Sustainability

Find out more about sustainability in Bristol.

Bristol was the first British city to be named European Green Capital and is the UK’s second Gold Sustainable Food City. It’s also a Fairtrade City, which sees it trading fairly with nearly five million workers in 58 developing countries. 

Bristol Green Capital Partnership was instrumental in helping Bristol win European Green Capital in 2015, pulling together the efforts of more than a thousand grassroots projects, businesses, community organisations and the city’s two universities. Together, these organisations have committed to working towards a zero-carbon, socially just Bristol.

Bristol is also home to the Global Goals Centre, an educational charity inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals, creating engaging experiences to inspire learning and action on climate and equality. Together with Artspace Lifespace, Global Goals Centre will be opening a new arts and sustainability hub in the former M&S building on Broadmead, known as Sparks Bristol. The aim of the project is to create a vibrant space in which local people can shop, recycle and explore what a greener, fairer future could look like. 

Bristol was the UK’s first cycling city and home to the National Cycle Network and Sustrans, the UK’s sustainable transport charity. 

The city is home to four city farms – Windmill Hill, St Werburghs, Lawrence Weston and Hartcliffe City Farms, where visitors can get involved and learn about growing plants, rearing animals and sustainable living. There are also second-hand, refill, plastic-free and organic shops around the city, with the longest road of independent shops in the UK, Gloucester Road. 

If you’re visiting the city from further afield during the Bristol 650 year, check out Visit Bristol’s round-up of the city’s best green accommodation.

In November 2022, Bristol introduced a Clean Air Zone, meaning that vehicles that don’t meet the zone’s emission standards are required to pay a charge to enter. Check whether your car will be charged on Bristol’s Clean Air Zone vehicle checker.