In the run up to COP26, the UN Climate Change Conference, Glasgow City Council has launched its ‘Greenprint for Investment’, a portfolio of investment projects designed to give a significant boost to the city’s target to reach Net-Zero by 2030. In June, the city announced that it had reduced its carbon emissions by 41% since 2006, surpassing the 30% target Glasgow set for 2020. The scale and diversity of the projects reflects and supports Glasgow’s global sustainability ambitions and provides international and activist investors with a mix of decarbonising and transformative development opportunities as well as more traditional robust, investor-ready propositions.
Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council said: “Glasgow is ready to meet the challenges of the climate emergency head on, addressing long-standing social, economic and environmental challenges around fuel poverty, poor connectivity and community blight whilst meeting our climate targets. Our Net-Zero future is about safer communities, warm and efficient homes, sustainable jobs and a prosperous economy. Transition has to be about the social and economic well-being of Glasgow and its people. This will require levels of investment never seen before in local government and adaptation plans which will be vital in delivering a modern, resilient and inclusive city economy. A core element of Glasgow’s Green Deal our ‘Greenprint’ brings together transformational, investable and shovel-ready projects. From an entire new transport system better connecting citizens to opportunities, generating renewable energy from the River Clyde and upgrading hundreds of thousands of homes across our city region, the Greenprint projects will deliver the infrastructure necessary for a low carbon, climate-resilient future. All cities face huge change. Glasgow’s challenges are typical of those of so many of our global peers. As cities rebuild to decarbonise, we can be the demonstrator in shaping those solutions. The success of COP26 will be measured by how cities can take the practical steps necessary to secure the future of our planet. Our Greenprint provides a major part of our roadmap to doing just that.”
Projects include scaling up the Clyde Climate Forest by 9,000 hectares, a Glasgow Metro connecting the city region, a city-wide retrofit programme to make all homes energy efficient and provide new clean energy sources, and a proposal to power district heating systems using the River Clyde – all of which will contribute to Scotland’s target reduction targets and Charing Cross M8 Green Infrastructure Cap which plans to revitalise and re-green the city’s public realm including a cap over a major interchange of the M8, the busiest motorway in Scotland.