Kerry McCarthy and Marvin Rees: Why Labour’s vision must be a green vision

Earlier this year a well-attended event in Bristol saw local environmentalists, community activists and representatives of green organisations from across the city come together to discuss how we make Bristol a cleaner, greener, healthier place for everyone. The three key themes were food, healthy environments, and resources.

We wanted – as Labour’s shadow Environment Secretary and Labour’s candidate for Bristol Mayor – to look at how grassroots action could inform both national policy and the council’s work. What was needed from central and local government to translate aspiration into reality? When is there a need for direct government action – passing laws, approving funding, making sure people have the facts they need to exercise an educated choice – and when is it simply a case of giving people the freedom they need – perhaps a bit of public space, perhaps a small grant – to get on with it?

There are so many brilliant community projects in Bristol and so many people passionate about environmental causes.

But not everyone feels part of this world. In 2015 Bristol was the first UK city to be European Green Capital, with a year’s worth of activities. But many people felt excluded, as, if truth be told, they often do from other city initiatives. They felt it was something for an elitist clique, despite the efforts of the organisers to engage with harder-to-reach communities.

We discussed this problem in the context of food policy: urban food-growing and the planning system; affordability and access to healthy food – what is sometimes termed “poverty of food” rather than food poverty; the role of public procurement; and much more.

We also discussed it in the context of healthy environments and access to green spaces, which research has shown does so much not just for physical health but for mental health too. Yet research has also shown that it’s a certain demographic which tends to benefit from the joys of nature, and in some parts of our city young people never get to see the coast, or walk across the hills, or explore their local wildlife sites. And it is those parts of the city that are most likely to suffer the ill-effects of air pollution too.

On the topic of waste and resources we talked about the blight of litter and fly-tipping in the poorer areas of the city, and what could be done to encourage re-use, recycling and a move-away from single use plastics. Again, some people are fully signed-up to this agenda; but is it enough to leave it to people to adopt it as a lifestyle choice, or do we need a public policy approach, at both national and council level?

Our shared view is that much can be done by national and local government using the policy tools at our disposal. And it’s crucially important that we do act. Our ambition is to develop a green agenda that works for everyone: that is inclusive not elitist. An agenda that prioritises the challenges we have identified – access, affordability, alienation – and ensures that no-one is left behind. This is a truly Labour vision: to harness the passion, optimism and energy of all our communities and work together to build a cleaner, healthier, greener future for us all.

Marvin Rees is Labour’s candidate for Bristol Mayor and Kerry McCarthy is shadow Environment Secretary and MP for Bristol East