The Role of South African Municipalities in Combating Climate Change : A Case of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality 

The controversial topic of "Climate change' has grown in considerable importance over the past decade. This is evident in the actions taken by many countries all over the world. To this effect, Government leaders have come together at the UN Climate Change Conference COP25 for the common purpose of finding solutions to the challenges of climate change, as well as highlighting its prevalence and consequence for communities. Climate change is the concern of all spheres of government. Even though directive is taken from national government, it is the government closest to the people, the local government, that makes a difference in the lives of communities and hence the responsibility of municipalities in furthering the climate change agenda. It is crucial that municipalities are cognisant of the challenges of climate change and are financially geared to combat these challenges. This article seeks to specifically focus on the role of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM) in furthering the climate change agenda by way of the policies it has implemented. Furthermore, emphasis will be placed on whether EMM is financially geared to combat the negative effects of climate change.|The article follows a methodological approach, which is qualitative and based on a robust literature survey of both published and non-published print analyses as well as a desktop review of authoritative literature on climate change and the budget allocated by EMM to combat the negative effects of climate change in its jurisdiction. The article advocates recommendations that can be implemented by EMM in order to maximise the budget given to combat the negative effects of climate change.