Tshwane Mayor elected as chair of global sustainable procurement network
September 17, 2018
Featured image: Tshwane Mayor, Solly Msimanga. Credit: African Times
At the recent Global Climate Action Summit in the US, Solly Msimanga, Executive Mayor of the City of Tshwane (South Africa) was announced as the new chair of the Global Lead Cities Network on Sustainable Procurement (GLCN).
GLCN is a group comprised of 14 cities from around the globe committed to the implementation of sustainable and innovation procurement.
The goal of the network is to support the transition to a low carbon, resource efficient and socially responsible society.
Launched by ICLEI in 2015 and developed under the leadership of the network’s first chair Mayor Park Won-Soon of Seoul, South Korea, the GLCN will be chaired by Tshwane for the next three years. This will ensure the continuity of the GLCN’s successful record of setting and making progress towards ambitious targets and championing sustainable procurement across the globe.
Commenting on his appointment, Msimanga said: “It is a privilege to become the new chair of this group of global cities and continue the GLCN’s important work in mainstreaming sustainability into cities’ operations.
“Sustainable procurement is a powerful way that we as cities can directly ‘take ambition to the next level’ and demand climate neutrality from the goods and services we spend public money on.”
As an early leader in sustainable procurement in Africa, the City of Tshwane was an obvious choice to lead in the next phase of the GLCN.
Tshwane’s long-term strategic vision commits itself to a path of sustainable economic growth decoupled from environmental impacts, and Tshwane has recently set targets to make 40% of the city bus fleet green by 2030, and 10% of Tshwane’s overall purchases sustainable by 2021.
Further, the city has an interest in exploring the 100% renewable energy pathway and has a target to reach 20% renewable energy at community-scale by 2030.
Achieving this means investing in renewable energy projects and technologies, and requiring a robust sustainable energy procurement approach.
Links:
https://www.esi-africa.com/23-global-regions-make-bold-commitment-towards-zero-waste/
