Exciting developments for Earth Hour City Challenge 2015-2016 in Africa

Now on its third year in the continent, the Earth Hour City Challenge (EHCC) continues to expand the platform for local governments to showcase their sustainability initiatives. EHCC 2015-2016 features a mix of returning and new participating localities from South Africa, Tanzania and Rwanda. A round of inception workshops to introduce the challenge and support reporting was also held for first-time participants in the national pilot leg this year.

Officially participating in the global competition are the South African metros of Cape Town, Ekurhuleni, Johannesburg, and Tshwane. Altogether, these cities have reported more than 20 new actions to the carbonn Climate Registry (cCR). George Municipality and KwaDukuza Municipality have taken on the challenge for South African secondary municipalities, reporting close to 30 actions. The winning Earth Hour Capital will win a video to promote the city’s great work towards sustainability. Participating secondary municipalities on the other hand will be invited to a capacity building workshop on maximising renewable energy installations. They could also avail of a free prefeasibility assessment of this nature, empowering them to move towards a low-carbon future.

Meanwhile the districts of Nyarugenge, Nyagatare and Musanze are participating in the first ever round of EHCC in Rwanda, reporting over 20 actions in total. In Tanzania, the cities of Dar es Salaam, Moshi and Arusha are returning for another round of the challenge. Capacity building workshops are currently being developed for participating municipalities in both countries, to take place early next year.

Watch this space for exciting updates on this project over the coming months!