What's next
Our ambition
We aim to ensure that all of Manchester’s residents are protected from the impact of climate change. We are also committed to carrying out equality impact assessments, ensuring that any changes made do not have a negative impact on the city’s most vulnerable people. The transition to zero carbon must also be a just one, which ensures that the social impacts of changes to heating and energy are considered alongside the environmental impact.
Meeting the target of halving the Council’s emissions by 2025 requires a reduction of around 13 per cent every year. So far there has been a 21 per cent reduction in carbon emissions during 2020-21 compared to 2019-20. This is a result of actions taken by the Council, the decarbonisation of the National Grid and the impacts of COVID-19.
While the pandemic delayed a lot of planned work, after a period of adjustment we have found it has allowed us to create an exciting and inclusive pipeline of growth for the city.
Green projects, including a pitch for £260m in funding towards our ambition of retrofitting all 68,000 of the city’s social homes to radically improve their energy efficiency and cut harmful emissions, are at the heart of our Recovery and Investment Plan. We will continue to bid and campaign for funding to support retrofitting.
A refresh of the CCAP was signed off in September 2022 which shows progress made to date, set out new milestones and include new actions, to ensure the Council is remaining on track in reducing its own carbon emissions and importantly, leading by example, giving renewed focus on the City-wide actions, the Council’s leadership role, and helping others to take action.
Emerging priorities for 2022/25 include continuing to bid for external funding to help deliver projects, as well as having a strong pipeline of further schemes to build on successes so far. At the same time, we are continuing to move forward with existing projects. There is also an opportunity to radically reduce staff travel through the use of ICT and new ways of working, capturing some of the changes required during the pandemic.
The Council’s action plan recognises the role that local government plays in enabling and influencing the city’s residents and businesses to play their full part in achieving zero carbon. We will continue to work with partners across the city, the city region, and nationally to support an increased level of activity to decarbonise in line with our science-based targets.
Our new Local Plan will look to ensure zero carbon considerations are to the fore in new development and our ongoing management - together with partner organisations – of the city’s parks, green spaces and waterways will strive to maximise their environmental benefits.