Metro Mayor candidates share their climate and nature priorities

On 1 May 2025, residents in the West of England will elect a new Metro Mayor, whose role is to improve the lives of the people who live, work and travel in the West of England.

Our region is facing a critical moment for regional collaboration on climate and nature and levels of concern on climate change are higher in the South West (77%), than nationally.

Bristol, Bath & North East Somerset, South Gloucestershire, North Somerset and the West of England Combined Authority (comprised of the first three listed) share a 2030 net zero target, and with the new national government promising greater action on climate and nature and more power to combined authorities through devolution, there is significant potential for the new Metro Mayor to have a significant impact on local and regional efforts.

In the run up to the election, we asked all four candidates the following question, “As West of England Combined Authority Mayor, what would your climate and nature priorities for the region be and how would you deliver on these?”. This is what they said:

I’m excited to share my vision for making our region a leader in climate action and nature recovery. Like 77% of you in our region, I’m deeply concerned about climate change, and I believe we have both the responsibility and the opportunity to tackle it head-on and for climate action to run through everything we do; whether it’s building homes, planning infrastructure or improving how we move around.

Our region is already making fantastic progress with the West of England Combined Authority and its constituent authorities committed to carbon neutrality. But we need to accelerate our efforts, and as your regional Mayor, here’s how I’ll make that happen:

I’ll put communities at the heart of our approach to tackling the climate and nature emergency. The brilliant work of the Community Climate Action Project shows what’s possible when we engage with local people, because everyone deserves a voice in shaping our green future. I’ll secure funding to expand this model across the entire West of England, ensuring climate solutions also address inequality and improve quality of life.

I’ll supercharge our green economy. Our region is buzzing with innovation, and I’ll build on initiatives like the Green Growth Impact Fund to unlock investment in clean technologies and green businesses. I’ll create a Green Skills Academy focused on green jobs, working with colleges, universities, and businesses to ensure local people benefit from the transition to a zero-carbon economy both in terms of outcomes but also career development.

I’ll build on the work of the current Mayor to accelerate nature recovery. I’m proud that we’re the first English region to publish a Local Nature Recovery Strategy, but now we need to implement it with urgency. I’ll bring together public and private investment to restore biodiversity, enhance green spaces, and continue to create nature corridors connecting our urban and rural areas.

I’ll transform how we move around. I’ll deliver an integrated, affordable public transport system, with more buses and train stations opening; making it easier for you to leave your car at home. I’ll also complete a comprehensive network of safe cycling routes and prioritise walking infrastructure to connect communities across the region.

I’ll lead by example. The West of England Combined Authority will become a champion of just transition principles. A Labour Mayor working with a Labour government will help to unlock the path to net zero and create opportunities for everyone.

I’ve seen the incredible impact of Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership’s work with 1,300+ members and the wider community. As Mayor, I’ll be your ally and champion, working collaboratively to accelerate progress across the region.

Together, we can build a zero-carbon West of England where our communities and nature thrive – not just by 2030, but starting right now. Let’s get to work.

It’s time for a New Green Deal with the West of England Combined Authority (WECA). Working together we can promote a just transition on the journey to net zero 2030. Without environmental equality, there can be no social justice. Without access to clean air, water, and a safe and warm place to live, there can be no equal opportunity.

We can use WECA Transport, Adult Skills and Spatial Planning budgets to nurture local action, map future needs and protect our nature. In my 20 years working here, climate and nature activists, politicians, and community champions have told me they have plans to put the environment first.

Leveraging these to work smarter, we can nurture collaborative partnerships with local councils and private companies, to empower people to prioritise the planet. I have a WE CAN Plan. A WECA Nature, Nurture and Needs Plan with sustainability at heart and high ambition for collective climate action.

We need improved public transport, upskilling and job transitions which will grow a green economy. We deserve the right housing in the right place at the right price, without harming existing communities, precious greenbelt or overstretched infrastructure and public services.

Global WECA businesses and our world-class research centres are innovating the way we, and the world population lives. We have four excellent universities, brilliant colleges, and WECA is home to the Environment Agency, the Soil Association, Sustrans, SPARKS and Climate Hub B&NES.

There’s a huge opportunity across Portbury, Avonmouth and Severnside for renewables and investment on the Bristol and Bath Science Park secures high-value engineering jobs here. All our organisations need a happy, healthy workforce to be productive.

Yet productivity is held back by inadequate public transport around the region. Inaccessibility reinforces high levels of inequality, restricting fair access to work or leisure, and contributing to pollution and carbon emissions. Previous Mayors have failed to deliver bus franchising, let alone any form of integrated ticketing. We need control over services as they’re not working for our cities and isolating rural areas.

We are in the worst funded English region per head for transport. And Bristol airport, just outside the WECA border, and the M5/M4 transit corridors have a massive influence on travel networks and emissions, so we need to minimise negative environmental impacts.

We have cultural excellence enhanced by diverse people from around the globe. We have Bath Spa World Heritage Site, Avon Gorge Site of Special Scientific Interest, parks, woodlands and wetlands. All these assets sustain community health and resilience.

WECA could support neighbourhood plans, so our green spaces are accounted and recognised for social value. I’ve visited Ambition Lawrence Weston who built the largest on-shore wind-turbine in England to raise public funds, as well as Marshfield, Netham and other areas who want community energy projects.

We can bring villages, towns and cities together not just by improved transport, but by community cohesiveness, digital connectivity and ambition for protection of biodiversity. WECA can’t make a New Green Deal work single handedly, but together we can.

We face a climate emergency for people and planet, last year saw the hottest temperatures ever recorded in the UK, and our area faces serious threats from flooding and storms. In the face of these challenges, the West of England region can be a leader in sustainability. With my professional background in sustainability, this is an area where I can bring strong leadership.

Our region already hosts many dynamic community groups, technology companies and communications specialists on sustainability and net zero industries, I would work in partnership to enhance this expertise and give greater prominence to our role as a leader in the UK and around the world.

In order to support this area, I would look to create a West of England Centre of Excellence for Green Technology bringing together the region’s leading innovators to develop new products and services, making the region a national leader in green innovation and jobs. We should be developing the skills to build and fit these technologies in our own region.

I would push for bolder action and investment in hydroelectric and tidal power as well as significant increases in solar and wind to meet our ambitious 2030 targets for local clean energy use. I would also build on the new Green Growth Impact Fund, to bring more investment into these growing industries.

Not only do we need clean power, but we also need to rapidly scale up the practical steps needed to retrofit homes with insulation and renewable energy, this can bring down people’s heating bills and create much needed jobs.

The West of England Mayor should be driving forward opportunities to train up the next generation to deliver net zero buildings, including investment in solar energy, heat pumps, battery storage, retrofitting and insulation. Our work force is under-utilised but at the same time there are big employment gaps in key industries. I would ensure that we also work with those who have been out of work to enable them to receive training and apprenticeships to rejoin the workforce in these areas.

I would take forward the Local Nature Recovery Strategy, the first of its kind in the UK, to deliver meaningful Biodiversity Net Gain, which enables nature recovery and significant ecosystem restoration rather than mere box ticking. To do this, I would support regional partnerships to connect developers and investors with community groups, landowners and farmers. Working in partnership is the best way to ensure thriving and resilient local food production, natural flood management and enhancement of natural ecosystems.

Finally, I would commit to work closely with Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership and similar networks working with the voluntary and community sector in all three constituent areas of the West of England Combined Authority to ensure that the transition to net zero supports all communities, with a real focus on projects which deliver both climate and social priorities.

I want the West of England to play our full part in the global environmental challenge – by taking practical sensible steps to make our contribution. We are fortunate enough to live in a growing and successful region, but sustaining this growth brings immense challenges.

Firstly development. We face intense pressure for housing development. The green belt and green spaces face an unprecedented threat.  To protect them we have to massively step up development on sustainable urban sites. So, I will have a “brownfield first” plan to provide financial firepower and political focus on bringing forward as many urban sites as possible. This will deliver the much-needed regeneration of high-profile sites like Broadmead and Temple Quay. It will also focus on regionally significant brownfield sites like Brabazon in South Gloucestershire and Western Riverside in Bath.

My objective is clear – to provide the homes we need whilst protecting as many green field sites as possible. If we don’t achieve this, we will see huge amounts of countryside lost and in places that have poor public transport – driving up car use. Frankly, not shifting the balance dramatically to brownfield first risks unprecedented environmental harm.

Secondly transport. Our public transport system has not kept pace with development. For so many people there is no alternative to the car. Too many vital improvements have been allowed to drift. So, I will immediately focus on public transport, specifically rail, buses and trams. I will prioritise opening five new stations in my first term. For Bristol and South Gloucestershire; Henbury and crucially a new one to serve the Brabazon development, new Arena and Cribbs Causeway.  A new Charfield station, as a trailblazer for more stations in villages and towns outside Bristol. And I will be relentless in pressing the Government to provide the final tranche of funding to deliver new stations at Portishead and Pill – this is vital to slash the amount of car commuting in our region – from communities with no access to rail.

Central though rail is we also know that buses are the most well-used public transport. I want to grow this usage. I will stop the current Mayor’s preoccupation with self-promotion and gimmicks. Instead focusing on growing the network and keeping fares low. I will also work on new ways of running the network, including franchising.

Finally, I will accelerate work on a new tram system which has been mired for too long in petty political game-playing.

We have to achieve a step-change in public transport during the next Mayoral term to tackle congestion and pollution.

I will also work with community groups and organisations around the region to ensure they can access the regional funding that is committed for environmental projects. This includes critical habitats like the villages surrounding Bath, edge of the Cotswolds, the Chew Valley and Severn Vale. The region must play a key role in leveraging support for local projects and action.

Finally, of course I would enthusiastically work with Bristol Climate & Nature Partnership on these vital issues.

Hustings

In the run up to 1 May election there will be a number of hustings events taking place across the region – we will keep this list updated with all public hustings events:

• Transport in the West of England – Hustings for the next WECA Mayor – 2 April, Watershed
• Transport in the West of England – Hustings for the next WECA Mayor – 2 April, Online