Cape Town has been crowned the winner of the One Planet City Challenge for South Africa—a huge victory in the fight against climate change that has put the City in the running to win the global crowning!
Cape Town, South Africa (26 August 2024) — The City of Cape Town has been crowned the national winner of the prestigious WWF One Planet City Challenge (OPCC) for 2024! This means that Cape Town is now in the running to become one of One Planet City Challenge’s global winners, set to be announced in November this year.
Three South African cities were in the race for the title earlier this year as finalists (Tshwane, eThekwini and Cape Town); each making their residents proud for the strong leadership they’ve portrayed in the fight against climate change. In case you weren’t in the loop, the OPCC challenge has, since 2011, been a leading initiative driving cities to set ambitious climate targets aligned with the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 °C. It’s the largest climate challenge for local governments around the world!
This year, over 350 cities across nearly 50 countries competed by submitting their climate action plans or projects through the CDP-ICLEI Track, an accessible reporting platform for cities globally.
In exciting news for Cape Town, this is the second time the City has been named a national winner. In 2014, Cape Town became the winner when it impressed the international jury by demonstrating that the pursuit of a low carbon future and climate mitigation was possible in a city with so many development priorities.
The 2024 jury commended Cape Town for its emphasis on impactful actions, including compact urbanisation and the electrification of the transport sector, sharing that the City had achieved a striking balance between adaptation and mitigation efforts, which had been integrated with the UN’s Strategic Development Goals across all departments.
Additionally, Cape Town’s actions during South Africa’s energy crisis were also deemed noteworthy and as a demonstration of commitment to transitioning toward a renewable energy system.
As Dr Meggan Spires, Director of Climate Change, Energy & Resilience at ICLEI Africa, beamed:
“The City of Cape Town is one of ICLEI’s longest standing member cities, having joined our global network in 1994. The City of Cape Town has been a global trail blazer for climate change action for decades. ICLEI Africa congratulates the City of Cape Town on being named the South African national winner of WWF’s One Planet City Challenge. It is a significant and well- deserved accolade”.
Daniel Sullivan, Director of the Risk and Resilience Department in the City of Cape Town, adds proudly:
“Cape Town is proud to be the national winner of the One Planet City Challenge which
acknowledges our commitment to ambitious and transparent climate action. Climate change threats present an opportunity for all of us to work together to adapt and thrive, building programmes of collective action and sharing best practice. Initiatives like OPCC are important platforms for cities to signal and drive this collaborative approach.”
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