To watch this event, you can rent or buy the video here.
Thursday 25th June saw The Future Economy Network run their first evening online event, “Bristol’s Carbon Neutrality Journey: 6 Months On…”. As this event takes place every six months, each speaker was given 5 minutes to give a brief update followed by ample time for discussion with the attendees. Despite the intense heat, the event was well attended by a diverse range of industries keen to understand their city’s journey and what can be done to achieve local sustainability goals.
The team introduced everyone to the virtual events space and gave quick training on how to make the most out of the interactive webinar and networking opportunities. Once everyone was used to the space and had networked a little, the seminars began. Katherine Piper, Director of The Future Economy Network, welcomed attendees, highlighting the benefits of joining the Network and also sharing updates about The Future Economy Network’s Carbon Neutral Hub in Bristol, Future Leap. Katherine also briefly ran through the plans for The Festival of Sustainable Business, where you can check out the video here.
First up, we welcomed James Sterling, Communications, Engagement and Partnerships Manager for Bristol City Council. James had been invited to give an update on the City Leap initiative. He explained that since our last update, there had been significant changes in their procurement exercise to find a future strategic partner to help deliver on the city's carbon neutrality goals. Due to material changes in the City Leap programme, by law the local authority has had to re-start the procurement process. The objectives around de-carbonisation, social value and community engagement however, will remain and the procurement process has been simplified and so the timescales will not change dramatically. The City Leap team will seek cabinet approval mid-July and they will then be able to launch the process. All 8 bidders from the previous procurement round are keen to remain involved but there might also be an opportunity for a greater pool of bidders. It is hoped that the procurement process will be complete and a partnership formed by the first half of 2021.
We then welcomed Kirsti Norris, Energy Manager from the University of the West of England (UWE) to give an overview of how a large institution such as a university is addressing the climate emergency. UWE declared a climate and ecological emergency in January 2020 and shortly after that released their 2030 Strategy which incorporates how the university is going to achieve against its sustainability goals. UWE's carbon and energy management plan follows the Science-Based Targets methodology and the university is committed to reporting on scopes 1, 2 and 3 and following a carbon management hierarchy. Kirsti advised that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, any international travel now requires directorate-level approval and the university is now more open to remote work and study, this gives some hope for the future regarding the university's adaptability. During the pandemic, UWE's energy use has reduced by 40%. Kirsti stressed the importance of us capitalising on this moment of unfreezing, collaboration and developing our skills and competencies. She also advised there is a free online course on Zero Carbon Buildings which attendees can access.
Next up, we welcomed Rose Bailey, Principal Technical Consultant at Ricardo Energy and Environment, an environmental consultancy working on GHG emissions reporting. Rose spoke about the pandemic, our 'New Normal' and where we go from here. She advised that COVID-19 has had a huge impact on emissions with daily emissions having decreased by 17% during lockdown. She warned however, that when this is taken into account over the whole year, predictions are that we will only reduce emissions by 4-7% and we need a 7.6% decrease year on year to achieve against the 2050 carbon neutrality goal in a 1.5C warming scenario. The green recovery is often cited by politicians and we need to ensure we capitalise on this opportunity for change, particularly since only 9% of the population want to return to normal. Rose went on to flag up the Centre for Sustainable Energy's report; 'Bristol net zero by 2030: The evidence base'. She also questioned whether sustainability professionals might be able to learn from COVID-19 in relation to communications, since scaring people seems to have been quite effective during the pandemic. She ended by flagging up that although Bristol's NOx emissions were within legal limits during lockdown, they are now back to illegal levels.
We then welcomed Alex Ivory, Climate Emergency Project Manager for Bristol City Council (BCC). Alex discussed the actions taken in the development phase of the One City Climate Strategy and what they are doing now in the delivery phase. She advised that BCC's role at development phase was to coordinate production of the Climate Strategy, input as part of stakeholder consultation and commission the underpinning evidence base. The Climate Strategy was one of the key commitments within the Mayor’s Climate Emergency Action Plan. BCC commissioned The Centre for Sustainable Energy to carry out a very substantial piece of research on the pathway to net zero for direct emissions. The Climate Strategy was produced between November 2019 February 2020 and in the week that the strategy was finished, we welcomed Greta Thunberg to the city! Now, the local authority are pursuing delivery despite all the limitations posed by the pandemic. Alex has been looking at the council's priorities and working on resources to inspire people as to what they can do take effective action on climate change. This includes case studies from businesses. Many attendees agreed that a delivery plan template that is aligned to the strategy themes and enabling conditions would be useful.
Details of the One City Climate Strategy and associated research can be found here.
And then to follow on from Alex's presentation, we welcomed Sara Telahoun, Sustainability Senior Consultant at Anthesis and board member on the Environmental Sustainability Board. Sara advised that there is a wide representation on the Board, including The Future Economy Network, Bristol Water, Bristol Waste, the universities and the NHS. She stressed that the Climate Strategy is not owned by any one entity as change needs to happen across the board and that despite COVID-19, the Board are still very much committed to the net zero 2030 target. Sara highlighted the strategy vision; "In 2030, Bristol is carbon neutral and climate resilient.." but stressed that this needs to be a just transition and be fair and inclusive. Bristol is the most racially segregated core city in the UK and there is a huge need to ensure we don't leave anyone behind. She highlighted the strategy principles; Fair, Collaborative, Transformative, Learning and Evidence-Based and stressed the fact that many cities look to Bristol in terms of their ambition level and so we need to ensure that we are reflecting that.
Last but not least, we welcomed Prof James Longhurst, Professor of Environmental Science and Assistant Vice Chancellor for Environment and Sustainability at UWE. Jim opened by stating that the Climate Strategy puts an obligation on major institutions such as higher education and further education institutions. These are huge institutions with an associated large budget and could have a massive impact on carbon emissions through the influencing of staff, institution and student consumption patterns. He stressed the importance of collaborative action and spoke about the Climate Commission which is a unique partnership between the Association of Colleges, the EAUC, the Guild HE and Universities UK. Action is needed at pace and the commission, established in November 2019, will provide the direction and leadership needed to bring about the required change. The Commission will help mobilise the voice for influence, progress research and innovation and measure and report on progress. By November 2020, there will be an action plan that covers adaptation and mitigation. The outputs from the Commission will be presented at COP26.
There were engaging questions during the Q&A, leaving lots to think about for the next six-monthly update. Avon Needs Trees, Sam Pierpoint & Offset Earth all gave a 60 second pitch - a popular opportunity at these events. Finally, everyone was able to network in different groups using two different facilitated break out rooms, before the event finished.
A huge thank you to the speakers and attendees of this event, without this support we would not be able to do these wonderful inspiring events.
