Bristol environmental ambassadors take to the global stage at COP26

Bristol’s Black & Green Ambassadors highlighted the need to include people from all backgrounds in the fight against climate change.

Representing the city on the world stage at COP26, Olivia Sweeney and Roy Kareem stressed the importance of representing and celebrating diverse communities as a key to achieving full environmental sustainability, or ‘just’ sustainability.

It was for this very reason that the Black & Green Ambassador Programme was created in the wake of Bristol’s appointment as European Green Capital in 2015, which was criticised for failing to include diverse voices in the environmental and sustainability community and its leadership.

The two ambassadors travelled from Bristol to Glasgow this week to speak at the global summit, where they gave a 30-minute talk.

Roy explained to the audience: “Those from non-white backgrounds make up the global majority of people, but up to this point they have a minority stake in our human-made political and financial systems.”

Olivia spoke of the need for radical change to get underrepresented voices “into the room of policymakers”.

Already, Black & Green ambassadors have managed to enter these spaces and get a seat at the table, having advised mayor Marvin Rees, and other cabinet members, Bristol Climate Citizens Assembly, London Climate Action Week and the Communities Can Conference.

Olivia explained that communities of colour often live in areas with less access to green space, poor connections to public transport and more polluted air.

“Bristol has illegal levels of air pollution, and it’s disproportionately the Black community that are affected by it, but also those who contribute the least and suffering the most,” said Olivia.

Plans to address Bristol’s toxic air will be implemented next summer when the city’s clean air zone is set to be introduced.

Olivia pointed out that often the most polluted air is not in the town centres but areas such as east Bristol.

Lorraine Francis, a Green councillor for Eastville, said to Bristol24/7: “On the main Fishponds Road, the traffic comes from Staple Hill all the way into Bristol, which creates a real thoroughfare and has exacerbated the already polluted environment for residents. If you spoke to anyone in Fishponds there would be a chorus of agreement that traffic and pollution is a genuine issue here.”

Olivia and Roy said that the Black & Green programme tackles this kind of inequalities in sustainability head-on by creating individual research projects, radio shows and podcasts, and engaging community leaders and city leaders in a variety of creative ways, all to work towards a more sustainable and equitable city.

To see the Black and Green Ambassadors talk at COP26, visit www.unfccc-cop26.streamworld.de/webcast/black-green-ambassadors-delivering-change-in-an-un.

Main photo courtesy of Olivia Meyonette Sweeney/Black & Green Programme

Read more: ‘It’s now or never’ – The urgent need for diverse voices in climate change decision-making 

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