Manchester People - New Year 2010, Issue 41

Manchester has launched ambitious plans that will see the city leading the fight against climate change.

The plan, entitled 'Manchester: A Certain Future - Our Collective Action on Climate Change', has now been launched. It describes how the city's CO2 levels can be reduced by 41 per cent over the next decade.

This figure, based on 2005 levels, matches the most ambitious national targets and represents an equivalent reduction from 7.3 to 4.3 tonnes of CO2 for every Manchester resident.

Although the report was co-ordinated by Manchester City Council, it has been developed and written by almost 100 organisations, such as Manchester Friends of the Earth, both the city's universities, and businesses including Bruntwood and the Co-op.

It sets out a wide range of actions, including reducing residents' energy bills by making improvements to at least 100,000 homes in the city, saving more than 350,000 tonnes of carbon every year by the end of 2020.

Meanwhile, every resident, student and employee will have the opportunity to receive free education about climate change.

The plan also outlines how energy can be generated for the city by using renewable sources such as biomass, geothermal, and combined heat and power, while small community and business energy-generating schemes can be added to this network.

The report paints a positive picture of Manchester as a truly green city, and outlines projects to build new energy- efficient buildings and improve the performance of existing public and commercial buildings, suggesting that around 15,000 jobs can be created from developing this work.

It also predicts there will be a need to create more green spaces, gardens and green roofs - which absorb carbon and act as a defence against flooding - while the amount of food grown locally will be doubled.

Other suggestions include making it easier for residents and visitors to walk, cycle or use public transport when making short trips around the city, powering traffic and street lights by renewable energy, and setting up a network of charging points to encourage the use of electric vehicles.

Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese presented the report at last month's UN climate summit in Copenhagen, laying down the gauntlet for world leaders to make meaningful decisions and agree to emission cuts that would make a real difference.

Sir Richard joined mayors from New York, São Paolo, Toronto, Melbourne, New Delhi, Johannesburg and Los Angeles, who agreed the Copenhagen Climate Communiqué, which emphasises the important role cities must play in tackling climate change; this was presented to national government delegations at Copenhagen. Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, praised the report during a special event held at Manchester Central.

The minister, speaking at the event in his last public appearance before attending the summit, said Manchester's action plan was "a shining example of how climate change should be tackled".

Communities Secretary John Denham has also praised Manchester's work, saying the city is leading the way on tackling climate change.

Meanwhile, the five-day Future Fest event, which featured talks from celebrities such as Chris Packham, and a solar-powered cinema showing Pete Postlethwaite's eco film Age Of Stupid, was an opportunity for Manchester residents to find out about the plan.

Councillor Richard Cowell, Manchester City Council's Executive Member for the Environment, said: "Manchester led the Industrial Revolution and we now intend to play a lead role in tackling the challenges climate change presents.

"These plans will play a key role in Manchester's economic recovery as we emerge from the recession, with the potential to create thousands of new jobs, as new green businesses are developed in the city."