Last week the Noordhoek Ratepayers Association (NRPA) and the Noordhoek Environmental Action Group (NEAG) hosted a meeting to discuss climate change with the different communities in the Valley. Climate scientists, NEAG and the City of Cape Town presented what the key challenges are that the Valley will face in the decades ahead and what communities can start to do without waiting on national or municipal authorities.
NEAGâs Dr Andrea Marais-Potgieter, says, âWhen residents and the different stakeholders put together Noordhoek 2030 Vision in 2016, climate change was not yet âtop of mindâ. So, although there are elements linked to climate change within the six goals of the Vision, it is not explicitly mentioned. With the increased focus on climate change, globally as well as at City level, now the time is right to revisit the Vision and include climate change explicitly.â she says.
NEAG and NRPA formed a task team, with the goal of the Noordhoek Vision. Andrea says, âWe soon realised that we couldnât discuss this as Noordhoek alone, we had to include all the communities in the Valley. At this initial meeting we wanted to showcase the science, the Cityâs plans and the role of nature as our biggest ally to representatives from all surrounding communitiesâ, she says. âWe were very encouraged by how eager people were to attend. Communities in the Valley are clearly keen to have conversations about climate change and to understand what we must do to ensure communities are informed, resilient and prepared,â she says.
NEAG, the City of Cape Townâs, Amy Davison and UCT climate scientist, Dr Chris Jack, each gave presentations. One of the aspects of NEAGâs presentation outlined how a child born in 2020 would experience six times as many crop failures, twice as many wildfires, 2,6 times more drought events and 6,8 times more heat waves, compared to a child born in the 1960s. âPeople in under resourced communities will tragically suffer the most,â says Andrea.
UCTâs Chris Jack presented global trends, followed by what is expected to happen in South Africa as well as the Western Cape. Chris explained how scientists modelled the effects of climate change. âInterestingly he said that it was challenging to do so in Cape Town because of the mountain and the interaction between the mountain, ocean and clouds,â says Andrea. He did mention, however, that there is a high chance that Cape Town will face erratic rainfall patterns (resulting in droughts as well as floods), increased fire risks and increased population pressure, as people move from economically affected areas to the city.
The City of Cape Town then outlined their Climate Change Action Plan, which combines what City Council, communities, as well as individuals could and should do to mitigate climate change. Examples of community actions presented are composting, alien clearing, and planting trees.
The second session will be in April. âThen weâll look at the issues that we will be facing in our Valley specifically, what we have control over, what we can realistically do and where communities might need support,â says Bas Zuidberg from NRPA. âFinally, the different communities will be stimulated to prepare their own plans in consultation with their residents. Each community will probably have differening priorities, for example it may be community gardens for food security in Ocean View, planting trees in Masi for heat preparedness and getting residents to install rooftop solar in other areas, like Noordhoek,â he says. He also said: âIt is important for communities to design a climate change plan that works for them and addresses what they believe to be the biggest risksâ.
âFor Noordhoek specifically the deliverable is a revised Vision document which will guide NRPA and NEAG in their actions in the years ahead. This will include actions that the Noordhoek community will do together with Masi, Sunnydale, Ocean View and Kommetjie to prepare and hopefully avoid what we believe climate change will mean for the Valley. In the end it is going to take a huge collective effort, not only in the Valley of course, but we need to start some where and this wonderful Valley is a great place to do so. So far this has been a very encouraging and inspirational process,â says Andrea.
