City lands £5m funding to help deliver more sustainable city
Bristol has secured £5m of funding to help deliver more progress towards a more sustainable and inclusive city.
The funding will be used to work with three communities in Bristol to plan the climate action that they want in their neighbourhoods and how to secure money to take these actions forward.
This could include improving the energy efficiency of homes, generating more renewable energy locally, reducing waste or helping people walk and cycle more. Communities will be invited to take part once the project starts in January.
The funding will also be used to produce a strategic climate investment plan for the West of England to help direct investment into a suite of projects that will reduce carbon emissions. It also includes targeted support for small businesses and people wanting to work on these projects – creating jobs and providing training for local people.
Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol said: “This project will put communities at the heart of climate action planning, building on the good work already taking place with communities around the city. It will enable communities, councils and companies to work together to plan and invest. The project also includes support for local small and medium sized business allowing them to grow their business, create new jobs and train more local people from a wide range of backgrounds. This is the Just Transition in practice, putting communities at the heart of climate action planning and creating good low carbon jobs.”
The project will be a contribution to Bristol’s One City Climate Strategy which aims for a carbon neutral city by 2030. Bristol City Council is accelerating progress towards carbon neutrality with Bristol City Leap which plans some £630 million of investment in clean energy by 2028, reducing emissions by 150,000 tonnes and creating around 1,000 jobs. This new project supports and builds upon Bristol City Leap making communities’ needs central to climate action.
Kye Dudd, cabinet member for Housing Services and Energy said: “We need large amounts of investment in our homes, buildings and energy infrastructure to replace the fossil fuel technology which we have come to rely on for heat, power and getting around. Achieving this will be complex and we need good plans, developed by and with our communities, to be able to attract investment and deliver improvements to our city. I am delighted that Innovate UK has recognised Bristol’s pioneering work on climate change and entrusted us with this funding to create a model which can be used right across the UK.”
Bristol is one of seven places to receive funding from the Innovate UK Net Zero Living Pathfinder Places Programme which aims to accelerate progress towards the UK’s 2050 emissions targets while creating healthier, more prosperous futures and market opportunities.
The project will be led by Bristol City Council working with the following partners: Bristol and Bath Regional Capital, Bristol Energy Network, Bristol Green Capital Partnership, the Centre for Sustainable Energy, City Leap, National Grid Electricity Distribution, Bath and North East Somerset Council North Somerset Council, South Gloucestershire Council and West of England Combined Authority.
