Mayor Rees became the first council leader to declare a Climate Emergency in late 2018, winning the backing of 435 other councils with the LGA Labour Group this summer. His carbon neutrality plan, with a target date accelerated from 2050 to 2030, not only tells the truth on climate but takes the action required to deal with the emergency while also calling for more resources from national government.
Projects already underway include a new recycling and reuse centre in the south of the city, further improving the best recycling rate in the country’s core cities; setting a corporate carbon neutrality target of 2025, after exceeding previous reduction targets; opening more bio-gas bus fuelling stations for the new fleet, the UK’s largest, which will see air pollution fall by 95%; continuing to push forward the £1 billion City Leap investment in clean energy infrastructure; and progressing plans for a low-emissions underground mass transit system for Bristol.
