Mayor flew 4,600 miles to give short climate talk
BRISTOL Mayor Marvin Rees flew nearly 5,000 miles to give a 14-minute talk on how mayors play an important role in tackling climate change.
He gave the talk last month at a Ted conference held in Canada, and this week it was made available for the public to watch online.
He spoke about how city mayors were “leading beyond their authority” and influencing global policy on cutting carbon emissions, and he called for more investment into cities.
But questions were raised about the decision to fly so far for a short talk on the climate, given the huge carbon emissions associated with long-haul flights.
Green councillors also criticised recent decisions in Bristol itself, such as removing bike lanes, and said more action was needed locally.
“I believe there’s huge hope in our cities,” Mr Rees said. “Cities are responsible for around 75 per cent of CO2 emissions, and we’re also prodigious emitters of nitrogen dioxide and methane. And cities consume 80 per cent of the world’s energy.
“But it’s the characteristics of cities – their reach, size, density, close proximity of the leadership to the people, their adaptability, and their capacity for reinvention – that mean we can actually plan to manage those numbers.”
Ted conferences are held each year, with prestigious speakers invited to give short talks on science, business and global issues.
This year’s event was held in Vancouver, on the western coast of Canada, more than 4,600 miles from Bristol.
According to climate campaigners Flight Free, flying from Bristol to Vancouver and back would emit 2.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
The mayor’s office was approached for comment on the decision to fly so far for a 14-minute talk on climate change. It had not provided a response as the WDP went to press.
In the speech, which Mr Rees gave before Bristol voted to abolish the position of elected mayor, he said city mayors around the world were “stepping up and taking action” on cutting carbon emissions.
He said: “Through cities we can plan to do more, for more people, with less. Cities are one of the most effective tools for leveraging efficiency into our relationships with land, energy and waste. Through our cities we can increase the efficiency of more human lives more quickly than through any other form of human organisation. We can house and employ more people on less land, we can have people sharing energy by sharing buildings and heat networks.
“The density in our cities makes public transport more accessible and more cost-effective. We can transform our relationship with energy. Cities offer markets of such scale that they make investing in renewables more financially attractive. We can leverage efficiency into the collection and processing of waste.”
But Green councillor Katy Grant, shadow cabinet member for climate and ecology on Bristol City Council, said more needed to be done in the city. She called for a road map of how it could reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, and annual tracking of how much carbon the city emitted.
She said: “The mayor is right to identify cities across the globe as crucial sites of efficiency, scale, innovation and impact when it comes to fighting the climate crisis. And yes, massive financing is needed to make it happen.
“But it’s just as important that we have city leaders who are prepared to actually make the bold and difficult decisions needed to tackle the climate emergency, such as measures to reduce car use, or prioritising sustainable homes over developers’ profits.”