Manchester sets out five-year climate plan

Manchester City Council has set out its Climate Change Action Plan 2020-25 detailing how the authority will reduce the carbon emissions from its buildings, energy use and transport.

The plan, which will go before the council’s Executive for final approval on 11 March, will sit alongside a citywide Climate Change Framework which sets out how the city as a whole can reach the agreed target of becoming zero carbon by 2038 and includes action plans for the 60 organisations which make up the Manchester Climate Change Partnership and together account for around 20 per cent of the city’s direct carbon emissions.

Amongst the planned measures, the council will retrofit as many of the 350 buildings as possible in the council’s estate to radically improve energy efficiency and see through the completion of the Civic Quarter Network (a shared underground heating system) and its connection to the Town Hall, Town Hall extension, Art Gallery and Central Library buildings will contribute another 1,600 tonnes a year carbon saving.

Other planned measures include replacing half of the Council’s refuse collection vehicles with 27 new electric vehicles through an investment of £9.95 million to cut 900 tonnes of carbon emissions a year, as well as increasing the number of electric vehicles in the rest of the council’s fleet to save another 400 tonnes a year and cutting 100 tonnes a year through reductions in staff travel.

As well as reducing emissions, there will be measures to help remove carbon from the atmosphere such as support for the Manchester Tree Action Plan which is setting out to plant 1,000 new trees, 1,000 new hedge trees and four community orchards a year. This will include planting in parks and council-owned spaces.

Angeliki Stogia, executive member for Environment, said: “The world is waking up to the very real climate crisis which faces us all and Manchester -  never a city to shirk a challenge -  is determined to play a leading part in tackling it. The next five years are going to be absolutely crucial. To achieve the ambitious goal of Manchester becoming zero carbon by 2038 we are going to have to make rapid and radical progress.

“As an organisation tackling the climate emergency is one of our key priorities. But this isn’t something the council can achieve by itself. For Manchester as a whole to become zero carbon by 2038 we need collective action and shared ambition. As well as playing our full part that will mean harnessing the power of the city’s people and organisations. I believe this ambitious plan is a very important milestone in our journey.”

Manchester City Council has already reduced its carbon emissions by 48.1 per cent between 2009/10 and 2018/19.