Nature Positive Cities Efforts to Advance the Transition Durban 2024

2 Assessment of enabling environment2.3 Policy and regulations Overview According to South Africa’s constitution, the national government is responsible for developing climate-change and environmental regulations, while municipalities have control over land use and urban development.15 The primary national environmental regulation is the National Environment Management Act, which is supported by other acts that cover specific topics such as biodiversity, waste management and air quality. South Africa has also approved a Nationally Determined Contribution under the Paris Agreement, and passed the Climate Change Act in May 2024.16 The Durban climate change strategy has been developed to ensure that there is an integrated implementation plan consistent with South Africa’s Nationally Determined Contribution. The country is also a party signatory to the Convention on Biological Diversity. In accordance with this, it has developed a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), to be implemented from 2015 to 2025. eThekwini developed its own Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan to support the implementation of the NBSAP . At the regional level, the KwaZulu-Natal province provides cooperation mechanisms through its Department of Economic Development, Tourism, and Environmental Affairs. Policies and regulations in place Durban has implemented local-level policies to support nature regeneration, including the following:17 –The Biodiversity Stewardship programme, which allows landowners to partner with the municipality to protect and manage biodiversity –A Climate Change Strategy and Climate Action Plan to address climate change and enhance resilience through nature- based solutions –New policies to further promote nature conservation, such as green building by- laws (e.g. the Green Building Incentive Policy), a resource-use policy and the adoption of Cities’ Infrastructure Delivery and Management System (CIDMS) guidelines from the national government to improve sustainability in urban infrastructure projects –Land planning schemes in alignment with the IDP and the Spatial Development Framework (SDF) –D’MOSS, which is an overlay to the zoning maps to show where development is subject to environmental authorization (see Chapter 3) State of Biodiversity Report 2022/2023 Read more here. Nature Positive: Cities’ Efforts to Advance the Transition 25