Speaking at a press conference at Kyalami Race Track, Johannesburg, Siemens global CEO Peter Löscher said Siemens had commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit to prepare the index that compares 16 African cities in terms of environmental and sustainability-related criteria.
Experts from Siemens would then discuss the study's findings with city administrators and advise them on budget-saving and eco-friendly implementation.
The cities will be assessed in eight environmental categories, including energy supply and CO2 emissions, transport, water, sanitation, and green governance.
"The African Green City Index is the first known attempt to analyse and compare the environmental performance of African cities and their efforts to improve sustainability.
"Publication of the study is planned for the beginning of 2011," Siemens said.
The ranking will cover leading cities from twelve African countries - Algeria, Angola, Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Tunisia.
South Africa is represented by the cities Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg and Tshwane/Pretoria. The final selection of cities will be based on data availability.
"With the African Green City Index, the Economist Intelligence Unit and Siemens are covering new ground. So far, no other study of this scope has been done for Africa," said Stefan Denig, the project's leader at Siemens.
The study will be part of the Green City Index series, which sets out to compare the environmental performance of cities in different regions of the world.
"The results of the study will help the cities to better understand and tackle their specific environmental challenges," said Stuart Clarkson, CEO of Siemens South Africa.
"It will enable city stakeholders to make more informed decisions about how to reduce their environmental impact by, for example, making their power supplies, traffic systems and buildings more energy-efficient, or improving their water supply and sanitation," he concluded.
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