What can Bristol do to be a green city and what can we do for Bristol to become a true green capital city?

Résumé du document

During these last few years, environmental issues have rapidly gained prominence on both the political and business agendas. Public interest in such environmental issues has risen since the initial interest in the 1960s and 1970s, but a particular feature of the recent revival of interest in environmental matters engenders the possibility to have a new approach to reconciling environmental protection with economic development. While sustainable development in operational terms was difficult, it has been quickly accepted at all levels of policymaking; from the international to the supra-national, national and local level. In all cases, a major emphasis has been placed on the local scale which is the most appropriate to lead sustainable development policies and initiatives, with a particular emphasis on local authorities as the major contributor to this process.

The LGMB, for example, has argued that local authorities have the best place to formulate a multi-level corporate strategy for the sustainable management of the local environment. Local authorities have responded to the challenges created by these policy statements by developing their own environmental strategies and initiatives. We will, therefore, in this essay, see which environmental strategies Bristol has developed and what initiatives have been established by the city to become a green capital. To tackle this subject correctly, we will divide the essay in four parts. We will begin with an explanation of the role of local authorities in the integration of economic development and environment. Then, we will look at the efforts undertaken by Bristol to become a real sustainable city and a green capital city; for this, we will focus our research on three important parts - transport, companies and environment. To begin, we will try to understand why the local level is the best to establish a policy of sustainable development and, secondly, the role of Local Authorities in the integration of sustainable development in the economy of cities.

Extraits

[...] Fabien POINCLOUX What Bristol be a green city and what can we do for Bristol to become a true green capital city? - Introduction - Role of Local Authorities - Targets of a green capital as Bristol -Transports -Companies -Landscapes - Conclusion During these last few years, environmental issues have rapidly grown up both the political and business agendas. Public interest in such environmental issues has risen up since the initial interest in the 1960s and 1970s, but a particular feature of the recent revival of interest in environmental matters give the possibility to have a new approach to reconciling environmental protection with economic development . [...]

[...] An important part of policy design and implementation will be put into action at the local level. Local authorities have an important role in integrating economic development with environmental protection. They explain that's really important to address environmental issues on a local and regional level to achieve the integrated development of the economy and the environment including all sectors of industry, the local community and local authorities. Local authorities have an important role also in spatial planning, economic development, infrastructure development, industrial pollution, waste manage ment and transport. [...]

[...] We will now look the effort that Bristol implement to fight against air pollution. All people inhale toxic vapeur and, in the UK, there are premature death each year. Furthermore, the cost of medical care for persons who are ill because of the pollution exceeds 11 billion. That's why the city council of Bristol wants to tackle this pollution with different initiatives as: - Controlling emissions from industrial processes. - Operating a range of monitoring sites, issuing warnings when pollution reaches unacceptabl e levels. [...]

[...] These kinds of companies are examples of green companies and will urge the other s to make si milar. Bristol has a well-developed, resilient green economy, environmental technologies and cooperation at the city scale between local authorities, universities, NGOs and business are really good positive points. Bristol is a place with a disproportionate number of organisations working in the fields of energy efficiency, recycling and environmental education. This is true also in the fields of wildlife conservation and natural history film-making, with Bristol Zoo which will start to work with the UK's first conservation-led wildlife park. [...]

[...] Wessex W ater has also gone a step further, and it tries to make the company's activities carbon-neutral and zero-waste by 2020. Like Bristol City Council, the company was a mong the winners in the Regen SW awards last year. Bristol asked also the help of businesses, boat owners, water companies and government agencies in the creation of a campai gn to improve water quality in the Floating Harbour, for example Bristol Living Rivers which is in an ongoing campaign to maintain and improve the city's waterways. [...]