‘A greener city is a fairer city’

As George Ferguson attends the UN world climate change conference in Paris, he explains why he believes environmentally-friendly policy can also help reduce poverty

With over half of the world’s population now living in urban areas, cities are where we must tackle the contemporary challenges to our way of life and even to our existence.

Although cities foster the greatest opportunities for innovation and economic regeneration, they are also home to much poverty and want.

By focusing on developing a green economy and transitioning to a sustainable way of life, cities can not just help us to save the planet but must also tackle injustice and care for their poorer citizens.

As the 2015 European Green Capital, the city of Bristol stands as a prime example of how the path to sustainability is the most effective long-term strategy to eliminate poverty.

On a global scale, climate change threatens the safety and security of some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. Rising sea levels, disrupted agricultural systems and conflict of diminishing resources all increase pressure on already volatile regions.

We must play our part in avoiding the worst impacts and make ourselves resilient to the social stresses and physical shocks that will inevitably come our way. Poverty and strife across the cities of the world is an issue for us all if we are to build a safer and fairer world.

A focus on building sustainable cities should give proper consideration to future generations while delivering shorter term dividends that benefit the present.

Eliminating poverty from our society is not a six-month or even six-year project. Creating a fairer society requires investment that relieves the pressures on the poor in a lasting manner.

Efforts to build sustainable cities today will yield a return for the next 50 years, creating communities resilient to climate change while spurring economic development and breaking down barriers to social mobility. Our efforts today will have impact well after I have handed over leadership of Bristol to others.

Cities are already pursuing this route of sustainable economic development that is good for people and good for the planet. For example, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has launched a citywide environmental improvement plan that at its core targets inequality reduction. This plan, OneNYC, aims to reduce emissions, waste and energy use while lifting 800,000 residents out of poverty.

In Bristol, our investments in a sustainable city are aimed directly at helping to alleviate poverty for those challenged by the cost of energy. Insulating our homes via the Warm Up Bristol scheme and producing heat and electricity from renewable energy sources, combined with smart metering can lower the cost of powering our homes by hundreds of pounds a year.

By concentrating energy system upgrades in social housing facilities, we are working to lower the bills that low-income families face, allowing them to put their money towards their families and careers instead.

These improvements also help to tackle fuel poverty — the lack of access to energy and heat amongst poorer citizens due to high and rising energy prices. The city’s new Bristol Energy company which I launched this year has a triple bottom line of reducing energy poverty, improving energy efficiency, and giving the city a much needed income stream.

Transport is another crucial lever of prosperity, connecting neighbourhoods to employment, education and essential services. We are expanding the cycling network, introducing low-emission buses with fairer fares and crossing the city with the more reliable MetroBus project that is currently under construction.

These improvements are designed to benefit families without access to a car, encourage others to dispense with the need for a second car, while reducing the city’s emissions from transport— ensuring that our sustainable city is both a fairer and healthier city.

Bristol’s year as European Green Capital in 2015 has brought the city great attention around the world. The continuing test will be whether we can implement the lessons learned as Green Capital to establish Bristol as a world leader in both sustainability and equality.

A greener city is a fairer and more resilient city and I shall use all the resources available to me to create a lasting framework for poverty reduction through exemplary sustainable development.