ON Tuesday 23, marks the beginning of a three-day international C40 workshop on the impact of transport emissions on climate change.
Joburg’s Transport Department is hosting over 20 participants from African and European cities until 25 January at the Johannesburg Zoo.
The international guests will be welcomed by the Executive Mayor of the City of Johannesburg, Kabelo Gwamanda, together with Member of the Mayoral Committee for Transport, Kenny Kunene.
“Climate change has become a very real global concern, and everything must be done to stop further destruction of our planet through collaborative efforts that mitigate against global warming and the resultant floods, melting icebergs, severe drought and air pollution that threaten our socioeconomic survival. In response to this challenge of Climate Change, the City has an approved Climate Action Plan adopted in March, ” says Mayor Gwamanda.
Transport accounts for around one-fifth of global CO₂ emissions or 21%. Road travel accounts for three-quarters of transport emissions. Most of this comes from passenger vehicles, cars and buses, which contribute 45.1%. The other 29.4% comes from trucks carrying freight.
“We will share experiences and information and particularly outline Joburg’s paratransit reform programme and plans for the minibus taxi industry in Gauteng. The discussions will among other topics focus on meaningful reforms of the informal transport sector.
“This will be an opportunity to showcase Johannesburg Rea Vaya BRT-minibus taxi integration and inspire participating cities. The aim is to foster more dialogue on the topic and create a new peer-to-peer network for cities to access support and knowledge on the question of paratransit/informal transport reform and bus modernisation,” commented the Mayor.
The representatives will learn about minibus taxi industry reform solutions in practice, with a view to understand how this links into the roll-out of Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) systems. Johannesburg as the host city will share its experience and present the policies, regulations, stakeholder engagement and partnerships it implemented to deliver this reform programme.
As part of the workshop, participants will be taken on a tour to various transport interchanges around the City including Metro Mall Taxi Rank, Johannesburg International Transport Interchange, Metro Bus Terminus at Ghandhi Square, Park Station and Gautrain Station. This will help enhance discussions on measuring the quality of public transport interchanges including a focus on financing minibus taxi transformation projects and developing popular transport reform pathways.
C40 is a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities that are united in action to confront the climate crisis.
Mayors of C40 cities are committed to using an inclusive, science-based and collaborative approach to cut their fair share of emissions in half by 2030, help the world limit global heating to 1.5°C, build healthy equitable and resilient communities, fostering innovation, building a global movement through robust international advocacy and diplomacy, scaling up climate action and sharing best practices across high-impact sectors and facilitating access to finance for investment in green jobs and projects that improve resilience in cities.
Image (CoJ Mayor Kabelo Gwamanda will host Mayors from Africa and Europe for the three-day C40 workshop on Transport in Joburg).
