Municipal Benchmarking Survey, 2013
April 2013
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Questionnaire for use in step 2.1 of ICLEI’s GreenClimateCities methodology:
This is a self-assessment tool targeting six key areas that have been demonstrated as critical to a local government’s long-term
success in managing its approach to promoting low emission development across the city. The six key areas are:
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Strategies, Plans, Policies and Procedures
Information and data systems
Existing Initiatives
Existing budget commitments
Staff Participation
Community awareness and understanding
The questions of this initial benchmarking exercise are not exhaustive and are intended to provide a guide to assist local
governments to provide an internal benchmark by which to measure current success and areas of potential improvement.
Copyright of the GreenClimateCities program
This project is funded by the European Union.
The views expressed on this document can in no way be taken to
reflect the official opinion of the European Union
It is recommended that a member of the support team consult with all relevant staff and departments to comprehensively complete
this survey. The table below provides the Survey sections with guided notes of where the data could be gathered from.
Sectors
1. Strategies, Plans Policies, Procedures
2. Information and Data Systems
Sub-sectors
1.1. Integrated Development Plan
1.2 Other Plans and Policies
1.3.Policies and Procedures
2.1. Energy Emissions Data
2.2. Energy Management Systems
2.3. Climate Risk Data
2.4. Other decision systems
3. Existing Initiatives
4. Existing Budget Commitments
3.1 Past and current initiatives
4.1 Low emission development budget
commitments
5. Staff Participation
6. Community Awareness and
Understanding
Step 2.1: Baseline performance. Copyright of the GreenClimateCities program
Potential data sources
IDP (2012-2017)
Departmental Heads/managers
Departmental Heads/managers
All Departments and specifically:
Electricity revenue department, waste
management department, transport
department, finance department.
All department and specifically electricity
and energy department
Environmental department, Disaster Risk
Management Department
All departments and specifically town
planning (GIS), town engineer, finance
department
All departments
All departments
All departments specifically environmental
and education departments
All departments specifically social,
environmental and education departments
2
1 Strategies, plans, policies, procedures
This section refers to Municipality Strategies, Policies, Plans, and organizational/institutional procedures and mechanisms currently
in place or already planned. This review enables the Municipality to identify the extent to which it has already incorporated low
emissions development principles into its strategic and organizational frameworks.
1.1 Integrated Development Plan
Response
What are the medium to long term Priority 1: Basic service delivery and
development priorities / goals of your infrastructure development
municipality?
References
 Municipal Spatial Development
Framework
Which of these priorities or their immediate
 Comprehensive Integrated Transport
descriptions makes direct reference to
Plan
meeting development objectives in a
clean, green way?
 Section on provision of electricity
(may include GHG reduction, energy
 Section on public health
efficiency, renewable energy, green
- Integrated Environmental
technology etc)
Management Plan
- Integrated Environmental
Services Plan
- Climate Change Response and
Adaptation Plan
- Integrated Waste Management
Plan
- Environmental management in
general
- Parks, cemeteries and public
open space
Comments
Info gathered from “Draft Integrated
Development Plan, 2011-2016, 11th
Edition (2012/13 review)”
Priority 2: Municipal transformation and
organisational development
References
 No references
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Priority 3 : Local economic development
Relevant green references
 Economic Development Plan
- Local Economic Development
Strategy
Priority 4: Municipal financial viability and
management
References
 No references
Priority 5: Good governance and public
participation
References
 No references
Which of these priorities makes direct
 Section on electricity provision
reference to responding to and preparing
 Climate change response and
for potential climatic changes?
adaptation plan
Please note that for step 1, ICLEI Africa staff can conduct a more in-depth policy and strategy review which would cover part one. This review
would outline some of the key opportunity areas from existing policies and strategies, with Municipality support, if this is deemed necessary and
agreed between the Municipality and ICLEI Africa. However, a more overview approach, completed by the Municipality, should suffice at this
stage.
1.2 Other Plans/strategies
Does your municipality have an overall
climate change/green economy/low
carbon development/disaster management
strategy or plan?
Response
Comments
Only a disaster management plan.
Full title: Disaster Management Plan
Date: March 2010
List the other major city development Full Title: Coastal Management Plan
plans which guide your city’s overall Date: 2008 (currently under review)
development direction: These may include Reference to climate response
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sectoral/departmental/ operational plans
etc.
Examples:
- Spatial development framework
- Waste management plan
- Other service delivery plans
- Transport management framework
- Water management framework
- Urban regeneration/development
strategies

None in the original, the current
revision does consider the impacts of
climate change
Full Title: Economic Development Strategy for
Nelson Mandela Bay
Date: Sept 2009
Reference to climate response
 Yes
Full Title: Metropolitan Open Space System
Date:
Reference to climate response
Does the plan make specific reference to
 No specific reference
the need to:
Full Title: Disaster Management Plan
- Reduce energy use/increase
Date: March 2010
energy efficiency?
Reference to climate response
- Use environmental resources
 Yes
(including for example water) more
efficiently?
Full Title: Integrated Environmental Policy
- Attract green investment and
Date: 26 July 2012
create green jobs?
Reference to climate response
- Reduce environmental pollution,
 Yes
especially the effects of this on the
Full Title: Comprehensive Integrated Transport
urban poor?
Plan
- Adapt to potential future climatic
Date: 2011/12, March 2011
changes?
Reference to climate response
- Other relevant references that
 No reference
could help put the city on a
development path that doesn’t
significantly increase emissions?
Full Title: Integrated Waste Management Plan
Date: 2005 – 2010, currently busy finalizing the
2013-2018 IWMP
Reference to climate response
 Yes
Full Title: Tourism Master Plan 2009/10
Review Report
Date: 8 June 2010
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Reference to climate response
 Yes
Full Title: Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality’s
Integrated Energy Plan
Date: Nov 2009
Reference to climate response
 Yes
Full Title: Water Services Master Plan
Date:
Reference to climate response

Full Title: Sewage Master Plan
Date:
Reference to climate response

1.3 Policies, procedures
List specific policies or procedures which
have been adopted by the local
government to implement strategic
development priorities in a low emission,
clean way.
Examples could include
 Green building code
 Requirements for waste recycling
or management
 Energy efficiency requirements
 Procurement policy
 Policies to promote public transport
 Internal municipal procedures
 Renewable energy adoption policy
Response
Comments
Full title: Integrated Environmental Policy
Date: 2012
Description: The Integrated Environmental
Policy (IEP) outlines the vision, priorities and
commitments of the Nelson Mandela Bay
Municipality (NMBM), in respect of the
management of the environment in the area of
its jurisdiction
Full title: Integrated Energy Plan
Date: 2009
Description: To provide a high level
perspective of the future energy trends and
needs for NMBM during the next 10 years
Full title: Green Procurement Implementation
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Strategy
Date: 2012
Description: A strategy to move the NMBM
towards the inclusion of environmental criteria
into its Supply Chain Management Policy in
order to encourage development and diffusion
of environmentally sound goods and services
Full title: SANS 204
Date: 2011
Description: National standard for energy
efficiency in buildings, adopted by the NMBM
Full title: Sustainable Communities Planning
Guide
Date: 2009
Description: A practical guide and resource to
help planners, professionals, community
representatives and politicians understand and
apply sustainable community principles in
planning processes, in order to achieve more
integrated and sustainable towns and cities
with a better urban environment and quality of
life.
What, if any, economic, social and
environmental assessments/criteria must
be used in policy and project decisionmaking?
Are these applied to budget-making?
Does the local government have any
staff/political teams, committees or
institutional bodies which are mandated to
explicitly consider climate change issues?
Give all details
Not at the moment. Dedicated positions that
will focus on the coordination of climate
responses within the NMBM are being factored
into the current restructuring process.
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Does the staff/departmental performance
management system include measures
relating to climate change/emissions
reduction performance?
No
2 Information and data systems
This section refers to the availability of relevant data and of information systems to support local government decision making. Low
emission development strategies require comprehensive and reliable sets of data for the initial analysis of opportunities and also to
measure progress against targets.
2.1 Energy and emissions data
Local government data
What energy consumption data does the
municipality capture/record//analyze in
order to understand the departments or
local government energy use for
governmental operations?
(This may include electricity redistribution
by Tariff code, billing information for
municipal operations: electricity use,, fuel
consumption of vehicle fleet, waste
generation etc).
Response
Comments
Captured/Recorded data:
Electricity:
Fuel:
Waste:
Analyzed data (make comparisons between
months/years or other departments):
How is this data stored and used?
Community data
What energy consumption data does the
municipality collect to help understand the
community (Residential, Commercial and
Industrial) energy use and emissions?
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(This may include electricity redistribution
data by Tariff code, pre-paid electricity
data etc)
How is this data captured/recorded and
used?
Has the government conducted a
Greenhouse Gas inventory/audit of the
urban energy and emission pattern?



Covering what period and at what
scale?
Which department was involved?
Was this work out-sourced, if so, to
whom?
YES / NO
Year:
Project Manager:
Consultant:
Response
1.4 Energy management systems
Does your city use information
management systems to
 monitor energy usage (and
potentially emissions)
 monitor air pollution
 monitor energy reduction projects
and strategies
Energy Management System
Air Quality Management System
Water Management System
Sewage Management System
Response
1.5 Climate risk data
Does your municipality have access to
local or regional climate projections or
Comments
Comments
No

Weather SA
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climate impact scenarios?

If not, which national or state agencies,
research institutions are responsible for
holding weather and climate-related
information?

1.6 Other decision support systems
What other decision support or data
systems and tools do your city use which
may help with data analysis for low
emission development priorities and
activities?
Examples may include:
 GIS mapping systems
 Computer modeling tools
 Financial tracking or management
software
 Management systems for assets,
buildings, vehicle fleet, water
usage/leakage, biodiversity etc
 Project Management software
Eastern Cape Department of Economic
Development Environmental Affairs and
Tourism (DEDEAT)
National Department of Environmental
Affairs
Response
Comments
Corporate GIS
Integrated Land Information System (ILIS)
3 Existing Initiatives
Very likely your local government will already have undertaken projects or actions which will contribute to a low emissions future.
These may not be identified as such but may sit in various sectoral plans. This section helps to gather information on the past and
existing initiatives to establish a baseline for new initiatives. Depending on relevance and total number of initiatives, it is
recommended to go back up to 5 financial years. It is advised that the node point for the completion of this questionnaire shares this
question with all departments directly to complete.
3.1 Initiatives (including pilots)
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Sector/theme
Driven by
specific
policy? If
so,
which?
Initiative 1
Action
name
Project
Benefits
Description
of planned
action.
e.g.Water supply
Summary
Include link to further information and attach
any images
Costs
Duration Achievements
of the
project
Project
benefits
(cost
savings,
reduced
energy use)
Project costs
(higher capital
costs)
Unknown
Unknown
2009 –
2013
Unknown
Unknown
2008 –
ongoing
Not
quantified
R?
Start and
end dates
Initiative 1
Waste recycling
and re-use
Integrated
Waste
Management
Plan
Community
source
separation
project
(expanded to
include 2
additional
communities)
Integrated
Waste
Management
Plan
Nelson
Mandela Bay
Waste
exchange
Integrated
Waste
Management
Plan
All Hands on
Waste
Programme
Integrated
Waste
Management
Plan
Mobile
Exhibition
Unit
Initiative 2
Waste recycling
and re-use
http://www.nelsonmandelabay.gov.za/Waste/
Initiative 3
Waste
management
awareness and
education
Phase I =
2010;
Phase II =
2011
Initiative 4
Waste
management
awareness and
education
A bus fitted out as a mobile classroom that
goes around to communities and schools to
do education and awareness.
Step 2.1: Baseline performance. Copyright of the GreenClimateCities program
Not
quantified
R1,000,000.00
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2010 –
ongoing
3.1 Initiatives (including pilots)
Sector/theme
Driven by
specific
policy? If
so,
which?
Summary
Action
name
Project
Benefits
Costs
Duration Achievements
of the
project
Initiative 5
Energy efficiency
Integrated
Energy Plan
Municipal
buildings light
retrofit
4 municipal buildings (Munelek, Eric Tindale,
Lillian Diedericks & Algoa House) retrofitted
with energy efficient lights
?
2011 –
2012
Integrated
Energy Plan
Replacement
of streetlights
25000 streetlights replaced with CFLs
R39,000,000.00
2009 –
2010
Integrated
Energy Plan
Retrofitting of
traffic signals
R 5,000,000.00
2009 –
2010
Integrated
Energy Plan
Domestic
CFL roll-out

100W incandescent – 40 W CFL
R 8,500,000.00

60W incandescent – 20 W CFL
2011 –
2012
Integrated
Energy Plan
Embedded
Generation
Pilot
The site is an average domestic household
and has been fitted with a 1kW wind turbine
and a 1kW solar PV panel to generate
renewable energy. A battery has been
installed to store energy when it is not being
used by the household. In addition two
invertors have been installed that convert the
generated electricity into alternating current
so that it can be fed into the grid. Unused
energy gets fed back into the grid.
-
2008 –
ongoing
Valuable lessons
learnt in terms of
electricity generation
by private sources
Integrated
Energy Plan
Low
pressure
solar water
heater roll-
Inclusion of solar water heaters in 38 000
RDP houses
R190,000,000.00
2009 –
2011
First large scale rollout to statesubsidized houses
Initiative 6
Energy efficiency
Initiative 7
Energy efficiency
Initiative 8
Energy efficiency
Initiative 9
Renewable energy
Initiative 10
Renewable energy
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3.1 Initiatives (including pilots)
Sector/theme
Driven by
specific
policy? If
so,
which?
Action
name
Summary
Project
Benefits
Costs
Duration Achievements
of the
project
out
Initiative 11
Renewable energy
2010 –
ongoing
Integrated
Energy Plan
High
pressure
solar water
heater rollout
Roll-out of high pressure solar water heaters
to middle-income households
-
Integrated
Energy Plan
Landfill gas
to energy
The generation from landfill gas extracted
from the two municipal owned landfill sites
R1,500,000.00
Initiative 12
Waste-to-energy
2012 –
ongoing
Initiative 13
Integrated public
transport
Comprehensive
Integrated
Public
Transport Plan
Integrated
Public
Transport
System
(IPTS)
Implementation of phase I of the Nelson
Mandela Bay IPTS
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2009 –
ongoing
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4 Existing budget commitments
This section aims to identify the municipality’s existing financial commitment to low-emission development/climate change related
activity. You may need to refer to your responses to Section 3 to complete the following table. Please provide information from the
current year’s budget. This information may be used to form a “baseline” and to measure progress after the Urban-LEDS project has
been undertaken.
4.1 Low emission development budget
commitments
Does your city have a specific budget
allocation for low emission/climate
change/disaster risk related activity across
the entire city government? (e.g. energy
efficiency, emissions reductions, ….)
Response
Comments
Sectoral initiatives
Nelson Mandela Bay Waste exchange
Budget: R0
Source: NMBM
Electricity & Energy
 Climate change
- Planning and roll-out of climate
response and energy
interventions
- R2,200,000.00 (2010 – 2013)
 Energy efficiency
- R23,000,000.00 (2013 – 2016)
 Renewable energy
- R0
 Disaster Management
- Disaster risk reduction
- R0
 Integrated public transport
For each of the current initiatives listed in
Section 3 above, please give the budget
allocation for the current/subsequent
financial year, including the source of
funding
Is the LG accessing/due to access any
Integrated Public Transport System (IPTS)
Budget:
Source:
Energy Efficiency
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other national or international funds for
implementation of related activities and
initiatives? How much has the LG
accessed in the past 2 years?
Budget: R23,000,000.00 (2013 – 2016)
Source: Department of Energy
Waste-to-energy
Budget: R2,500,000.00
Source: National Treasury via ESKOM
Past 2 years
Energy efficiency -
What funding opportunities are the local
government already aware of that could
potentially fund low emission development
activities and projects?
None
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5 Staff participation
Educating and raising the awareness of staff helps to build staff capacity and skills to incorporate climate change considerations as
part of their decision-making, both in their role at the municipality and as their role as a citizen. This, in turn, can improve
organisational performance and can build further internal support for climate change initiatives.
The Urban-LEDS tool “Staff awareness questionnaire” may also be conducted to support this section. Please note, this information
may be used to form a “baseline” and to measure progress after the LEDS project has been undertaken.
5.1 Staff Awareness and
Understanding
Response
Has the city conducted training or
awareness raising programs for city
officials relevant to GHG reduction,
energy efficiency, low emission
development, climate adaptation, etc?
Training Activity 1
Course Name:
Conducted by:
Date:
Description:
Please list recent training activities and
content
Training Activity 2
Course Name:
Conducted by:
Date:
Description:
Comments
Etc
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6. Community awareness and understanding
Local government-facilitated programs are crucial for educating and raising the awareness of environmental and climate change
issues in the community. In the section, the local government must identify programs and initiatives that demonstrate how the
municipality is engaging with community members/groups on climate change and environmental matters, such as disaster
preparedness, energy and water conservation and pollution etc.
6.1 Community awareness
Response
Does your local government work with community
groups in any way in the areas of:
Yes
Environmental and climate change awareness?
Yes
No
If yes, which sectors of the community? And
which projects?
Business, Civil Society & Schools –
Project: Go Green Program
Community empowerment opportunities through
environmental action?
Yes
Poor communities –
Project: EPWP Programs; Waste management
cooperatives
Harnessing community involvement to drive local
change?
Yes
NGO’s –
Project: Biodiversity Stewardship
What existing community initiatives could be
modified to incorporate a focus on climate change
and opportunities for meeting development needs
in clean, green, low-emission way?
EPWP Projects, Waste Management Cooperatives
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Are you aware of any NGO/private bodies
engaged in raising community awareness and
understanding of your community?
Yes
Please detail other ways in which your local
government could engage the community to
increase awareness and harness their
enthusiasm?
Advocacy Projects that are financially resourced to at least three years
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