Cape Town celebrates being named the Earth Hour Capital of South Africa with the Renewable Energy Festival on Saturday, says Mayor de Lille, who also urges you to vote for Cape Town.
The City of Cape Town has been declared the Earth Hour Capital of South Africa. This exciting accolade is in line with our commitment to becoming a more sustainable city.
Originally, six South African cities were nominated as candidates. The next stage will determine which city receives the international title and we urge residents to vote for Cape Town as the world’s most loveable sustainable city.
The City appeals to residents to please visit the Cape Town Green Map home page and click on the VOTE button and vote for Cape Town as the world’s most loveable sustainable city. Residents can add photos via Instagram and send in ideas of what they think would make our city even better.
To celebrate our national achievement, the City of Cape Town is privileged to take part in the World Wide Fund for Nature’s (WWF) Renewable Energy Festival that will be held on Saturday 8 February 2014. The festival takes place at the Green Point Urban Park from 09:00 – 17:00.
The Renewable Energy Festival is a one-day free public event that aims to answer questions about how renewable energy can promote employment, economic growth and help South Africa in its quest for cleaner energy.
It will feature informative exhibitions about renewable energy, a mini-film festival, free educational seminars, public debates on hot topics such as fracking, a food court and a craft market. There will be a live concert featuring the Gugulethu Tenors, Matthew Gold and the Kiffness, Hot Water and a comedy routine by Nik Rabinowitz.
The event is a joint project of the WWF-SA, the Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC), the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation, and the City of Cape Town.
The City has emphasised ‘Energy for a Sustainable City’ as one of the eight strategic focus areas in its Integrated Development Plan. At the festival, the City will be promoting its innovative Residential Solar Water Heater Accreditation Programme to encourage the faster roll-out of High Pressure Solar Water Heaters (HPSWH). The City’s programme makes it easier and more affordable for residents with electric geysers to switch to renewable energy.
‘One of the challenges when attempting to change electricity consumption behaviour is providing accurate information to residents about their usage of electricity. The City believes that it is our role to encourage and support energy efficiency among Capetonians. It is essential for our city’s future that we all become energy savers and use electricity efficiently. Through the platform of the Renewable Energy Festival and other mechanisms, we hope to motivate Capetonians to invest in order to save by installing a solar water heater,’ said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Economic, Environmental and Spatial Planning, Councillor Garreth Bloor.
The Renewable Energy Festival is inspired by two initiatives:
- The One Million Climate Jobs campaign – an alliance of labour, social movements, and civil society in South Africa mobilising for job creation aligned with solutions to the threat of climate change
- The WWF’s Seize Your Power campaign, which calls on financial institutions and governments worldwide to act immediately to address climate change by investing in more sustainable energy solutions and pulling out of investment in fossil fuels
For more information about the festival, please visit or follow @re_festival on Twitter, or go to facebook.com/renewablenergyfestival.com
