In November 2018, the elected members of Bristol City Council became the first in the UK to declare a ‘climate emergency’, following the International Panel on Climate Change’ report on warming of 1.5°C which laid out the significant benefits from keeping global temperature rises well below 2°C.

The Mayor of Bristol invited Bristol Green Capital Partnership, as the city’s environmental sustainability community, to contribute to the city’s response to the climate emergency. We held a major gathering to consider how to accelerate progress towards a climate neutral city at We the Curious on 5 March 2019.

Almost 200 people from Partnership member and other businesses and organisations contribute almost 600 ideas for immediate and future actions to accelerate progress across the work, community and home life. Key findings include:

• a very strong emphasis on actions around engagement, interesting given the focus is often more generally on technological innovation and infrastructure; and
• While 4 of the Partnership’s 5 themes, as featured in the Our Future environmental sustainability vision for city – energy, transport, resources and food – featured quite strongly among the actions, nature was referenced somewhat less often.

We have published a report to inform Partnership member organisations and others in the city. The findings have also shared with Bristol City Council colleagues to help inform the city’s climate emergency response.

A big thank you to all who attended and contributed to make this a successful event.

The report will also feed into the new Environmental Sustainability (ES) Board announced in the first iteration of Bristol’s One City Plan in January 2019, and which the Mayor of Bristol invited the Partnership to create and facilitate. The ES Board will sit alongside economy, health and wellbeing, homes, transport and learning boards.

 

Further information

Report from the accelerating progress towards a carbon neutral city gathering event

Summary of actions suggested and shared by participants at the carbon neutral city gathering

News piece on gathering event with visual minute

‘Listen again’ to Ujima Radio’s coverage here