What innovation is Bristol seeing from the climate strategy?

In 2018, Bristol became the first UK authority to declare a climate emergency and the One City Plan is a climate strategy that was developed to respond to the rapid and accelerating decline of our natural environment.

As a city, Bristol has prioritised the fight against climate change and have made ambitious plans to become net-zero and carbon-neutral by 2030.

Business as usual won’t cut it and Bristol will need to adopt a huge range of innovative strategies to achieve this goal.

In the third event of the Bristol24/7 Presents series, we invited four expert panellists for their insight, knowledge and guidance around the sustainability debate.

When asked about innovation and how Bristol can achieve a net-zero status, Maria Connolly from TLT emphasised the importance of collaboration.

“We want to raise awareness and bring people together. If we can combine efforts collectively we could make a really considerable difference.”

“I think that starts at an individual level but bringing organisations together to drive the acceleration together is key. Sustainability is about taking meaningful action so that we do get to net-zero well before the government’s target of 2030.”

“Technology plays a really key part in that. If we wind back over the years we’ve seen great progress in clean technologies. We’re in a position where wind and solar are pretty mature sectors within the clean energy space in the UK. It wasn’t that long ago that we started seeing battery storage and the technology has advanced massively.”

Bristol24/7 Presents: How Bristol can become the first net-zero city

Since 2005, the UK has reduced emissions by 33 per cent. This is a great start and shows how far we have come in a short amount of time thanks to developments in technology mentioned by Maria. However, to keep our emissions falling, it’s necessary to keep technologies developing at a rapid rate.

Katherine Piper is the director of partnerships and head of sustainability at Future Leap, which is a community of change-makers that discover, innovate and collaborate on sustainability. Located in the award-winning carbon-neutral hub on Gloucester Road, Katherine understands the need for innovation in green technology.

“At Future Leap we’re all about collaboration and innovation,” said Katherine.

“We’ve got our carbon-neutral sustainable business hub and within that space, we’re showcasing innovative technologies that we hope other businesses and members of the general public will be able to take on board.”

“We made a commitment to be carbon-neutral by last year which we achieved. We took our gas boilers out, we put in air-source heat pumps, our flooring is made out of ghost fishing nets, which were taken out of the ocean and turned into flooring via a carbon-neutral process. Everything is being showcased within the space and we really want that to be the one-stop-shop for all businesses to come and think about what they might be able to change.”

For more information on innovation at Future Leap, you can join the Future Leap Network as a business or individual where you can gain advice on where you are on your sustainability journey and how you’re able to improve.

Future Leap brings people and organisations together under one unifying goal, to progress sustainability. At our launch, we announced that we are now merging all areas of our network and services together under one unifying brand, Future Leap. #SustainableBusiness #FutureLeap pic.twitter.com/XzqGx1tqWB

— Future Leap Network (@FutureLeapUK) August 10, 2021

For many, the idea of green innovation and solutions to climate change can be overwhelming, require huge change or be considered unaffordable. Jenny Foster, from the Global Goals Centre, wanted to remind the audience that innovation can also be easy lifestyle changes taking place on a personal level.

“There’s a lot of innovation and progress being made but there’s no question that we’ve got to speed up hugely. We’re only going to do that if we get so many more people taking action, taking it seriously and understanding what the issues are and how they can personally act,” said Jenny.

“It doesn’t need to be expensive. For example, fashion is responsible for 10 per cent of global carbon emissions. To tackle this you don’t just help the planet but you save money. It’s about buying less, it’s about repairing, it’s about buying second hand. They’re all affordable for everyone. We need to talk much more about these affordable solutions as well as some  of the more expensive and complicated ideas.”

The Global Goals Centre has launched the #Bristol17 campaign ahead of the Cop26 conference.

On the panel was also Olivia Sweeney from the Black and Green ambassadors, which is all about celebrating and encouraging diverse community action.

“All the technology we need to create our green future already exists,” said Olivia.

“It’s just not accessible or people don’t know how to use it in their day-to-day lives. That ‘innovation’ is where Black and Green sits in communities along that journey and celebrating the things that they already do and always have done. They just haven’t necessarily had the branding as a sustainable practice.”

The Black and Green Ambassadors have a radio show on Ujima. Credit: Black and Green Ambassadors.

It’s a difficult conversation that can feel overwhelming but advice and knowledge from our expert team of panellists was optimistic and reassuring.

To hear more about the sustainability debate and whether Bristol can achieve net-zero by 2030, you can rewatch the virtual event on our Youtube page.

This event was sponsored by TLT.

Look out for the next events in the Bristol24/7 Presents series coming up this year.

Main photo: Peter Brooks

Read more: How Bristol can become the first net-zero city

Listen to the latest episode of our Behind the Headlines podcast with Maria Connolly: