Our impact

Since being established in 2010, GreenCape has helped to facilitate and support ~R42 billion of investment in renewable energy projects and manufacturing. From these investments, > ~19,000 local jobs have been created. 

We have to date diverted over 104 900 tonnes of waste from landfill by connecting businesses with waste/under-used resources through our Western Cape Industrial Symbiosis Programme (WISP).

Factors central to our success

• The initial focus on renewable energy helped GreenCape build our reputation through clear and visible impact. This has enabled our expansion over five years from a small start-up into a larger organisation with a focus on the wider green economy.
• With stable and secure financial and non-financial support from provincial and national government, we are seen as a key partner to support the achievement of national and provincial green economy goals.
• We remain an entity separate from government, although our work areas align strongly with national, provincial, and local green economy policies and strategies. This establishes GreenCape’s credibility as an independent agent of change, with a governance structure that retains accountability to government funders, but also allows for impact oriented, agile delivery. 
• We have strong links to industry across all sectors of the green economy, and a strategic position that allows access to multiple stakeholders (in business/industry, all tiers of government and civil society). This enables us to quickly identify effective points of leverage to remove barriers and initiate or accelerate economic development.
• Our diverse, multidisciplinary team, with backgrounds that span engineering, finance, environmental science and economics, has been critical to our success. GreenCape’s team members – who are recruited for their appetite for critical enquiry and talent – take a robust approach to problem solving, while also being able to adapt strategies rapidly to changing circumstances.
• GreenCape maintains an independent view at all times—supported by technical competence, legal independence, and political neutrality.