KwaDukuza Mayor concerned about carbon gas emission threats

This follows a scientific study presented by the Climate Change Principal Advisor Dr. David Viner, from the global engineering and development consultants, Mott McDonald.

During a series of presentations held in KwaDukuza recently, Viner told all stakeholders that, there is a high risk of green gasses emission caused by the continuous accumulation of gases that may lead to higher temperature concentration in a few years to come.

"The state of our environment should be a course for concern to everyone. We cannot ignore the siren calls of climate change. These projections paint a clear picture on the collective work that needs to be done by government and KwaDukuza community. We must re-emphasize the urgency of addressing the things that are becoming a threat to our environment; this needs serious attention from all corners of our society. The local business community needs to come on board. Every individual has to play a part in the fight against the effects of climate change," said Mthembu.

The study compiled by Mott MacDonald reveals that the environment is rapidly moving to warmer conditions and there will be relative changes in carbon gases concentration.

This comes a few days after KwaDukuza Municipality's appointed service provider, Matt MacDonald, designed the KwaDukuza climate response strategy, which was presented in public.

Statistics can reveal that, KwaDukuza faces high risks associated with climate change. South Africa has a high dependency on fossil fuel; up to 95% is generated on burning coal, which has a serious implication on the changing climate conditions.

Mott MacDonald will be embarking on an adaptation and mitigation strategy that seeks to make KwaDukuza more resilient and resistant to the impact of climate change.

The strategy will be implemented only in KwaDukuza and it is in line with the global climate mitigation plans following the COP17 conference, held in 2011.

The public is expected to submit inputs on key trends and issues, including environmental hazards that should be addressed by the processes. The complete document is expected to be received by KwaDukuza Municipality before the end of March, this year. The Municipality will then, adopt a response strategy framework as part of the global offensive against climate change.