Update Of The 2012 Inventories For Kwadukuza And Steve Tshwete

A revision of the Greenhouse Gas Inventories for model cities Steve Tshwete and KwaDukuza has led to a substantial reduction in both total and per capita emissions originally reported for these cities for 2012.

The revised reports can be found at the Urban-LEDS webpage, and an explanation of the reasons for the re-calculation is given below.

The calculation and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions is constantly evolving, no less so at the level of local government. The International Emissions Accounting Protocol (IEAP), and its successor the Global Protocol for Community Emissions (GPC), have endeavoured to standardise the methodological approach with both prescriptive and recommended approaches for local government green house gas accounting. With a variety of approaches to reporting on greenhouse gases at the local government level in existence, the growing acceptance and adoption of GPC 2.0 (to be officially released in December 2014) suggests that the approaches are finally converging. The GPC is a joint initiative of the World Resources Institute, C40 and ICLEI.

The Greenhouse Gas inventories for KwaDukuza and Steve Tshwete were completed in 2013, and the reports have been part of the baseline assessment upon which further scenario planning work has been undertaken in those cities. Strategic low carbon action plans for the Urban-LEDS model cities are nearing the point of delivery. The inventories have turned out to be of noteworthy educational value as knowledge of the causes and implications of climate change among municipal officials and interested stakeholders is still in its relative infancy, and presentation of the inventories has played a key role in elevating knowledge levels.

For consistency within the Urban-LEDS project, our third inventory calculation for Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality followed a similar approach to that adopted for KwaDukuza and Steve Tshwete. In the process the inventories in KwaDukuza and Steve Tshwete were reviewed, in order to update the emission conversion factors used for grid electricity. The correct, and current factor to be used is 1.03 kg of CO2 equivalent for every kilowatt-hour of electricity supplied in South Africa. This figure is sourced from Eskom’s annual report and takes into account the various greenhouse gas proportions for electricity generated in South Africa, their global warming potential, and the overall energy mix for the South African grid. The emission factor of 1.03kg per kilowatt-hour includes the additional electricity that needs to be generated to cover transmission and distribution losses in the national grid (the differential of 0.04kg per kilowatt-hour is reported in the Scope 3 emissions of the cities). The updated reports and infographics showing the revised CO2e figures for the two model municipalities can be found below. Watch this space for the official release of the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s inventory for 2012.