Community Climate Action
BDEF is very proud to have overseen the development of the City’ first co-produced Climate Action Plan which was heralded a ‘world first’ in the national media.
See Community Climate Action Plan here. The work was carried out by Emma Geen, when she worked for BDEF, and she co-produced the plan with 300 Disabled people who lived or worked in Bristol. Five other disadvantaged communities also took part in the Bristol Community Climate Action project, each of them co-producing a climate action plan for their own community. The project was funded by the National Lottery through the Climate Action Fund and it aims to identify priorities that will help to deliver the City’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2030.
The aim of BDEF’s Community Climate Action Plan is to find ways of acting on climate change that do not create new barriers for Disabled people. Laura Welti, who applied for the funding, and was BDEF’s Director at the time, said that she applied to be one of the project partners because it was “an opportunity to get in before any work gets undertaken, so we get it right first time, rather than us having to react when they get it wrong”. It is believed to be the first time anywhere in the world that so many Disabled people have been involved in co-producing a plan to take action to address climate change.
The 65 recommendations in BDEF’s action plan are split between those actions it could implement itself, and those it now hopes to lobby councils, other public bodies and Bristol’s private sector to implement. The consultation found that Disabled people were calling for action to open up their access to green jobs, public transport, affordable food and clean energy across the city. There were also calls for blue badge holders in Bristol to be allowed to use bus lanes, for action to remove pavement obstacles, free window boxes for Disabled people without a garden, and a “library of things” that would allow Disabled people to borrow mobility equipment. The overall aim is to see improved access for Disabled people to carbon neutral personal transport and the natural environment.
As a result, BDEF temporarily employed a transport champion, a Disabled person who would lobby transport organisations, and offer advice and support on climate-related plans, in areas such as pedestrianisation, access to green spaces, and public transport. It is hoped that this work can soon be revived, as BDEF’s commitment to climate action continues.
This work has continued progressing and is now being held by the Bristol Climate and Nature Partnership. Find out more here.