Bristol City Council hits climate investment target early

Fodor added: “Since becoming the first city in the country and Europe to declare a Climate Emergency, Bristol has made significant progress in reducing carbon emissions. The city is now recognised internationally for its climate action and investment plans which are key to addressing the climate emergency, supporting economic growth and creating useful jobs across Bristol and the wider region.”

“It shows that people are engaged in local climate action and have confidence in Bristol City Council to drive meaningful change”

The buildings set to benefit from the investment fund provide a range of services for local people including children’s respite care and community facilities at the Belbrook Children’s Respite Unit and Ridingleaze Social Services Office in Lawrence Weston, together with the Symes Avenue Social Services building in Hartcliffe. Due to start in spring 2026, works are expected to include the installation of heat pumps, solar panels and LED lighting.

Reduced carbon footprint

Since 2015, Bristol has successfully halved its direct emissions by reducing the carbon footprint of its buildings, moving to more sustainable forms of electricity and heat supply and developing its electric vehicle fleet. Most recently it has completed the LED street lighting programme replacing 36,000 lights with energy-efficient LED lanterns.

The investment raised will help the council to continue its work to reduce the organisation’s direct emissions. 

The Bristol Climate Action Investment energy-efficiency and renewable energy improvements are being delivered by the council in partnership with Bristol City Leap. 

“We have seen strong demand from local savers, the wider community and from two national private institutions, helping us reach our investment target over a month early”

In March 2025, Bristol City Council launched Bristol Climate Action Investment in partnership with investment platform Abundance Investment with the aim of raising £1m in the first round investment window. The target was increased to £1.5m after strong demand by individual investors and from two major private investors – Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Unity Trust Bank. The second investment window opened on 1 September 2025, with a target of £500,000 taking the overall total of the programme to £2m.

The work to create the Bristol Climate Action Investment was funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe Climate Neutral and Smart Cities Mission as part of the Net Zero Investment Co-innovation Lab project. This project was led by Bristol City Council and funded by the European Union to create a series of financial mechanisms to speed up and increase investment in climate action and support zero carbon business growth.