Sindi Mokgopha, Heinz Eckart Klingelhöfer
Abstract
Facing climate change and its global threats, municipalities are responsible for minimising the consequences for their citizens by greening their cities. Although they are willing, lack of funding makes it a challenge. The goal was to assess the adequacy of current financing models for greening South African metropolitan cities and to develop a framework to provide an effective financing for greening these cities. To assist South African metropolitan cities in finding an effective financing structure for greening their cities, this study took a qualitative approach: A total population sampling targeted all eight municipal officials responsible for sustainability/climate change/environmental management from all the eight Metropolitan municipalities of South Africa.
The results obtained from virtual and telephone interviews confirmed that Metropolitan cities need more financing to implement green projects on a larger scale, but also highlighted other challenges. Financial constraints, inadequate staff training, political interference, and problems with the procurement process were among the key findings. Evaluating the effectiveness of current financing structures and, based on these findings, a new financing framework for greening South African cities was created, which may assist policymakers in having a robust system to guide and support implementation and assist municipalities in properly managing revenues for sustainability.