AGENCE FRANÇAISE DE DÉVELOPPEMENT (AFD)

AFD implements France’s policy on international development and solidarity. Through its financing of NGOs and the public sector, as well as its research and publications, AFD supports and accelerates transitions towards a fairer, more resilient world. It also provides training in sustainable development (at AFD Campus) and other awareness-raising activities in France. Its teams are at work on more than 4 000 projects in the field, in the French overseas departments and territories, in 115 countries and in regions in crisis. AFD strives to protect global public goods – promoting a stable climate, biodiversity and peace, as well as gender equality, education and healthcare. In this way, it contributes to the commitment of France and the French people to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

is saved, depending on the type of land (privately owned, municipal or traditional governance).”

The annual cost implications for the well-being of municipal citizens and coastal users are estimated to reach R224 million by 2040. (Only historic damage costs to culverts were available to use in this study and so it is recognised that costs indicated are lower than what will be experienced once all infrastructure damage is totalled.)

By scaling up the TRMP, EMM believes that it can save even more money while creating several thousand jobs and making a more meaningful impact to protect vulnerable communities from climate change hazards.

If the city upscaled the existing Sihlanzimvelo Project on municipal land – approximately 1 168 km of river – this would cost the city around R92 million annually. The city would experience avoided damage costs to municipal culverts and road crossings of R59 million (excluding damage to sewers, watermains and other municipal infrastructure). The societal benefits each year are estimated to be R177 million; 234 cooperatives would be needed to do the work, which would create some 1 557 jobs. This translates to R2.60 in benefits for every R1 spent by the city. The additional green economy opportunities in terms of job creation and economic benefits have not been included.

In turn, for a city-wide TRMP, an investment of R7.5 billion by the public and private sector is required over the next 20 years. This would result in an avoided cost of R1.9 billion in damage to municipal culverts and roads (this excludes damage to sewers, watermains and other municipal infrastructure), R12 billion to R24 billion in societal benefits, greater than 9 000 jobs and many additional green economy opportunities. This translates to R1.80 to R3.40 in benefits for every R1 spent.

“A lot of different line functions within EMM benefit from the TRMP: Biodiversity Management, Climate Change Department, Coastal and Stormwater Catchment Management Department, Natural Resources Management Branch, Roads & Stormwater Maintenance, CFF City Cooperation Unit, Economic Development Unit (which includes the Business Support Unit). We had to identify the benefits and allocate budgets towards TRMP from these departments accordingly,” adds O’Donoghue.

“This is a messy space, with a variety of stakeholders who sometimes have conflicting ideas as to how rivers should be managed. Governance can get very complicated. However, everybody wants the same outcome and it is important to have a broader approach in terms of improving Durban’s economy, job creation and reducing climate change vulnerability instead of solely focusing on river health,” he states.

Foresight

EMM is one of the few municipalities that has an entire Climate Change Department, and has established its Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D’MOSS), which seeks to protect the biodiversity and associated ecosystem services of Durban. It includes nature reserves, large rural landscapes in the upper catchments and riverine and coastal corridors, grasslands, forests and wetlands.

This has been largely driven by Dr Debra Roberts, co-chair of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and head: Sustainable and Resilient City Initiatives Unit at EMM.

“Climate adaptation work at EMM began about two decades ago, making Durban a pioneer city in Africa and worldwide when it comes to recognising its climate change vulnerabilities and prioritising solutions at a high level,” explains O’Donoghue.

Dinath adds that there are numerous constraints in terms of policy and legislation when considering naturebased solutions to flood risks. “There has always been an emphasis on grey infrastructure but the TRMP brings to light the important role of ecological infrastructure and the fact that it must be considered a capital investment by municipalities.”

The TRMP can be emulated and adapted by mayors in other African cities increasingly vulnerable to severe storms due to climate change. Already, C40 and other climate response networks are developing similar flood mitigation projects in Cape Town, Mbombela (Nelspruit), Nairobi, Mombasa, Lusaka, Harare and Accra.