Local Authority Toolkit Launch - Cutting carbon while improving lives

There is no longer any denying that we are in the midst of a climate emergency. Join us on 6 December in Bristol to find out more about Ashden’s toolkit to help local and combined authorities radically cut carbon emissions while delivering wider benefits.

Kindly hosted by Burges Salmon in Bristol, Ashden will deliver our event in partnership with the Grantham Institute, who will be presenting the headline recommendations from their new briefing paper on the co-benefits of climate action,and Bristol Green Capital Partnership.

Protests by Extinction Rebellion, the remarkable wisdom of youth activist Greta Thunberg and the powerful film making of Sir David Attenborough have all got citizens thinking about climate change and its implications. However, much of the discussion is still about giving things up. We have a different view.

By connecting climate policy making to the needs of everyone, we can show that the consequence of climate action means people getting good things back in return. It improves lives, through better jobs, more money in local economies, clean air, better health, travel options, green spaces, and warm and cheap-to-heat homes – all engage people on a personal level, helping drive further change through the will of the people.

We have worked with sustainability leaders from city regions and local authorities to develop our toolkit, providing links to useful data sources, and case studies from Ashden winners and pioneering local authorities. Through a co-benefit approach, we can solve climate and social issues at the same time, and use housing, health, transport, infrastructure and economic development budgets in a smarter way. Since the London launch of the toolkit in June, it has been downloaded over 3,000 times.

The West of England launch event will take place at Burges Salmon on 6 December.

Speakers will include:

Mayor Marvin Rees – Mayor of Bristol

Dr Neil Jennings – Grantham Institute, lead author of Co-benefits of climate change mitigation in the UK (2019)

Simon Brammer – Head of Cities, Ashden

Cara Jenkinson – Cities Manager, Ashden

Simon Roberts – CEO, Centre for Sustainable Energy (Ashden Award winner)

Lizzi Testani – COO, Bristol Green Capital Partnership

Kirsty Green-Mann – Burges Salmon

Jane Wildblood - Corporate and Community Sustainability Manager, Bath and North East Somerset

Cllr Clyde Loakes – Deputy Leader, Waltham Forest Council

Who should attend: local authority officers, councillors, public health officers, community energy groups, trade union reps, third sector organisations and anyone interested in radical decarbonisation.