Submitted in fulfillment/partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters in Development Studies, in the Graduate Program of the School of Built Environment and. Where the work of others has been used, this is duly acknowledged in the text.
INTRODUCTION
This thesis aims to contribute to knowledge about local climate management in an African context through the lens of the COP17/CMP7 Responsible Accommodation Campaign. The study will use the theoretical framework of local climate governance and governance to analyze the processes and outcomes of the campaign.
LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
- Introduction
- Sustainable development and the environment
- The Green Economy
- Green Tourism
- Green certification
- Environmental Governance
- Local Environmental Governance
- Self-governing
- Governing through enabling
- Governing by provision
- Governing by authority
- Governmentality
- Summary
One of the concepts that is well aligned with the green economy discourse is that of green tourism. These two theoretical frameworks will be applied in the analysis of the Campaign in this thesis.
BACKGROUND – THE CURRENT STATE OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND CLIMATE
- Introduction
- Brief history
- The current state of environmental and climate governance
- Summary
The dual introduction of the environmental management function as well as the responsibility for addressing the basic developmental needs of the people in the municipality created a dilemma for the local government. This began to change only in 2004, after the head of the Department of Environmental Management Debra Roberts participated in a program in environmental management in the US. Due to the many other challenges facing local municipalities, Roberts (2008) explains that the only way to ensure buy-in.
After completing the environmental management program in the US, the head of the Environmental Management Department conducted a series of workshops and presentations within Durban City Hall to ensure staff understood the importance of climate protection in Durban in particular. As part of the Greening Durban 2010 programme, the city also produced a series of green guides, which provided information on water and energy efficiency, sustainable waste management and green landscaping. Greening Durban 2010 marked the beginning of the city's largest greening program of events.
One of the most recent examples of this form of governance is the Campaign, which aimed to educate and motivate the hospitality sector for greener practices.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
- Introduction
- Observation and action research
- Key stakeholder interviews
- Participant interviews
- Limitations and possible bias
- Purpose
- Summary
30. stakeholders in the planning and implementation process, and 3) questionnaire and interviews with a sample of campaign participants. The purpose of the observational part of the research was to understand the dynamics of the stakeholders involved in the development, as well as the process of planning and implementation of the Campaign. Considering that this research has never contributed to any change in the processes of the Campaign, it is acknowledged that the research methodology only partially fits into the action research framework.
The second part of the research involved interviews with the key stakeholders consulted throughout the planning process, as well as the project facilitators. They also highlighted some of the opportunities and challenges faced throughout the campaign and provided further details on questions raised during the pre-campaign project meetings. The respondents for these interviews were purposefully selected, as it was essential that interviews were conducted with all the actors who participated in the planning and development of the Campaign.
The selection was based on the list of participants in the two Responsible Accommodation Campaign Forums provided by EPCPD, and an overview of the interviews is given in Table 4.2.
FINDINGS
Introduction
The driving factors behind the COP17/CMP7 Responsible Accommodation Campaign
One of the main recommendations that came out of the tourism workshop was the establishment of a green certification system for all the tourism facilities in the province. The accommodation facilities never engaged directly with the municipality in the preface to the WC; an external agent managed the accommodation and block booking system on behalf of the city. Two of the three certification bodies said they opposed the idea, pointing out that the city lacked the ability to implement a certification standard and that there were already three existing certification bodies in the market.
Therefore, the team saw an opportunity to partner with the national government, and instead of duplicating NDT's efforts, used the Campaign as a marketing platform for NMSRT. In particular this was reflected by the alignment of the provincial green economy program and the local green program COP17. This form of governance aims to involve external government actors in the formation of official projects and programs, in this case by bringing private industry into the planning of the Campaign.
In the case of the Campaign, this way of governing the network had a significant impact on its shape.
Outcomes of the COP17/CMP7 Responsible Accommodation Campaign
In this sense, it was not promoted as well as some of the other items in the Toolkit. Only one of the respondents disagreed, stating that she does not think that the Campaign was important for her and her host24. At the time of the interviews, most respondents had not made significant changes in their enterprises.
However, some respondents said they were inspired by the Campaign and were considering or planning to make more changes in the future. In general, the respondents' comments about the idea of the Campaign were positive and it seems clear that it was considered a useful initiative by the municipality. First, many of the respondents considered the campaign as a way through which they could communicate with the municipality and get answers to their questions.
As mentioned above, this was also one of the municipality's goals during the planning of the campaign.
Opportunities and challenges
Second, many hoped for more concrete results from the Campaign, and hoped that the Campaign would be the start of something more. From the municipality's side, the future of the Campaign has not yet been determined, because the Campaign was rolled out as a pilot project and is currently being evaluated. The campaign participants' interest in being part of the policy process offers the municipality an opportunity to go further when it comes to developing successful climate or environmental programs and projects.
While most respondents said that if there were more forums in the future they would attend, a possible future for the campaign itself has industry support. During the discussion parts of the forums, several questions were raised regarding the municipality's own green initiatives and the quality of their service delivery, such as the inconsistent distribution of orange bags mentioned above. Therefore, the challenge for the municipality is related to how they can improve their green initiatives and work as a good example for the rest of the sector.
This process can also be the beginning of a more long-term consultation relationship with the sector, as several of the respondents expressed that they would like to be more involved in the municipality's policy around these issues.
How does the COP17/CMP7 Responsible Accommodation Campaign reveal the form of
Financial incentives as a governance technology can potentially expand the impact of city climate change governance. Some of the respondents were concerned that the Campaign was only a temporary project to improve the city's image before COP17. Although the city also has a number of other greening initiatives on the biodiversity side, these are much less visible to the public, and therefore the greening event has become to a large extent the overall image of the city.
Although the campaign showed that awareness campaigns are seen as useful by most respondents, it can only be proven that this applies to the small group of invitees who decided to participate in the forums. If this is the case, it means that only about eight percent of the industry found campaign awareness so useful that they were willing to attend the forums. The Campaign was a pilot project and its interactive approach to network management has highlighted the need to broaden the City's approach to climate management beyond current facilitation.
Whether the city confirms its reputation as a leader in the climate protection field, or concerns from the industry that the campaign was just a show case for COP17, will depend on the next step in the process, and whether it follows the feedback from the private sector.
Summary
This finding is similar to that identified in the current work in the province on the design of a green economy strategy: The state must lead the process, but through all four modes of management, and with continuous input from the private sector .
CONCLUDING REMARKS
This is largely motivated by the city hosting mega-events such as the FIFA World Cup and the UNFCCC COP17. The Campaign in this context can be seen as a technology of domination; a policy instrument to achieve the objectives identified in the rationalities of government. What became clear from the interviews was that both key stakeholders and campaign participants agreed that there was a need for an awareness campaign in the city.
In general, the form of environmental and climate governance in eThekwini has been dominated by self-governing projects, such as biodiversity and conservation initiatives, and more recently there has been an increase in the number of awareness-raising projects. What has become clear through this study is the need for the municipality to act as a consistent and reliable actor in the field of climate control. A step in that direction includes learning from the experiences of this campaign, and broadening the scope of their environmental and climate control to appeal to everyone in the city.
Was this new information or did you know most of what was presented on the forum?.
