11.03.20
Manchester to halve greenhouse gas emissions in next five years
Manchester City Council has today (Mar 11) unveiled ambitious plans to halve greenhouse gas emissions in the next five years.
With existing commitments to becoming a zero-carbon city by 2038, Manchester’s Climate Change Partnership has produced a framework outlining what the region should do to contribute to tackling the climate change emergency.
The partnership’s 60 members have each submitted tailored plans accounting for a combined 20% of the city’s carbon emissions.
Halving emissions by 2025 underpins the zero-carbon agenda in Manchester and involves reducing direct emissions from the council’s buildings, energy use and transport from 30,000 tonnes a year to around 15,000 tonnes a year.
Councillor Angeliki Stogia, Executive Member for Environment, said:
“The next five years will be critical if we are to avoid the catastrophic impacts of climate change and this action plan sets out how we will play our full part in tackling the challenge of our lifetime.
“Taken together with the citywide climate change framework, it represents a practical and urgent response to this pressing challenge. It also recognises that there are real opportunities too - to do things in a cleaner, greener way which will benefit the health and wellbeing of people in the city. There is also scope to promote social justice and tackle disadvantage, for example through energy efficiency measures to help lift people out of fuel poverty.
“Rising to those challenges is not something either the Council or the Partnership can do in isolation. Manchester playing its full part means collective action. We would urge everyone - from the largest organisations to the smallest businesses, communities and individuals alike - to get involved. Every one of us can make a difference.
“We are keen to engage with Manchester people, community groups and businesses to keep building on this plan, going further and securing extra resources to support it wherever possible.”
Specific plans include spending £15m on the second phase of a Carbon Reduction Programme, a £1m investment into planting new trees across Manchester, large scale solar and wind power energy schemes and replacing the city’s street lighting with low energy LED lighting.