled. They need to search for innovative frameworks
to continue the pursuit of their sustainable development policies and
respond to multiscale sociospatial inequities. In this regard, Durban has
made signifi cant progress toward climate adaptation planning and imple-
mentation on the ground, as an inevitable priority and a response to
inequities in climate politics and policies.
Addressing Sociospatial Inequities: Climate Action in Durban
The projected climatic changes in Durban highlight how climate impacts
can pose a signifi cant challenge to the developmental aspirations of local
governments and decision makers. Climatic change will likely impede
economic growth, threaten the natural resource base, jeopardize the
health and well-being of poor and minority communities, and foster
social isolation. Ultimately, local impacts will intensify relations of exclu-
sion and dependence in the city and exacerbate inequities on the ground.
Using a climate lens to analyze some of the core IDP plans shows that
three types of inequities are likely to emerge in Durban: (1) individual
inequities arising from threats to ecosystem services, increased humani-
tarian crises, and aggravated health issues; (2) community inequities as
a result of impacts on current traditional farming and fi shing activities,
as well as cultural resources; and (3) the inability to realize municipal
goals of economic and infrastructure development, as well as good gov-
ernance and participation. However, local environmental injustices in
Durban are not limited to these distributional inequities. Climate change
impacts and politics also further exacerbate existing relations of power
between groups and individuals in Durban, intensify the isolation of
certain communities, and increase their dependence on traditional fragile
livelihoods that are at risk of climatic changes.
To address these challenges, eThekwini Municipality is engaged in
local municipal planning to respond to climate change and climate
impacts. For instance, the requirement for the development of a Munici-
pal Climate Protection Programme has already been incorporated into
the IDP (Plan 1, Programme 6). Durban's decision makers and planners
are also increasingly realizing that the vulnerability of the poor and
