CDKN is delighted to release two new publications in our ‘Inside Stories in climate compatible development’ series, which explores how climate compatible development can be achieved in a range of developing countries.

The first of these new releases focuses on two South African municipalities, Cape Town and eThekwini. Authors Marie Parramon-Gurney and Andrew Gilder explore how the city governments have been working to mainstream climate change in their municipal development plans. The authors draw key challenges and implications from these experiences to argue that mainstreaming is necessary but not sufficient to achieving climate compatible development and to suggest some key lessons that policy makers can apply in other national contexts.

From municipal planning to national energy transitions: at CoP-17, South Africa launched the South African Renewables Initiative (SARi) which is tasked with the ambitious aim of enabling the development of a critical mass of renewable energy resources in the country. The project has faced challenging financing issues from the start, as national ministries attempt to address the incremental costs of renewable energy without placing a higher energy cost burden on South Africa’s poorest citizens. Author Murray Ward details the cross-governmental programme design, and the challenges ahead.

Read the new Inside Stories here:

South Africa’s municipal integrated development plans

Making renewable energy affordable – the South African Renewables Initiative

Photo: John Hogg/World Bank