Assessing municipal-level governance responses to climate change in KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

The 2011 Durban Adaptation Charter for Local Governments calls on local governments, worldwide, to institutionalise climate response, with the aim of minimising the impacts of climate change on local livelihoods and vulnerable communities. This paper, through the use of case studies, in-depth interviews and document review, assesses how three non-metropolitan municipalities in KwaZulu-Natal, a district municipality, and two local municipalities under its jurisdiction, are responding to this call. The results suggest that while the municipalities have adopted measures to institutionalise climate responses, the responses are relatively new and implementation is slow, complex and fraught with limitations and competing demands. Furthermore, there appears to be a lack of co-ordination of responses between the two levels of government, which has the potential to lead to duplication. Given the multi-scalar nature of climate change, emphasis on co-ordination and the inclusion of all municipal departments in the development and implementation of responses is necessary.