Which is the greenest city in Africa? A study being conducted by Siemens in cooperation with the Economist Intelligence Unit will provide the answer. Over the coming months approximately 16 leading African cities shall be compared in terms of their environmental sustainability. The cities will be assessed in eight environmental categories, including energy supply and CO2 emissions, transport, water, sanitation, and green governance. The African Green City Index is the first known attempt to analyse and compare the environmental performance of African cities and their efforts to improve sustainability. Publication of the study is planned for the beginning of 2011.
The ranking will cover leading cities from twelve African countries - Algeria, Angola, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Tunisia. South Africa is represented by the cities Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Tshwane/Pretoria. The final selection of cities will be based on data availability.
“With the African Green City Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit and Siemens are covering new ground. So far, no other study of this scope has been done for Africa,” said Stefan Denig, who is leading this project at Siemens. The study will be part of the Green City Index series, which sets out to compare the environmental performance of cities in different regions of the world. Following the success of the European Green City Index, a study comparing the environmental performance of 30 major cities from 30 European countries, Siemens is now sponsoring similar studies for Asia, Africa and Latin America.
“The results of the study will help the cities to better understand and tackle their specific environmental challenges,” said Stuart Clarkson, CEO of Siemens South Africa. “It will enable city stakeholders to make more informed decisions about how to reduce their environmental impact by for example, making their power supplies, traffic systems and buildings more energy-efficient, or improving their water supply and sanitation”.
The cities will be assessed in eight environmental categories: energy supply and CO2 emissions, transportation, buildings and land use, water, sanitation, waste, air quality and green governance. At the same time the study will highlight best-practice projects to enable cities to learn from one another. As an independent partner, the Economist Intelligence Unit will ensure the objectivity of the research.
Over the past few years, Siemens has been focusing on urban challenges and urban sustainability, and has conducted various studies on these topics in cooperation with independent research partners. In recent years, a number of other reports have been published including “Megacity Challenges” (2007), “Sustainable Urban Infrastructure – Edition London” (2008) and the “European Green City Index” (2009).
Cities must take a leading role in climate protection. They are responsible for 80 percent of the world’s CO2 emissions and consume three-quarters of its energy. “Urbanization and climate change are two megatrends we can help address with our valuable and innovative solutions”, explained Clarkson. Siemens’ has the world’s largest environmental portfolio of energy-efficient and climate-friendly technologies. In fiscal 2009, the company generated about €23 billion in revenue from products and solutions in its environmental portfolio - approximately 30 percent of the company’s total annual revenue.
Additional information on the Green City Index can be found at www.siemens.com/greencityindex.