Climate Council switches focus to heatwaves and floods

BRISTOL is making huge progress on reducing its impact on climate change and has halved its greenhouse gas emissions over 15 years.

- Alex SEABROOK

But as the world continues to heat up anyway, councillors are preparing to switch their focus towards adapting to more heatwaves and floods.

The latest data shows that Bristol emitted 1.45 million tonnes of greenhouse gases in 2023, compared with 2.9 million tonnes in 2008. That's the equivalent of everybody in Bristol each being annually responsible for seven tonnes in 2008, then dropping to three tonnes two years ago.

For many years Bristol has been a leading city in tackling climate change, with innovative ideas now being followed in other cities in England, Europe and America. However despite this, global temperatures are still rising as many countries continue to burn fossil fuels like coal abundantly.

The actions taken by Bristol City Council are also hampered by a lack of money from the Government combined with rising demand for expensive services like social care. An update on Bristol's climate progress was given to the environment policy committee.

Green Councillor Abi Finch said: “In 2018 the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported about all the dangers of passing 1.5 degrees. 2024 was the first year that we went past that. It’s not the same as going past that on a global average for a number of years, but it’s really scary. And the trajectory for the next few years is not looking good.

“It's fantastic that Bristol was the first city to declare a climate emergency. But I want to highlight the need to keep pushing and keep finding all the opportunities we can”