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Zille calls for greener CT
24/07/2007 21:48 - (SA)
Cape Town - The Mother City must become a global leader in meeting environmental challenges, Mayor Helen Zille has said.
She told the annual meeting of the International Association for Impact Assessment that the government could not be relied on to take the bold steps needed to put Earth on a sustainable path.
"Right now, it is city and state governments across the world that are taking responsibility for driving the sustainability agenda.
"We must position Cape Town as the most innovative and committed city anywhere in addressing this long term challenge of critical global importance," she said.
The city had already taken a number of steps towards this end, but needed to be bolder.
Zille said that last year the city experienced over 150 days where air pollution levels were higher than internationally accepted standards.
The average car in Cape Town emitted about 4.5 tons of carbon a year and the per capita carbon emission for Cape Town was about 50% higher than the international norm.
"Reducing the number of motor cars on our roads is probably the most significant measure we can take in Cape Town to reduce our direct carbon emissions," she said.
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