In the latter part of October there has been a magnificent display – Gaia – in the Cathedral. This production of the planet Earth by the artist Luke Jerram shows the blue and white planet which is humanity’s home.

But that home is increasingly fragile. Weather patterns are changing – winters much wetter with increasing risks of flooding; summers much drier, risking the productivity of crops. Melting ice in the Arctic and Antarctic threatening sea level rise and coastal flooding. And we have all seen the increasing problems of wildfires, in Australia last winter and in the Western United States during the summer.

There is an ever increasing urgency about our response on a number of fronts. In Gloucester we are looking to rapidly increase the electricity produced from solar panels, both on public buildings and unused land. We are also looking to increase the supply of gas from composting food, garden waste and other biomass. Electricity is being produced from the Energy from Waste Facility to the south of the city – 100,000mwh since it opened, diverting over 160,000 tonnes of waste from landfill.

Encouraging more cycling

The first lockdown saw a major reduction in air pollution as fewer cars were on the road and more people used their bikes. The City Council has agreed to examine the cycling infra-structure in the city to ensure it provides proper connectivity within the city and outside, and to work with the County Council to deliver improvements to encourage more cycling. If this works, reductions in car use will deliver reductions in production of carbon dioxide and improvements in air quality.

Our city plan looks to deliver improvements in building standards, starting to aim for zero carbon building standards, better insulation, micro energy production, even electric vehicle charging points.
Finally we are looking for people to recycle more, in particular plastic, paper, card, glass, cans, cardboard and especially food waste, which can be collected at kerbside. A recent survey showed that 25% of the contents of our residual waste bins was food waste, and our overall current rate of recycling is just over 47%. In Wales it is over 60%. We can do better.

All of these improvements will make a difference.