At the end of May, we invited members of Bristol Green Capital Partnership to share their experiences, hopes and concerns for addressing the climate and ecological emergencies in Bristol at a time of great change. Below is a summary of the responses, and you can find visual representations of the responses here.

Members were asked how the pandemic has impacted on their efforts to work on environmental issues in the short-term as well as how they think their efforts will be affected in the medium/long-term and it was encouraging to find that, while under half of respondents (44%) felt they’ve been negatively impacted by the pandemic in the short-term, 38% feel it will have a positive or really positive impact in the medium/long-term along with 16% who feel their efforts won’t be affected.

The main concerns for environmental progress as Bristol recovers from the pandemic included that efforts to stimulate a declining economy would reduce the urgency and funding for tackling environmental challenges. There is also fear that health concerns would lead to reduced public transport use and more reliance on cars, with a subsequent impact on air quality.

Respondents also reported several areas for learning and progress, with many hoping for more active travel leading to reduced traffic, improved air quality, and benefits for people’s health and wellbeing. Another key shift that members hope will continue as Bristol recovers is for businesses to consider new ways of working that include more remote meetings, family friendly working practices (such as flexible hours) and working from home, which will reduce commuting and air pollution and support workers’ wellbeing. A prominent theme throughout, was resilience – with the hope for resilience in:

• Nature by protecting, restoring and enhancing the natural environment and wildlife.
• People through building a sense of community and collective solidarity.
• The Economy by localising supply chain and supporting independent, local businesses.

Members offered many thoughts and ideas on what is needed to ensure sustainability is at the heart of Bristol’s recovery, ranging from a shift in how we travel, investment/funding in green infrastructure and projects, policy changes and towards a whole energy system approach. The most common themes were:

• Business action around ways of working for employees and how the business operates, and for the business community to call for a green recovery;
• Strong, dynamic and meaningful leadership on all levels, particularly at the city and regional levels;
• An equitable society where there’s equal opportunities for those from underrepresented communities to lead and to have their voices heard.

Bristol Green Capital Partnership would like to thank our members who took the time to respond – we value our members’ experiences and inputs to help ensure our programme remains responsive. We will be sharing the responses with stakeholders such as the One City Economy Board.

See here for visual representations of the responses received.