Annual report 2025/26
The annual report tracks our progress against our climate change action plan. It shows that we're on track to achieve our goal to become a zero-carbon organisation by 2038 or earlier.
The report looks at the Council's direct carbon emissions for the tax year 2025/26. It's the first year of our new climate change action plan for 2025 to 2030.
Our target is science-based. It was set for us by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research. They set a carbon 'budget' for 2020 to 2025 of 126,336 tonnes and we kept within it. For 2025 to 2030, they set a budget of 79,300 tonnes.
From April 2025 to March 2026, we emitted 18,794 tonnes of carbon. This is a reduction of 14.6% compared to the previous year. Further reductions are planned. And we’ll review our projections based on activity in this first year of the new plan.
Our action plan is under regular scrutiny to ensure it will deliver the change we need and to keep us on track. We report to the committee for Neighbourhoods, Environment, and Climate Change. Find out more about how we work.
Figure 1:
Council emissions in the tax years 2024/25 and 2025/26
The data for 2025/26 is provisional. As it's based on billing data at the time of reporting. Future reports may revise these figures if we receive new energy bills.
Description of Figure 1: A bar chart comparing carbon emissions in 2024/25 and 2025/26. It shows that the Council emitted 18,794 tonnes in 2025/26 compared to 22,013 in 2024/25.
In detail: From April to September 2024, we used 9,490 tonnes of carbon. From October 2024 to March 2025, we used 12,523 tonnes. From April to September 2025, we used 8,001 tonnes. From October 2025 to March 2026, we used 10,793 tonnes.
Wider benefits of climate action
Climate action has many benefits. It's not just about lower emissions. It helps us to improve our neighbourhoods, housing and transport. And it helps to grow our economy. Find out how climate action has benefitted the city in 2025/26.
The city's carbon budget
The City of Manchester also has a carbon budget. The pace and scale of action in the city needs to increase rapidly. We're supporting other organisations to reduce their emissions. Find out more about the city's emissions.