Africa's municipal authorities have growing knowledge of what they can achieve by rethinking how they design buildings; public spaces; and energy, water, transport and waste systems. The city of Durban, South Africa, shows what can be done by careful planning for resilience to climate impacts in ways that generate jobs and security for the urban poor. Starting in 2004, Durban's Municipal Climate Protection Programme has prioritized the need to tackle the challenge of climate risk within the context of poverty, escalating urbanization and deteriorating environmental conditions, and has become a national and international leader in the field of climate change adaptation planning and implementations (Roberts, 2008).