Veolia at the 2019 Climate Chance Summit Africa: "The circular economy increases and accelerates the effect of actions taken to combat climate change in Africa"

Accra, Ghana - For its 2nd edition, this African climate summit brought together 2,000 non-state actors (communities, businesses, NGOs, researchers) on the theme of "African territories committed to the fight against climate change" from 16 to 18 October. In the opening plenary session entitled "How can African local governments strengthen their cooperation with states and non-state actors? Christophe Maquet, Veolia Executive Vice President Africa and Middle East, presented the Group's achievements and projects in Africa.

Circular economy decentralizes climate action

To use local resources more efficiently on the basis of need, the circular economy offers an alternative prospect for the territories in terms of managing scarcity:

Decentralization amplifies climate mitigation and adaptation actions

Christophe Maquet said that to implement circular economy solutions at the local level, "local authorities must involve all stakeholders in a vision that embraces the entire value chain. This presupposes collaboration between the various services and actors in the territories. And the role of local authorities is to tailor solutions to each local context."

For example in South Africa, the city of Durban has to deal with water stress and a growing demand for water.  Veolia’s water recycling plant in Durban has been recovering 98% of the SWTW plant's wastewater (47.5 million litres per day) since 2011. More economical (60% cheaper), this recycled water offers an alternative for industry and limits conflicts of use between different stakeholders.

Veolia's solutions and projects in Ghana

Present in the country since 2014, Veolia has developed and implemented several solutions: 

• It has conducted energy savings audits for seven public buildings under the Millennium Development Authority (MiDA) program entitled Race to Retrofits and Renewables;

• Under the supervision of DESL, a subsidiary of Seureca specializing in energy performance, Veolia has created energy conservation education programs in 30 pilot schools and two energy auditor training centres;

• In Accra in the framework of the project to reduce plastic pollution developed by the Department for International Development (DFID), Veolia supports investment in recycling;

• And since 2014 for the third largest gold producer in the world AngloGold Ashanti, Veolia protects the environment of the Iduapriem and Obuasi sites by treating process water.