Our green city: Transforming Bristol Together?

“What we do in Bristol matters.”

Jim Longhurst, UWE Bristol professor emeritus, began the Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership ‘halfway to 2030’ gathering with a reflection on the city’s efforts to mitigate climate change over the last five years.

His ten-minute opener outlined a manifesto for local climate action that emphasised the importance of collaboration and commitment to reducing the remaining carbon that won’t be cut by national government-led action.

It was a strong start to what became a long afternoon hearing from the people turning the nuts and bolts that enable climate action in our city – predominantly finance-related, with some technology talk and a sprinkle of on-the-ground community activity.

Professor Jim Longhurst opened the gathering by reflecting on Bristol’s progress so far as we hit the halfway point between the declaration of a climate emergency and the 2030 climate goal – photo: Ursula Billington

Longhurst powerfully underscored the need for action with evidence of the planet heading towards its largest emissions in the industrial period, with CO2 at its highest ever level and 2024 the warmest year on record.

While his statement – and the nature of the challenge – was powerful in its simplicity, what followed proved the solutions are complex and multi-faceted.

Nevertheless, the speakers and stakeholders gathered at We The Curious to discuss Transforming Bristol Together: A work in progress gave cause for hope.

Comprising the main players in Bristol’s climate action from investors to councillors, academics to renewable energy experts and representatives of the 1,300 organisations that make up the Partnership they are, together, working towards a vision of a carbon-free city by 2030.

Good news was plentiful: Bristol has been asked to lead on tackling emissions for the alliance of 11 core cities  outside London, presumably due to our concerted action on the issue.

The City Leap partnership, that has already generated £22m investment in Bristol’s green energy infrastructure, has been recognised with an award from the World Economic Forum and UN Habitat for its exemplary public-private sector collaboration.

Council leader Tony Dyer announced £65,000 more funding for youth projects in disadvantaged communities, following the existing funding of 11 projects across the city as part of Bloomberg’s Youth Climate Action project.

And the event was part of Mission Net Zero, an Innovate UK funded citywide initiative helping Bristol to accelerate climate action by addressing barriers to progress such as a lack of investment and not enough people trained in retrofit skills.

Council leader Tony Dyer expressed hope that the new committees model would foster positive collaboration, saying: “We need to move away from a system in which the need for long term decision making can be slowed by an election. We need to make sure all political parties are engaged and feel ready, willing and able to support the work to get the city to where it needs to be by 2030” – photo: ShamPhat Photography

But, while carbon emissions per capita have fallen from 8 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per citizen in 2005 down to 3.3 in 2022 – according to robust government data, says Longhurst – and most issues in the One City Climate Strategy 2023 independent review of progress are labelled ‘amber’, suggesting progress is being made, Bristol should be wary of patting itself on the back.

£7.8bn will need to be found to meet the goal of net zero emissions by 2030. Transport and infrastructure are both significant emitters, and both in the ‘red’ category, advising little progress on decarbonising these has been made. And event attendees highlighted that more needs to be done to engage and connect with all communities citywide.

While the city has declared a Just Transition – meaning no one will be left behind as we move towards a net zero city centred round a green economy – some of those present suggested words are not enough and more needs to be done to reach marginalised, vulnerable and minority communities.

This could be a deciding factor given the keen focus from speakers on collaboration as a crucial element of the city meeting its net zero goals.

Florence Grieve, the Partnership’s Inclusive Transport Advocate, was commissioned to write a poem for the occasion which she performed at the end of the event – photo: Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership

Zoe Banks Gross of active travel charity SusTrans referenced collaboration and supportive policy tools as key, and Tony Dyer suggested collaboration is the precursor to hope, which is then harnessed to drive action.

Natural History Consortium CEO Savita Wilmott highlighted the “pockets of fantastic local work happening in every ward of the city,” suggesting “we must acknowledge what is happening, and work together more”; and Sarah Bell of Sensing Climate flagged solidarity as a healthy crisis response that overrides panic.

As David Attenborough famously stated in 2020, and Longhurst reiterated with reference to author Mark Jacobsen’s No Miracles Needed, we now have all the tools we need to effectively tackle the climate crisis.

But where Attenborough suggested we face a communications challenge, this meeting of Bristol’s climate ‘great and good’ focused attention on the need to work together.

Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership lay out a vision of a zero-carbon, nature-rich, socially-just future for Bristol. While investment and technology are essential tools, it’s working together that will accelerate action as well as injecting decent doses of the hope, creativity and joy that fuel the fire.

To achieve that vision, it’s critical that every resident is informed, motivated and enabled to play their part.

Main image: ShamPhat Photography

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