Jozi vies for top global climate change award

02-02-2015

 

Show your love for Johannesburg by casting your vote in the Worldwide Wildlife Fund’s “We Love Cities” campaign.

Johannesburg is one of three South African urban centres to have made the shortlist in the global Earth Hour City Challenge. Nelson Mandela Bay and Tshwane are also vying for the title, along with 41 other world cities.
 

Last year, Cape Town scooped the title for demonstrating how low-carbon development and climate change mitigation could be accomplished while at the same time addressing other developmental priorities.
 

Some of the other contending cities for the Earth Hour City 2015 title – which is judged through the “We Love Cities” campaign – include Vancouver in Canada, Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, Espoo in Finland, Nantes in France, Jakarta in Indonesia, Shah Alam in Malaysia, Gothenburg in Sweden, Hatyai in Thailand and Seattle in the United States.

The objective of the “We Love Cities” campaign is to:
 

• Inspire and create awareness of the sustainable progress being made in cities; 

• Upgrade progress by submitting improvement suggestions to decision-makers; and

• Reward communities and strengthen the bond with decision-makers through public engagement.

This is an annual event aimed at rewarding cities for their inspiring and innovative actions on climate change, which is especially even more meaningful this year as a new global climate change treaty is being prepared for agreement.

The “We Love Cities” campaign encourages residents to participate by voting for their favourite finalist and to share what they love most about these cities through photographs and videos. 
 

Members of the public are encouraged to submit suggestions on how cities could move towards becoming even more sustainable.

The Earth Hour City Awards will be presented on 9 April in Seoul, South Korea. 

“Cities are innovative hotspots that are creating solutions to put the world on track for a climate-safe future.

“To help them succeed, we urgently need supporting action from policy-makers, businesses and financial institutions that are prepared to slam the door on fossil fuels and open it fully for a renewable future,” said WWF’s  Carina Borgström-Hansson.
 

Gino van Begin of the ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability) said the campaign encouraged and challenged cities to find new and innovative ways to tackle climate change and scale up their climate change actions.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

“Many of these actions are already showcased on ICLEI’s carbonn Climate Registry. Through our partnership with WWF’s Earth Hour City Challenge, more cities have been inspired to set ambitious climate targets, report against these targets and provide what is possible, not only for cities but also for the global climate community,” said Van Begin. 

To make your vote count, log onto www.welovecites.org