Picture: Puri Devjee

Businesses in Durban earned more than R500 million from the UN 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) last year, with the local hotels, restaurants and transport sector receiving the bulk of the profits.

The climate conference, held from November 28 to December 11, was the second largest in the UN’s history, with 13 300 delegates and 1 266 journalists attending.

It was also the longest COP conference in history as it ran two days over the scheduled December 9 deadline.

According to a statement released by the eThekwini Municipality last week, more than an estimated R400m was spent on the conference, with funding coming from the Durban municipality’s budget, the Department of International Relations, and the Department of Environmental Affairs.

This meant that a profit of about R100m was achieved, representing a huge boost to the city’s tourism, accommodation, food vendors, curio markets and local businesses.

“Before the conference, we estimated that the economic impact of COP17 would be about R400m, and that was a very conservative estimate based on the number of delegates that were in the city and how much they were spending on accommodation and entertainment,” said James Seymour, chief executive of the Durban KZN Convention Bureau.

Spending

“Obviously there was more money coming in than what just the delegates were spending. There were also quite a few high-profile people in the city, and they would have recorded a slightly higher spending rate.”

Seymour said the economic impact of the conference was substantial. “It’s not about the profit that the city has made, but more about the economic impact of the conference, which led to awareness generation and capacity building, and that is very difficult to put a value on,” he said.

“The city gained experience and knowledge from hosting the conference, which is invaluable.”

He said Durban Tourism would be doing a study over the next few months to determine the impact of the conference.

Durban Mayor James Nxumalo said hosting the environmentally responsible event positioned Durban as an innovative and globally competitive destination.

“The city has shown that by holding events where consideration has been given to the social, economic, and environmental impacts, the benefits to the city are good for the local community, local business, and the natural environment.”

In its effort to make Durban one of the most sustainable cities globally, the city will continue to host events that aim to reduce the consumption of natural resources, reduce waste, limit the impact on the global climate, and protect diversity.

“We want to leave a positive legacy for all and a truly African city we can all be proud of,” said Nxumalo.