Thinking globally, acting locally — institutionalizing climate change at the local government level in Durban, South Africa

Durban is unusual among cities worldwide in having a municipal government that has developed a locally rooted climate change adaptation strategy. This paper considers how climate change came to be considered by local government against four institutional markers: the emergence of climate change advocates among local politicians and civil servants; climate change as a significant issue in municipal plans; staff and funds allocated to climate change issues; and a serious consideration of climate change issues within local government decision making. Considerable progress has been achieved on the second and third of these — but less so on the first and fourth. The paper highlights how climate change issues need to be rooted in local realities that centre on avoiding or limiting impacts from, for instance, heat waves, heavy rainfall and storm surges and sea-level rise, and also the ecological changes and water supply constraints brought about by climate change. To date, international agencies have paid little attention to adaptation, as the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions (mitigation) has been prioritized. This paper also stresses the importance of building local knowledge and capacity about climate change risks and adaptive responses. Without this, decision makers will continue seeing environmental issues as constraints on development rather than as essential underpinnings of and contributors to development.