Greater Manchester sets out plan to accelerate response to climate crisis

Greater Manchester is setting out a plan to ramp up the region's response to climate change.

It includes becoming the first city-region in the UK to adopt a strategy to reduce carbon emissions by a million tonnes over three years - seen as critical by experts to achieving long-term net zero goals.

Overhauling public transport across all 10 boroughs are key parts of the city-region’s Levelling Up Deal, submitted to the Government.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham is calling on more than 1,000 delegates attending the fourth Greater Manchester Green Summit to support the plan.

He said that the drive to net zero carbon can act as the catalyst to level up the city-region’s transport, homes and jobs. But it will require the Government to act now, in next week’s Spending Review, if national climate goals are to be met.

Greater Manchester’s proposed Levelling Up Deal, if implemented in full, will remove a million tonnes of carbon from the city-region’s economy:

850,000 tonnes from the retrofitting and energy generation

Heat decarbonisation and retrofit programmes across public sector, school, higher education, social housing (c660k)

Go Neutral smart energy programme – low carbon renewable energy generation and smart energy assets (c30k)

Launch of retrofitGM for privately-owned homes (c160k)

100,000 tonnes through public transport overhaul

Shift to electric buses and taxis, increased levels of cycling and walking, increased Metrolink use, EV chargers installed and utilised across city-region (c100k)

In addition, various business support programmes, led by the Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership, will enable private enterprises to contribute to the city-region’s drive towards a net zero future.

'A critical juncture on the journey to net zero'

Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “The country is at a critical juncture on the journey to net zero. If we don’t accelerate now, we run the risk of being unable to hit our national goal of 2050. And we are in danger of welcoming the world to COP26 in Glasgow in a few weeks to discuss these crucial matters but presenting a response that is insufficient to the scale of the challenge.

“This is where Greater Manchester can help. We have a detailed, science-based plan for a levelled-up net zero city-region by 2038 – with better transport, homes and jobs for our residents. And we are ready now to up the pace over the next five years through the Levelling Up Deal we have presented to Government. If they back us at the Spending Review next week, we will be the first UK city-region on an accelerated path and a template for others. This will add real credibility to the UK Government’s COP26 image to the world."

Delegates will also hear how Greater Manchester has made faster progress in the past four years than over the entire preceding decade, made possible by whole-system transformation, incorporating housing, design and innovation, regeneration, smart energy and jobs and embracing low carbon heat and renewable energy generation and storage.

Greater Manchester is working to hit carbon neutrality by 2038, 12 years ahead of the national target.

The city-region has also set up a Buildings Retrofit Taskforce to create a thriving local retrofit market and will procure GM Retrofit, which will support the 30% of Greater Manchester households who wish to pay for the necessary home improvement measures needed to heat their homes sustainably. And the city-region will invest in £27m of Green Homes Grant to retrofit fuel poor homes this year, as well as £78m in retrofitting over 150 public buildings this year alone.