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GUIDELINE ON MAINSTREAMING CLIMATE RESPONSIVENESS AND RESILIENCE INTO URBAN PLANNING 31Annexure A: Background to the development of the GuidelinesIntroductionThe 2019/20 Supplementary Guidance Note on Integrating Climate Response Priorities into the BEPP was prepared by National Treasury%u2019s Cities Support Programme (CSP) to guide metropolitan municipalities in the preparation of their 2019/20 %u2013 2021/22 Built Environment Performance Plans (BEPPs) to include climate change responsiveness and resilience (CR&R) priorities. Based on the Supplementary Guidance Note, an assessment framework was introduced to incrementally measure the extent to which metros are integrating CR&R into their BEPPs and their planning processes such as spatial planning, integrated development planning, and infrastructure investment planning (i.e., mainstreaming). The assessment framework and the Supplementary Guidance Note acted as mechanisms to assess metro-specific challenges and opportunities for mainstreaming. They also allowed the CSP to offer support to metros to improve capability to plan for CR&R so that urban development, services, and infrastructure are resilient to the impacts of climate change, and to support the transition to a low carbon economy and resource efficient cities.However, the BEPP was never intended to be a permanent addition to the existing number of plans in the local government planning system and was meant to reform planning to the extent that spatial transformation outcomes could be achieved. The BEPP as a required plan, was terminated from 2021/22, but the use of the outcomes-led planning approach and strategy-led budgeting continues to be institutionalised. See the Guidelines for transitioning out of planning reforms and BEPPs to sharpen the planning tools, for more information.Given the transitioning out of BEPPs and the sharpening of planning tools, the CSP undertook an update of the Supplementary Guidance Note to be able to speak to the wider range of strategic planning processes and their instruments, to provide more guidance in terms of spatialising climate risk and integrating it into planning, to be extended to intermediary city governments, and to align with current guidelines and frameworks for the development of term-of-office (i.e., the Integrated Development Plan) and long-term plans (i.e., the Spatial Development Framework). The 2019/20 Supplementary Guidance Note brought forward the relevance and importance of integrating CR&R into planning, budgeting, and reporting to strengthen the overall application of the Built Environment Value Chain in pursuit of more productive, inclusive, and sustainable metros that contribute to economic growth and a reduction in poverty and inequality. The Supplementary Guidance Note set out that %u201cmetropolitan municipalities have to mainstream climate change in their budgetary processes, especially in the context of maintaining the valuefor-money of built infrastructure, protecting investments from risk of climate-change driven damage and loss, and promoting the health of municipal revenue sources%u201d (p.12). Further to the 2019/20 Supplementary Guidance Note, this update takes another step forward to leveraging spatial planning as a key avenue to anticipating change and responding to the impacts of climate change in urban spaces across municipalities in South Africa.