In a world marked by conflict, there is much that Bristol schools, colleges and universities can do to foster peace in the city and around the world. 24 January marks UNESCO International Day of Education, an annual event meant to highlight the importance of an Inclusive and Quality Education available to all across the lifespan. The theme for this year is Learning for Lasting Peace. This is highly relevant given the number of conflicts currently going on around the world from Gaza to Ukraine, to Afghanistan to Syria, and in the Horn of Africa.

In my role as an Ambassador for the city of Bristol and as a UNESCO Chair, I realise there is much that we can do as a city to support this day. Many citizens of our city have fled conflict themselves or have relatives caught up in conflict situations. The idea of lasting peace is not just a concept that applies to other parts of the world. Many of our learners also, sadly, experience forms of hate speech and bullying including Islamophobia, antisemitism, and anti-Black racism in their own communities and at school.

In many parts of the world, schools can often become military targets. Thousands of learners and teachers are caught up in or killed in conflict every year. Conflict destroys the hopes and aspirations of millions of learners around the world. Girls are often particularly affected by conflict through being excluded from school as was the case in Afghanistan. Girls can also be victims of gender-based violence during conflict. Educational institutions can perpetuate violence if they do not provide a balanced picture of the nature and causes of conflicts or allow hate speech and bullying to go unchecked.

Crucially, however, schools, colleges and universities can also play a positive role in nurturing lasting peace. One way to do this is to provide support for refugees and asylum seekers. I am proud that, as a City of Sanctuary, Bristol has welcomed refugees, including children of school-going age fleeing conflict but there is much more that can be done.

We need to listen to and understand the lived experiences of these learners, many of whom will have experienced trauma related to conflict and being a refugee. One of my former students, Jáfia Câmara, has developed a book that does just that. The book graphically illustrates in accessible form the aspirations of refugee young people but also some of the barriers they face in accessing a good quality education in Bristol schools.

There is much that schools can do to make refugees feel welcomed. However, many schools and teachers feel that they lack relevant knowledge and expertise. Cathedral Choir School is an example of a local school that has joined the Schools of Sanctuary initiative. The initiative offers practical advice for how schools can respond to the educational and emotional needs of refugees from conflict. Early years is an important area of intervention and where there are resources available to support practitioners and parents.

Schools can find out more about refugee rights from organisations such as Bristol Refugee Rights. A specialised area of support for refugees and their families is in the area of language and there are some excellent resources available here too. The Refugee Women of Bristol initiative provides specialised support including language support for women refugees. These initiatives do not treat refugees solely as victims but also as having skills that can make a contribution to our city. Both the University of Bristol and The University of the West of England offer sanctuary scholarships and conduct important research into the experiences of refugees from conflict and these initiatives need to be further strengthened.

Schools, colleges, and universities have a crucial role to play in supporting lasting peace but need to be supported and encouraged to realise this role. We can teach learners about the nature and causes of conflict and encourage our learners to become advocates for lasting peace in our communities and around the world. Schools can teach peace building skills as part of global citizenship education.  These include skills in conflict resolution but also in active listening and critical thinking so as learners can better understand the causes of conflict, counter hate speech and misinformation spread on social media and find positive solutions to conflict home and abroad. Exchange programmes with schools, colleges and universities in conflict affected areas is a great way to sensitise learners to the nature and causes of conflict and the possibilities for peace. Teaching our learners about the rich diversity of our wonderful city including the cultures brought by refugees and asylum seekers is a great way to break down barriers but also to empower learners as active agents for lasting peace in Bristol and around the world.

For the eighth year in a row, our administration has recommended a balanced budget to Full Council. At a time when local councils across the country are facing a cost of operating crisis that threatens the very existence of some authorities, we can be proud that our careful financial management has yet again led us to being able to secure funding for frontline services whilst protecting investment where it is needed most in Bristol.

Throughout our time in office, we have prioritised investment in those services that residents need the most, particularly those who rely on the council for housing, care, and other aspects of their daily life. This year’s recommended budget is no different. Despite yet again having to pick up the pieces of the national underfunding of local government, we have set out a budget that allocates £525.5 million of funding for day-to-day services and the running of the council; £2.7 billion of investment in infrastructure, major projects, and new homes over the next ten years including 3,000 new council homes over the next five; and £491.7 million of funding for schools and special education needs services; and over £150 million of spending on our council housing estate.

We recognise that we all want to do more but we must operate within the financial constraints set by national government and legislation.

Meeting growing demand at a time of continuing decline in the financing of local government, and persistently high inflation, is the reality for councils across the country. These challenges have placed us in a position where the council must reduce its spending in some areas by around £39 million over the next five years. We have put the effort in make sure that the bulk of these savings will be focused on improving how we do things to reduce costs, rather than cutting services, and, where possible, working with our partners to ensure some areas can continue to operate with little change.

This is a national issue and in some parts of the country, councils have been unable to meet that challenge and have declared bankruptcy. But here, in Bristol, we’ve secured a steadier footing to take into the next financial year. That is a position that all councillors have a responsibility to maintain, or else lead our city towards an uncertain future that will likely make the lives of many worse.

The final decision on the budget now rests with councillors from all parties to agree at the meeting of Full Council on Tuesday 20 February.

Although I’m sure opposition parties will seek to tweak and alter the proposed spending to meet their demands, what is certain is that we’re presenting a budget that provides the tools necessary to deliver for the needs of our city. We’ve secured investment to build much needed affordable and social housing, set aside funding to deliver effective care and special educational needs services and support, made provision for building a climate resilient city and laid the foundations for developing a sustainable, carbon neutral and inclusive economy.

Those foundations include our pioneering Bristol City Leap Partnership, a growing pipeline of housebuilding through Goram Homes as well as through the Housing Revenue Account, solid strategies to respond to the twin challenges of the climate and ecological crises, and further protection of our Council Tax Reduction Scheme that continues to support tens of thousands of low-income households across Bristol.

Fundamentally, we cannot hope to deliver for our city without these essential elements in place.

As a council, a sector and a city, we continue to face challenges that are beyond our control but through this budget we put forward the financial package required to make a difference for the people of Bristol.

Transport interventions need to follow Bristol’s direction of travel: towards the fast, reliable, active, and environmentally conscious network that residents need and deserve.

In June last year, I laid out the reasons why Residents’ Parking Zones are falling short of serving Bristolians and why reform continues to be necessary.

When Mayor Rees was elected by our city in 2016, it was with a promise that parking zones would be reviewed and not expand past the central and inner areas that they cover without overwhelming local support. We have worked towards ambitious transport interventions that make a real difference to residents lives: liveable neighbourhoods, improved active travel infrastructure, cleaner air, and new public transport options including a push towards a segregated mass transit system.

Our attitude to shared road space

As a city we need to transform our attitude to shared use of road space, for pedestrians, cyclists, e-scooter users, and motorists. Our residential streets need space for more street trees, sustainable drainage systems, electric vehicle charging points, cycle hangars, and other features.

Residents’ Parking Zones are a failed attempt at managing our city’s limited parking space, outdated for tackling modern day challenges. Bristol’s transport challenges need big ideas, an overhaul of the way we move around our city.

This administration has moved forward the design of two Liveable Neighbourhood trials. Designed with local communities, these new schemes are light-years ahead of RPZs, aiming to counter the growing tendency for short, local trips by car, that the RPZs can drive, when walking and active travel should be considered.

The first liveable neighbourhood scheme in East Bristol in Barton Hill, Redfield, and parts of St George, goes to consultation next week. The second scheme is in the early stages of being developed, hand in hand with local businesses and organisations as well as local councillors.

Our wider aim has been to provide more reliable transport options to Bristolians, creating effective, sustainable travel options, improving Bristol’s air quality and better managing our crowded streets and congestion. We have successfully pedestrianised the Old City and Cotham Hill; created brilliant new segregated cycle paths on key travel routes; and delivered Portway Park & Ride, Bristol’s first new railway station in almost a century, with work also already underway on Ashley Down station.

Failure to have an impact

Our administration inherited this flawed system from the previous mayor. At the time, this was Bristol’s primary transport debate. The schemes were implemented in 2013 without having being previously tabled, without being campaigned for in any manifesto and despite intense public opposition. RPZs have simply failed to deliver.

Launched with a promise to reduce car journeys and limit commuter parking, their real world impact has been to provide opportunities for shorter car journeys within the zones, promoting bad behaviours among people already benefiting from city centre spaces, while reducing the general availability of parking for all road users, blocking cycle parking opportunities.

Given the data, it is strange to see Green Party councillors and self-appointed environmental leaders calling for an increase to RPZs. We must be led by the evidence. 

What Bristolians really need and deserve is a fully segregated mass transit, separate from other modes of transport to ensure its reliability. Connecting people to jobs and opportunity, will transform our transport network and reduce commuter congestion. To prevent crippling road closures that would take our city’s transport system back to square one, we must include underground sections where there is no reasonable other option.

Road space is for everyone

RPZs are not the future and it’s time to have the mature conversation that some politicians are failing to join. We need an honest assessment of how we share space and stop discriminating over road space.

Tomorrow, I will present a paper that aims to bring the RPZs more up to date after over a decade of remaining largely unchanged without any review of their operation or effectiveness.

The proposals that the paper will set out include:

• consideration of further development of RPZ policies for future – including replacement of discriminatory visitor permits with a fairer Pay & Display system
• immediate reduction in business permits in the Clifton Village area of 10%, for those businesses who currently have over seven customer permits or more
• removal of third vehicle permits
• increasing the cost of a first permit from £56 to £178

Costs are being brought into line after years of under valuation. If you were to hire a skip in BS3, on the road or on other public land/property, the permit cost for a year would be around £900. When put under this spotlight, it highlights how little is paid for the privilege of city centre parking.

We must find ways to discourage short car journeys and find fairer alternatives for everyone. Moving away from visitor permits to a more accessible Pay & Display system, alongside removal of third permits, are the start of big changes we need to move away from private car use.

I’m hoping that these proposals begin a serious conversation about Residents’ Parking Zones and the use of our land, as well as the need for a segregated mass transit system.

It is welcome news in the new report from Bristol City Council, published this week, that Bristol’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ) is already having a positive impact on air quality in Bristol, and therefore on our health. Research carried out before the introduction of the CAZ estimated that air pollution contributed to the deaths of around 300 people each year in Bristol.

Overall, air pollution in Bristol, measured by the levels of nitrogen dioxide concentrates (the harmful chemical the CAZ aims to reduce), has decreased by:

• 9.7 percent on average across the whole city
• 12.8 percent within the Clean Air Zone
• 7.8 percent outside of the zone
• Around 20 per cent outside of the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Children’s Hospital

This improvement in air quality will have an important impact on our health and our children’s health, now and in the future.

Creating a better future for children and young people

Children are highly affected by air pollution. Air pollution can cause permanent lung damage in babies and young children. Exposure to air pollution is linked to respiratory disease, cancers, and cognitive impairment in infants, children, and adolescents. Worldwide, up to 14 percent of children aged 5 to 18 years have asthma relating to factors including air pollution. Reductions in air pollution in London, where clean air zones have been in place for longer, have led to reduced childhood asthma hospital admissions.

Supporting older residents and those with pre-existing health conditions

Many people suffer from avoidable chronic ill health because of air pollution. Some people, such as those with pre-existing respiratory or cardiovascular disease, are particularly susceptible to the effects of poor air quality, which can also exacerbate lung and heart disease in older people. Improvements in air quality are associated with improved health outcomes such as significant reductions in coronary heart disease, stroke and lung cancer, and others.

Clean air helps to reduce the risk of respiratory issues and infections in adults such as asthma, lung cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Air pollution can also contribute to other health issues like depression.

What more can we do?

One of the great changes in behaviour we have seen is more people walking, wheeling, and cycling to places across the city. Travelling in these ways, not only helps keep nitrogen dioxide down, but supports us to be more active which is good for physical and mental health. More people are also getting around on the buses, many of which were retrofitted to improve emissions standards ahead of the CAZ starting.

There are some great active travel offers such as free bus or train tickets, cycling proficiency courses, and more. See what active travel offers are available to you on the council’s website.

There is also still financial support to help you and/or your business upgrade vehicles to CAZ-compliant ones. You can find out more on about the financial support on the council’s website.

And finally…

A huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to improvements in the city’s air quality by changing their modes of travel and using sustainable and active travel. This shift has not been easy, but our collective efforts, large and small, are already making a difference. It’s very encouraging to see the tangible measures of improved air quality, which will have a positive impact on Bristol’s health now and in the future.

Our children, grandchildren, and beyond, will benefit from the cleaner air that we are all delivering through changing vehicle use and more active travel.

With Christmas now less than a week away, many of us will be looking ahead to the end of year and laying out plans to ensure 2024 kicks off to a positive start. Here at Bristol City Council, we’ve been doing just that as we continue to develop strategies that will effect positive change across Bristol and its services in the new year. 

One aspect of our planning involves the essential process of putting together a Budget for the next financial year. This administration has a strong track record, delivering a balanced budget every year since talking office in 2016.

This requires the council to agree on a legal and balanced budget which clearly sets out how much we want to spend as well as how we intend to meet our spending targets. However, over the past 13 years, the amount of money made available to us has fallen due to a host of unprecedented events and an acute lack of financial support from central government.

This lack of funding in real terms has put immense pressure on councils across our country, as local authorities continue to struggle with a crippling cost of operating crisis amongst other financial pressures. A cursory look at our colleagues in Birmingham and Nottingham, who have both sadly been forced to issue section 114 notices in recent months, only highlights the dire straits that many local authorities have been pushed into.

Bristol has not been immune to these difficulties and has had to think creatively and proactively in order to support our city’s vital services. And, while the council has succeeded in weathering much of the storm, obstacles still remain, as we face with a £32 million funding gap that must be addressed, all while the needs of our citizens continue to grow.

In light of the UK’s challenging economic outlook, we’re positive that our fiscal plan can both balance the books and support people. Our proposed budget for the next financial year is designed to meet these significant challenges head-on and tackle the £32 million funding gap over the next five years, all while maintaining the host of essential services that help keep our city running smoothly.

Although we remain confident in our proposed budget plans for 2024/25, we still want to ensure that our proposals generate the widest positive impact possible for our city and its residents, which is why we want to hear from you via our Budget consultation.

The consultation aims to provide us with your views on options for the level of Council Tax and Social Care Precept, a levy designed to help with social care costs. We have also included a comment section for you to offer any further suggestions on how the council might save money, increase income, and deliver another balanced budget.

All responses will be analysed to help us develop final proposals for the coming financial year, with the Mayor’s Cabinet considering the proposals on 23^rd January 2024, which is why it is essential to hear from as much of the public as possible.

The consultation closes this week, at midnight on 21 December, so while filling in a consultation on Bristol’s future budget may not be particularly high on your Christmas list, your opinion could make a world of difference in how we operate in the coming years. With that said, if you have time this festive season, make your voice heard on Bristol’s financial future by following the link below – and Merry Christmas.

Budget 2024-25 consultation | Ask Bristol Consultation and Engagement Hub

Accessible formats, including paper versions, Easy Read, Braille, large print, British Sign Language and surveys in other languages are available on request by emailing consultation@bristol.gov.uk or by calling 0117 922 2848.

What do you want the next generation of Bristolians to inherit, economically, socially, and ecologically?

The first edition of The One City Plan, launched in 2019, mapped the strategic intent of the major institutions and organisations in Bristol.  Showcasing the opportunities for synergy, bringing others into the fold, and minimising duplication.

Now in its fourth iteration, the plan has evolved to reflect the fast-changing nature of our city. In 2020, the plan’s goals focused on the 2030 carbon neutrality targets and the climate emergency. In 2021, our attention shifted towards the covid pandemic and how we recover from the social, health, and economic impacts. This year’s refresh of our shared goals, whilst still putting tackling the Climate Emergency and recovering from the Covid pandemic at the forefront of its ambitions, was developed in the context of the national cost-of-living crisis.

Twice a year the City Gathering brings together over two hundred leaders from the public, private, voluntary and community sectors to discuss and mobilise activities to deliver the goals within the One City Plan. The discussions take place across seven themes:

• Economy and Skills,
• Children and Young People,
• Transport,
• Homes and Communities,
• Environment
• Health and Wellbeing
• Culture.

On Friday 24 November, city partners gathered in City Hall’s Queen Elizabeth II Conference Hall. We heard from experts on the Just Transition, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the recent UK Urban Futures Commission report on Unlocking the Potential of the UK’s Cities.

We also heard several offers and asks throughout the morning. Welcoming Spaces, launched across our city last winter, offer vulnerable members of our community a warm space to shelter or a space to socialise and share with others and spoke about the additional resource and support required at this time of year. Bristol City Leap encouraged organisations to apply for their grants and loans which are available for community organisations trying to improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions.

Since the pandemic, much of our day-to-day working lives are still being impacted by change. Many meetings remain online and hybrid working arrangements are still in place. And while this brings some benefits, nothing quite beats the impact of having 300 people gather in-person, with a shared passion and long-held belief that by working together we can improve our city and the lives of its citizens.

The latest City Gathering was a great opportunity to recognise the reach and impact of the One City Approach. With excellent chairing from Poku Osei, the room was full of energy, as we heard from all sectors in the city system about what it means to be building a better future for Bristol.

Attendees were given the opportunity to put faces and names to organisations, while also hearing from each of One City’s thematic boards and our Youth Council about the current key challenges and opportunities in Bristol. Our top three priority goals selected for the forthcoming year are:

• Actions from the 2023 Race and Housing conference and History Commission are being considered by relevant partners and, where formally agreed, incorporated into the city’s approach to housing in all forms.  
• Gender, race, ethnicity, and disability pay gaps are decreasing due to improved skills pathways and mentoring with routes to access senior employment opportunities (part-time and flexible)
• By reducing suspensions and exclusions, school attendance rates are on track to be in line with the top quarter of best performing local authorities and suspension rates are below the national average (particularly for SEND and racially minoritised young people) by 2028.

Bristol continues to go from strength to strength, together as One City. We’re building on success tackling period poverty across the city and on digital exclusion that restricts residents’ access to opportunities.

Our boards are progressing with support for delivery of the One City Plan goals, including the Homes and Communities Board who have had great progress with Goal 23 and housing associations and Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance accreditation. A number of multi-agency groups have been set up and are working to address key challenges, such issues of damp, mould in Bristol’s housing, improving accessibility and safety in transport, and supporting affordable, safe and healthy renting in Bristol.

If you want to know more or contribute, email us: city.office@bristol.gov.uk

With the shorter days and the weather getting colder again, many people will be thinking about how to stay warm and healthy over the winter. Times are tough for lots of people at the moment and the oncoming winter months can feel particularly daunting, especially if you live alone or if you are struggling with the cost of living, as the national crisis continues.

Bristol has always had remarkable community spirit, and this is especially valuable in the darker months which can leave many people feeling isolated or low. It’s really important that we all play a part not only to look after ourselves, but to look out for those around us who might need support – whether this be friends, family, neighbours, or other people in your local community. Do take time to reach out and offer a helping hand or cup of tea if you think someone might need it. 

What to do when it’s cold

The cold can affect anyone, but some people are more at risk to the impacts of cold temperatures. This includes older people, small children, people with existing health conditions, those who live alone and people who might be less mobile.

It’s therefore really important that we all look out for people in our local community who may be more vulnerable when the weather gets cold. Check in on them to make sure they have access to warm food and medication if needed and that they are managing to heat their home.

If you are struggling to keep your house warm, there are some simple things you can do:

The UK Health Security Agency recommends keeping the rooms you use at 18 degrees where possible to reduce the risks to your health. It’s also a good idea to close doors to colder rooms to keep the heat in.

Make sure you keep your windows and curtains closed overnight and consider putting in draught excluders or using a rolled up blanket in places where you feel a cold draught.

Reflective panels can also be tucked behind radiators to reflect the heat back into the room. These are low-cost and easy ways to keep the cold air out.

Simple things such as wearing layers, keeping your body moving throughout the day, and having hot meals and drinks can also make a big difference.

If you are struggling this winter, please do reach out for help. You can find a range of support on the council’s cost of living webpage at www.bristol.gov.uk/costofliving or you can call the We Are Bristol helpline for free on 0800 694 0184 between 8.30am to 5pm, Monday to Friday.

Planning ahead for cold weather

In the longer term, there are some things you can do to prepare your home and your finances for cold weather ahead of time.

There is government support available to help some people with the cost of their fuel bills. You might be eligible for financial support towards your bills if you are on certain benefits or if you’re an older person. Check on the government website to make sure you’re getting what you’re eligible for.

If you’re worried about your bills, make sure you submit monthly payments to your energy provider. This means you’ll be paying the right amount of direct debit each month and it reduces your risk of getting into debt.

In future, there might also be things you can do to stop draughts and improve the energy efficiency of your home such as installing insulation or improving your window glazing. This can help you keep your home warm and save money on your bills. Some financial help could be available to help you assess your options.

Visit our dedicated cost of living webpage to find more information about support for your energy bills and how you can make your home more energy efficient.

Welcoming Spaces are open

Whatever your circumstances, don’t forget that Welcoming Spaces are open all year round somewhere near you. There are currently 66 spaces across the city that are open to all. You will find a warm welcome and a hot drink as well as activities, events and opportunities to get involved for people of all ages.

I would really encourage everyone to take a look at the interactive map to find out where the nearest Welcoming Space is in your community. 

I recently represented Core Cities UK, the Cities Commission for Climate Investment, Mayors Migration Council (3Ci), C40 and the Commission for SDG Urban Finance at the 28th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP). I was there as part of the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA), which formally represents the voices of cities in the COP process.

I had the honour of being invited to participate in the first ever Local Climate Action Summit on 1 and 2 December. Hosted by the COP Presidency and Bloomberg Philanthropies, opened by the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.

Cities and the Just Transition

It was refreshing that cities had such prominence and that there was detailed talk of finance. We have been saying for years that climate change will be won or lost in cities.

Currently more than 70% of global carbon emissions come from cities. By 2050, two-thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities; more people than the global population today.

This COP was unique because there was a Global Stocktake: a look at how the world and individual countries are delivering on their carbon reduction targets. This has shown that, collectively, we are not on track and that we need to do more and faster. One way of doing this is through the decarbonisation of cities. 

The Bloomberg COP28 Presidency Local Climate Action Summit focused on how to integrate the climate action of cities and local government into national plans, climate investment, fast tracking the energy transition, and advancing resilience and adaptation.

At the summit, the Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) was launched. It has been backed at the Urbanisation Ministerial and supported to date by 66 countries with numbers growing. We hope that the UK national government will sign up too.

CHAMP recommends a new process for cities and local government to contribute to the development of more ambitious and inclusive National Development Contributions (NDC) – essentially the targets that countries are contributing towards the COP process.  It also recognises the role that cities must play in delivering transformational climate action and the need for investment to support this. The proposal is that the role of cities will be further recognised in the Global Stocktake and the final COP outcomes, and that when the next NDC targets are set in 2025 cities will be contributing to these.

This year was also the first year for the COP Work Programme on Just Transition Pathways. This work programme aims to assess, design, and scale up pathways to achieve the Paris Agreement’s goals equitably: to realize transformational changes that leave no one behind. Alix Dietzel, an expert on the Just Transition from the University of Bristol, was following the discussions and outcomes on this during the first week of COP. 

She watched as the negotiators from the G77+China, African Group, Arab States, and Small Island Developing States went up against the so called ‘Umbrella Group’ which includes mainly developed countries including Norway, the United States, and the United Kingdom. There was contentious debate about the scope of the Just Transition, with richer countries wanting to keep a ringfence around workers and certain industries, and the rest of the world asking for the consideration of indigenous groups, women, climate victims, and insisting that richer countries are held to account for a transformation of society more broadly. The negotiations remain ongoing. COP28 should end tomorrow but there are still 53 brackets and 11 options in the draft text, which means the negotiations are likely to run over.

This debate is a tale as old as time at COPs, where nation states go up against one another, and every country has veto power over the text, usually resulting in richer countries getting their way and commitments being watered down. We have disappointingly seen that again today.

This is why it is so important to pursue climate action at the city scale, to bypass slow, gridlocked processes. Dr Dietzel has been writing on these issues for year including in her 2019 book, which made the case for the importance of cities working together on climate change because they are more ambitious and agile. 

Investment and Delivery

At the end of the first week of COP over £700 million loss and damage funding has been announced. This is a positive outcome of direct financing to cities and local government but it is still only a small slice of what is actually needed.

The role of the private sector is increasingly recognised. It is absolutely necessary to bring in the investment that is needed. We were at a number of meetings bringing together investors and cities and the need to increase collaboration and release the investment needed for fast and transformation decarbonisations, including an event on breaking finance barriers to the decarbonisation of cities where the Cities Commission for Climate Investment (3Ci) and KPMG launched a UK Net Zero Neighbourhoods Prospectus with 39 proposals for net zero neighbourhood investments in the UK, including Bristol.

Bristol City Leap, our £1 billion clean energy infrastructure public-private partnership, was being raised as an exemplary case study in these meetings with investors. Just before COP, £2 million for City Leap replication was announced by the Treasury to take place in other parts of the UK, saving public funds through not re-creating the wheel. Bristol’s profile and reputation on tackling climate is down to the hard work of many city partners and council officers over a number of years.

The challenge and positive and negative tipping points

Alok Sharma, the UK’s COP26 President, illustrated the urgency of the situation. At +1.5°C, several hundred million will feel hot, with 70% of coral reefs gone. But at +2°C, several billion people will feel really hot and 100% of our coral reefs will be gone. Exeter University released the Global Tipping Points Report COP28 on 6 December, setting out more.

The report provides an assessment of the risks and opportunities of both negative and positive tipping points in the Earth system and society. If  +1.5°C is breached, at least five earth system negative triggers will take place, with the collapse of ice sheets causing disastrous effect for the environment and humanity. But, the report also focuses on positive tipping points which brings hope for the climate action that can be taken by the climate leaders at COP and individuals across multiple sectors including energy, transport and food.

Dr Steve Smith, at the University of Exeter, said: “Just as with Earth system tipping points, positive tipping points can combine to reinforce and accelerate each other. For example, as we cross the tipping point that sees electric vehicles become the dominant form of road transport, battery technology continues to get better and cheaper[…] Many areas of society have the potential to be ‘tipped’ in this way, including politics, social norms and mindsets.”

But concerted and coordinated action is needed.

Collaboration

In Bristol we are collaborating across the city. Through our One City Approach, we are ensuring a joined up approach to delivering on climate and the SDGs. We are collaborating with the private sector through Bristol City Leap and working collectively across the UK and with investors through the Cities Commission for Climate Investment. We are also working with influential networks of cities who are increasingly influencing international policy and enabling us to collaborate with world leading cities, as well as bringing in funding and investment. 

At this COP there was also momentum around the role of culture, film and communication in incentivising climate action, and as a world leading city of film Bristol’s creative culture sector can play a key role here.

Next steps

After COP27 in 2022 we recognised that more could be done towards stronger alignment across the UK with government, cities, business, academic and not for profit, in terms of what the UK had to contribute towards global action on climate and that we could collectively get deals done and projects delivered.

Over the last year I can say that we are moving in the right direction but, as President Obama and others have said, progress is rarely a straight line. Today’s disappointing news from COP28 reflects that.

There is still more to be done if we are going to make a real collective impact. We are already working with other UK partners who were at COP to ensure we make use of key milestone events ahead of the COP29 in 2024, as well as how we work with our international partners. There was interest from government and other UK partners in the ambitious actions being taken in our city and we plan to host visits in the coming months to build further momentum.

My travel and accommodation for COP28 was covered by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.