Bristol City Council

Bristol City Council

Bristol and the SDGs: 2022 Review of Progress, Challenges and Opportunities

Insights of the Report

In 2019, Bristol was the first city in the UK to present a Voluntary Local Review (VLR). Ever since, the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the Black Lives Matter protests taking place in Bristol have brought additional challenges to the city in its aim of leaving no one behind. This is the city’s second VLR, which updates data in light of current events. It reviews the progress achieve under the One City Plan in all 17 SDGs. Moreover, the VLR continues the partnership spirit that has guided Bristol’s work on the SDGs, focusing on initiatives that are adopting a partnership approach to implementing the SDGs.

City Profile

Bristol is a diverse, creative and internationally integrated city in the South West of England. It was from Bristol that some of the first European ships sailed west to explore uncharted waters, and Bristol played a key role in Atlantic commerce, profiting from the tobacco and slave trades in particular. While the city grew rich from this commerce, it still grapples with the legacy of its role in the slave trade. Bristol’s international history is reflected in its contemporary diversity. The population comes from 187 countries, speaking 91 different languages.

The adoption of the SDGs developed through partnership. In 2017, members of Bristol's SDG Alliance received funding from the University of Bristol to support efforts to ‘localise’ the SDGs and integrate them into the One City Plan.

The Report and more

The VLR report is available here:
Bristol and the SDGs: 2022 Review of Progress, Challenges and Opportunities
Bristol and the SDGs: A Voluntary Local Review of Progress 2019