Mayor to host live global online EcoMobility media conference

16 September 2015

 

 

The world will on Thursday September 17 get a glimpse into the City of Johannesburg’s readiness to host Africa’s first EcoMobility World Festival – less than 15 days before the start of the month-long global event.

 

Johannesburg Executive Mayor Councillor Parks Tau and International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) General Secretary Gino van Begin will host an online media conference at 1pm to give the world an update on the City’s preparations to host the festival.

 

ICLEI – an international association of local, regional local governments committed to sustainable development – was established in 1990. Johannesburg is one of the association’s 1 200 members.

 

“The festival affords us the opportunity as the host city to interact with local and international experts on how we can use cleaner and greener solutions in our transport systems. This will allow us to reduce our carbon footprint and encourage a healthier lifestyle by getting residents to walk and cycle more,” said Mayor Tau.

 

The EcoMobility World Festival, which will see the closure of certain streets in Sandton to vehicular traffic to encourage workers and residents to use non-motorised modes of transport, will run from October 1-31.

 

The Sandton CBD, often referred to as Africa’s richest square mile, is one of the most congested precincts in Johannesburg. About 80 000 cars and nearly 100 000 people move in and out of Sandton every day.

 

The festival also includes an EcoMobility World Exhibition and a week of discussions on sustainable transport systems. Local and international journalists will be able to ask questions live via the internet once they have registered online.