Just over a week ago we were proud to welcome a team from the UN to Liverpool as they presented us with the first ever ‘Accelerator City’ status for climate action.
Along with 400 leaders from music, TV and film, politicians, climate scientists, business leaders, executives, producers and investors, they were part of our launch event ‘Expedition One’ where we set out the plans for 2025.
The event itself was extraordinary – part summit, part working lab, part art installation and all inspiring, joyful and empowering.
The idea to turn a city into a ‘petri dish’ and work with partners to experiment in how to rapidly decarbonise a sector – in Liverpool’s case the creative industries – is a simple, practical yet surprisingly revolutionary one.
The fact that a city can influence transport, mains power access, built infrastructure and localised legislation, means that experimental ideas can be tested at a speed unrealistic on a national level.
And the reaction over the last week has shown just how hungry the industry and cities across the UK and the world are to make bold steps in this direction. I have spoken to so many people in the last few days from the creative sectors, business and other cities, all of whom love the Accelerator City concept and want to get involved.
The conversation feels like it has fundamentally shifted. It is no longer ‘what if’ it is now ‘when we’.
Our ambition was to deliver 8 experiments – 4 in TV / Film and 4 in music – to create blueprints for rapidly decarbonising different elements of these sectors, as well as crucially helping develop the culture change and depth of knowledge for people on the ground to drive this change.
Already other opportunities, projects and ideas are coming to the surface and we know there will be even more. The UN accreditation has given a green light to people to try new things and we want to support them in that as much as we possibly can.
We have a set of partners who are extraordinary in their breadth as well as their knowledge and between us there isn’t much we can’t take on – from colleagues at DCMS and DESNZ, UNESCO, the European Space Agency, the strategic relationship we announced with the Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) which was set up by King Charles in 2020, Tyndall Research Centre, A Greener Future, the three great B’s of broadcasting – BAFTA, BFI, BBC – as well as private sector supporters such as Geopura and crucially our partner in this project Ecotricity.
What this collective bring is the realisation that almost all of the solutions we need to make huge strides forward in this sector already exist. The technology is there, the understanding is there, the challenges have been identified and documented. All we need is the willingness and bravery to take the next step. And that is a perfect invitation for this city and region.
This whole project started with the work of Massive Attack. Five years ago, they decided they wanted to see change in their industry and so rather than wait, they put their money and their morals together to help find answers.
They went from publishing papers about how the industry could become more sustainable to doing it themselves with an event this summer that Rolling Stone magazine called ‘the gold standard’.
They have completed this work with integrity, creativity and a slavish commitment to science and facts.
We are proud to pick up this mantel and build on it throughout 2025 with the same laser focus on creating real tangible change in line with Paris 1.5 in a way that is engaging, entertaining and empowering,
We have lots to do in 2025, but last week‘s launch has already changed the game. It is now up to us all to push that even further and we can’t wait to get the experiments started!
To stay in touch with how things progress over the next 12 months, please sign up here.
Claire McColgan CBE, Director, Culture Liverpool
