Bristol has led the world at the Paris climate change talks by challenging national governments to work towards a groundbreaking global agreement, Mayor George Ferguson has said.
As the summit draws to an end – an enters an extra day – he claimed as European Green Capital, the city had been able to use its high profile at COP21 to urge national politicians to act.
Bristol has been jointly hosting the city and regions pavilion with Paris over the two weeks of the summit, attended by the leaders of governments from across the world. 
That meant projects started in Bristol during its year as European Green Capital caught the attention of delegates from across the world.
“We have been the main talking point,” said Mr Ferguson, who spent a week at the talks in Paris – including attending meetings in the ‘blue zone’ where national government leaders have been negotiating a potential agreement.
“That means we have been able to put pressure on national governments. It’s cities such as Bristol, Paris and Copenhagen that are leading the way in tackling climate change.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to see from within Bristol what we have achieved during our year as Green Capital. But from the outside there is a lot of interest. We’re not just European Green Capital – we’re the only green capital city in the world at the moment and that has given us a huge profile.”
He said unlike most other holders of the European Green Capital status, Bristol had not taken a ‘top-down’ approach but had encouraged grass root activities.
“It’s about opening people’s eyes in a different way,” he said. “Bristol approaches these things in a different way.”
Mayor Ferguson was speaking at the Bristol 2015 Neighbourhood Arts celebration last night at the Trinity Centre, where films of the 14 arts projects around the city were screened. The projects directly involved 10,000 people and impacted on a total of 50,000.
The projects ranged from musical litter bins to an art installation in which more than 1,000 local people raised awareness about the decline in the starling population by making their own clay birds.
To watch a video of Bristol in Paris click here
