Nature Positive: Cities Efforts to Advance the Transition

The report evaluates Durban's enabling environment for a nature-positive transition, highlighting strengths in data analytics and weaknesses in governance, financing, and cross-departmental collaboration. It showcases three exemplary solutions: the Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D’MOSS) for ecosystem protection, the Transformative Riverine Management Programme (TRMP) for riverine restoration, and the Giba Gorge Environmental Precinct's use of Special Rating Areas (SRAs) for public-private conservation funding.

• Durban's enabling environment for a nature-positive transition is characterized by strong data and analytical capabilities but is hindered by governance, policy, and financing barriers. Specific challenges include a "Lack of standardized processes, units and systems within government for managing nature, biodiversity and climate" and "Limited collaboration across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors and to finance nature-positive action".
• The city faces significant social and developmental pressures that compete with environmental priorities, notably a housing backlog of 440,000 units. Approximately 25% of Durban's households live in urban or suburban informal dwellings, which are often located in vulnerable areas, increasing the risk of loss of life and economic damage during extreme weather events.
• Financial resources for nature-related projects are primarily derived from the public budget and are often allocated on an opportunistic, project-by-project basis. In the 2021-2022 financial year, spending on management programmes like fire and invasive species control (ZAR 22.2 million) and land acquisition (ZAR 650,000) represented only 0.05% of the city's total operating budget of ZAR 47 billion.
• The Durban Metropolitan Open Space System (D’MOSS) serves as a critical tool for safeguarding biodiversity by acting as an overlay on zoning maps to indicate where environmental authorization is required. As of 2021, D’MOSS covered 95,000 hectares, or about 38% of the eThekwini Municipal Area (EMA), though only 7% of this region is formally protected.
• The Transformative Riverine Management Programme (TRMP) employs a holistic approach to restore degraded riverine ecosystems through reforestation and stream cleaning. A cost-benefit analysis indicated that the TRMP would yield a benefit-to-cost ratio of 1.8, with an estimated ZAR 7.5 billion in investment required over 20 years to generate between ZAR 13 and 25 billion in societal benefits.
• The Giba Gorge Environmental Precinct utilizes a Special Rating Area (SRA) model to fund conservation through additional property rates paid by landowners. This model allows the precinct to be managed as a conservation site despite fragmented private ownership, with landowners paying a monthly rate averaging ZAR 50.
• Durban's governance of nature and climate is decentralized, with the Biodiversity Management Department (BMD) and Climate Change Department (CCD) as key actors. However, while transversal committees exist for climate change, there are no similar formal structures for biodiversity and nature-related projects, which are instead handled on a case-by-case basis.

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). Nature Positive: Cities Efforts to Advance the Transition. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Nature_Positive_Cities_Efforts_to_Advance_the_Transition_Durban_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Nature Positive: Cities Efforts to Advance the Transition. 2024. https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Nature_Positive_Cities_Efforts_to_Advance_the_Transition_Durban_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Nature Positive: Cities Efforts to Advance the Transition |date=November 2024 |url=https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Nature_Positive_Cities_Efforts_to_Advance_the_Transition_Durban_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024nature, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Nature Positive: Cities Efforts to Advance the Transition}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = nov, url = {https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Nature_Positive_Cities_Efforts_to_Advance_the_Transition_Durban_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }