Manchester Climate Forum

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Manchester City Council recently press-released its "Principles" document as a pdf.
I have tidied up a few typos and also hyper-linked it to relevant websites.

I have not been paid by anyone to do this, 
and it is NOT in any sense an authorised or official version of the document.  
Just seemed like a useful thing to do.

The Principles of Tackling Climate Change In Manchester

1. Introduction

1.1 Manchester City Council recognises the importance of tackling climate change on two fronts: reducing greenhouse gas emissions to minimise future global climate change (mitigation) and planning for the unavoidable local impacts of climate change (adaptation). The purpose of this paper is to start to quantify the challenge facing us in Manchester and to establish some guiding principles from which we can develop our strategy and action plan with the people of Manchester. The final section and recommendations set out the next steps which we consider as urgent decisions if we are to achieve early mover advantages for the city.

1.2 Climate change mitigation refers to actions taken to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from man-made activities. Primarily this means reducing the amount of energy we derive from fossil fuels like oil, coal, and gas. Projects and initiatives to mitigate climate change include; improving energy efficiency in buildings, reducing the need to travel by private car and reducing waste sent to landfill (which emits methane, a very powerful greenhouse gas).

1.3 Climate change adaptation means making changes to buildings and infrastructure as well as the way we live so we can cope with the inevitable impacts of climate change. As a local authority this will require us to address all the new risks attached to extreme weather incidents as well gradual changes in our climate. Examples of adaptation include planning for flood defence, putting in place sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDs) and increasing urban tree planting to increase shade. These types of improvements improve our resilience to climate change.

1.4 The cost of responding to climate change and how this will affect our way of life and our economic growth is a major area of concern. This paper seeks to examine what we know currently and what information will be required so we can achieve managed economic growth that will secure jobs and prosperity whilst minimising the additional impact on the environment

We aim to have the full climate change strategy and action plan prepared in the summer following extensive consultation. In preparing that strategy we need to agree an overall aim, which we propose should be:

By 2020 we will be a Low Carbon City. This means that Manchester 


2. Effects of Climate Change

2.1 We believe that climate change is the most pressing issue confronting Manchester today.

Climate change is already happening and further climate change is inevitable. In its Climate Change Bill the government has proposed a target of a 60% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2050, and a potential interim target of between 28-32% reduction by 2020.

Even if the world is successful in reducing CO2 emissions by 60% the Tyndall Centre in Manchester has calculated that there is still a high probability that the average global temperature will exceed 2oC by the end of the century. All indications suggest that the reduction targets in the Climate Change Bill may need to be increased even further.

2.2 A hotter climate doesn’t necessarily mean generally warmer, better weather. Increased greenhouse gases trapped in the atmosphere increase the Earth’s temperature that in turn leads to more unpredictable weather, with more intense bursts of rainfall throughout the year, interspersed with periods of very dry weather and more gales and high winds. The Met Office use the example of the hot summer of 2003 when over 30,000 people died from heat related causes in southern Europe. By 2040 they predict that such summers will become the norm, and by 2060 such a summer would be considered a cool summer. For many of our younger residents, this means that they will see significant changes in their lifetimes.

These changes to the weather will potentially affect our economy in a number of ways:

2.3 Whilst reducing carbon emissions through new and more efficient technologies and infrastructure is an essential element of Manchester’s response to climate change, we will also need to adapt the way we live and ensure that services are provided to cope with the inevitable changes. Put simply, everyone in Manchester can and must do something to meet the challenge of a changing climate.

3. What scale of emission cuts are needed to minimise the degree of climate change in Manchester?

3.1 Manchester’s annual CO2 emissions are over 3.3 million tonnes (47% commercial, 30% domestic and 23% transport, DEFRA, 2004). Whilst our domestic emissions per household, at 2.6 tonnes, are similar to the UK average, they are generally higher than other cities.

3.2 The graph below aims to start to quantify the scale of the challenge we face in Manchester, as a basis for understanding the scale of activity that will need to take place to meet our carbon budget. Each line represents:

Top line: What might happen to emissions in Manchester if no action is taken, and our population and economy grows in line with projections, we will produce emit 4 million tonnes of CO2 emissions a year by 2020.

Line 2: Existing and proposed national measures will only reduce the growth in levels to 3.5 million tonnes per year by 2020. This includes measures CO2 such as a new ‘code for sustainable homes’, European restrictions on the carbon dioxide emissions performance of new cars, and the extension of emissions ‘cap and trade’ measures to public agencies and businesses that are medium energy users

Line 3: How what we’ve already doing in Manchester, and what we plan to do in future (e.g. the Transport Innovation Fund, Guide to Development environmental planning standards) will reduce emissions.

Line 4: What the UK’s 60% reduction target by 2020 would mean for Manchester: a reduction of over 1 million tonnes to 2.5 million tonnes per year (we could potentially add another 0.2 million tonnes to our target to reflect our growing contribution to the UK’s overall population and economy)

emissions reductions 2020


3.3 So what would we have to do as a city to reduce our emissions by a million tonnes a year? To achieve a reduction of this magnitude we would have to erect over 100 large wind turbines or all Manchester businesses would have to cut their energy use by half. The task is daunting if we only consider a one sector or one intervention solution.

Therefore the only solution open to us without harming our economy, and our way of life is to ensure that everyone in Manchester takes action. No one sector and no one solution can achieve this tough challenge. Cutting emissions and adapting our every day environment to cope with changing climate means adapting our buildings and our lifestyles. We don’t need to damage our quality of life to combat climate change but we will need to change the way we live.

3.4 We recognise that we need to understand much more about how climate change could affect our businesses and our local economy. Other cities have managed to achieve economic growth while stabilising their carbon emissions. In doing this there are a wealth of opportunities for businesses. However, we don’t yet know what the value of that new business is and neither do we know what the risk is to Manchester businesses both from taxation, rising energy costs and insurance costs. Without this information we will not be able to explain the commercial incentives to tackling climate change or the business risks of doing nothing.

3.5 We face similar challenges in getting Manchester’s local community to take action on climate change. Recent research has indicated that most people believe that climate change is happening, but that many are confused about the causes of climate change and how it will effect them personally. In addition to this confusion, the increased financial costs of making environmental choices, time constraints and a lack of clear information on “making the right choice”, are often real or perceived barriers to taking action on climate change and reducing carbon footprints.

4. Our progress to date

4.1 Manchester is already making progress in tackling climate change. Actions to date include:

4.2 These are just a few examples of the great work already underway in helping Manchester become a low carbon city. However while these projects will stabilise our future, they will not provide us with the dramatic reduction that is required.

5. Means of delivering climate change mitigation and adaptation

5.1 The Council cannot work in isolation to combat a changing climate, but the following three areas explain how we can have an influence in the city.

5.2 Practical action as an estate manager and employer:

The Council have direct control over our assets so are responsible for their performance, and have direct influence as an employer over the transport, work modes and energy using behaviour of employees. Setting organisation emissions targets and reflecting them in strategies will help achieve this. Conducting organisation wide energy performance assessments, biofuel purchase within the fleet, reviewing existing ICT and new specifications, and restricting use of energy using devices are early actions that are being taken.

5.3 Direct influence as a service provider:

The Council’s role as a service provider gives us strong direct influence on the wider climate change performance of the city. It can be through both statutory service provision (e.g. education, planning, housing, licensing) and discretionary services such as parking provision. Building a clear policy framework and capacity across services to integrate climate change considerations into policy and process development, day to day decision-making, and project design and implementation is essential to achieving this.

5.4 Working with partners

This area of activity consists of maximising opportunities to influence the behaviour of individuals, communities, public sector partners and businesses to deliver city-wide change. This will help to identify economies of scale, and ensure a joined up approach.

The Local Strategic Partnership, regeneration partnerships, ward co-ordination and relationships with residents and businesses are all key opportunities.


6. Can we really reduce by a million tonnes?

6.1 As mentioned already in this principles paper, the emission reduction of one million tonnes by 2020 could be seen as daunting. However this reduction can be achieved by committing to a variety of carbon reduction options that will avert annual carbon emissions. In order to create ‘bite-sized’ targets, the reductions options are broken down into three areas; commercial, transport and domestic. The examples used are estimates only and are not exhaustive or set in stone, but are used to highlight various options for Manchester. We recognise that more work will be needed to reality check these options and ensure that the action plan is achievable.

6.2 Commercial

6.3 Transport


6.4  Domestic

This in total would give us 970,000 tonnes.


7. Conclusions

Looking at the evidence we can conclude that:


8. Principles

8.1 In making decisions, and developing policies and programmes, we believe that the adoption of the following principles is essential to the long-term success of the City.

8.2 If we want to be a national and international leader in tackling climate change we must as, a minimum, adopt the Government’s planned targets for reducing CO2 emissions.

Principle 1
We will adopt the government's Climate Change target when the Bill becomes statute.

8.3 There are three concerns that we have in relation to the use of this target in Manchester.

Firstly we currently do not know the full impact that this will have on local residents and businesses. Secondly the target is set so far in the future that it does not by itself give any impetus to local direct action. Thirdly if we want to show leadership we should plan to exceed this target. In order to address these Manchester issues we need to adopt the following principles.

Principle 2
We will adopt a higher carbon reduction target if the science shows that a 60% reduction by 2050 will not achieve a high probability of keeping within a 2 degree Centigrade global temperature increase, and we can find ways to protect and enhance the standard of living of our most deprived citizens.


Principle 3
We will seek to develop short term annual targets which are both realistic and challenging against which our progress can be tracked.

8.4 We will need to prioritise our action in areas where we can make the greatest impact.

Recent studies show that local authorities can have the biggest impact as a “placeshaper”. Place-shaping relates to actions that are designed to both directly and indirectly influence the behaviours of individuals, communities, businesses and other public sector organisations. To make the biggest impact we have to make climate change locally relevant to everyone in Manchester.

Manchester is one of three UK cities, along with Bristol & Leeds, to be selected by the government to develop an action plan to reduce C02 emissions under a new scheme. Under the Low Carbon Cities Programme, the Carbon Trust and the Energy Saving Trust will work with the city to develop a significant Greater Manchester wide plan to achieve a sustainable low carbon economy. We will share a £250,000 fund with Leeds & Bristol to plan new and innovative ways to achieve cuts in carbon emissions. This helps to further enhance our role as a placeshaper.

Principle 4
We, as a local authority, will prioritise our actions and ensure that they are relevant to Manchester as a whole. We will aim to make the strategy and action plan one in which more organisations other than just the Council can participate.

8.5 Leadership also means that as a Council we need to show measurable reductions in our own CO2 use. This leadership role will be central to the new Local Area Agreement. Through procurement and commissioning we have the opportunity to influence other service providers. Our sphere of influence can be further enhanced through using opportunities to encourage behavioural change.

Principle 5
We will work to reduce our direct CO2 emissions and use a wide range of means to disseminate any best practice to our partners and the wider community.

8.6 We have already accepted that we do not know the FULL economic consequences of climate change. Rising energy costs and environmental taxes could add additional financial burdens whilst the increased risk of flooding and violent weather could raise insurance premiums. Manchester businesses need to plan to reduce the negative impact of climate change.

8.7 Taking forward a similar model to that used for the Manchester International Festival, Manchester City Council will put forward one million pounds as leverage for the development of a Manchester Carbon Reduction Innovation and Investment Fund, to be matched by partners and stakeholders to fund carbon reduction and renewable energy infrastructure projects. This will be augmented by the development of Manchester Offset, where a carbon pricing and payment system is introduced for Council and partner carbon emitting activities, to ensure that the social and economic costs of emissions are appropriately reflected in decision making.

Principle 6
We recognise that while there will be a range of negative financial consequences for businesses arising from taxes and fuel price rises, in Manchester we will develop a means of financially supporting innovation, low carbon activities and technologies that promote and support changes in business practice. We will set up two related bodies, the Manchester Carbon Reduction Innovation and Investment Fund and Manchester Offset, and Manchester City Council will ask partners to match its £1 million initial investment.

8.8 If CO2 grows at the same rate as GDP then they are said to be ‘coupled’. Therefore as Manchester’s economy grows, the CO2 levels will also rise. There is a need to ‘decouple’ the two; reducing the emissions, without stalling economic growth. There are new opportunities within the renewable energy and environmental business sector for new and existing businesses to develop. Carbon trading schemes could provide a financial, as well as environmental, incentive for businesses to make carbon savings.

Principle 7
We will manage the growth trajectory in the city region economy in such a way as to improve the environmental sustainability of the city and reduce the current level of emissions.

8.9 Manchester Enterprises, the Economic Development Agency for Greater Manchester has identified rising to the challenge of climate change as one of nine strategic priorities for achieving sustainable growth in the Manchester economy.

8.10 The environmental technology sector growth opportunities for Manchester are significant.

The overall UK market size is set to grow by £9 billion in the 5 years up to 2010 and a further £12 billion in the 5 years up to 2015. Their research suggests over the next four years alone, 2000 new jobs could be created in Greater Manchester in renewable energy, energy management and environmental consultancy.

Principle 8
We have to grow our skills, expertise and capacity base to become national and international leaders in the field of renewable energy, energy management and environmental technologies if we are to capture the opportunities for economic growth presented by climate change. The Stern Report identifies the competitive advantages that can be achieved by first movers.


8.11 Three renowned research centres are based within the University of Manchester: the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, the Joule Centre for Energy Research and the Centre for Electrical Energy. Manchester Metropolitan University’s OMEGA team and Centre for Sustainable Innovation are at the forefront of aviation and low carbon technology research. Work such as Tyndall’s ‘Living Within a Carbon Budget’ and the ASCUE project on climate change modelling has shaped the local, national and international agenda.

Principle 9
We need to support and develop the City’s strong research base if we are to build on our current market strengths in environmental technologies and services.

8.12 Manchester’s schools have an important role to play in mitigating against the causes of climate change in a number of ways. There is significant opportunity to ensure that energy use and carbon dioxide emissions in school buildings are reduced through the adoption of energy efficiency measures and renewable / low carbon energy technologies. Manchester school communities should ensure that our schools become working laboratories for children to discover ways of living within our environmental limits. Energy use in school buildings should be managed effectively and travel plans should be developed with all schools.

Principle 10
We need to make sure that climate change awareness and skills are built into mainstream learning throughout the education system.

8.13 We all contribute to climate change and therefore we all have a responsibility to reduce our impact upon it. There is activity already taking place across Manchester to raise awareness and tackle environmental issues – we need to support and build on this in order to create sustainable, climate conscious communities. We need to understand what our individual and collective impact is on CO2 emissions and we should look towards encouraging a public consensus around what is an acceptable Manchester CO2 emission per capita.

Principle 11
Through the Local Area Agreement and the Manchester Partnership we will work with  other public and private agencies, voluntary groups and the wider community to raise the awareness of climate change and establish an acceptable level of CO2 emissions per capita.

8.14 There is a real and immediate challenge in the potential conflict between aviation growth and tackling climate change. Until an appropriate UK, European and international framework is in place which can reconcile aviation growth and climate change strategies, it would not be sensible for Manchester to take action which simply damaged the economy of the city region and transferred aviation growth elsewhere. However, we need to develop and communicate a clear policy stance on this issue and engage at national level to ensure this potential conflict is rapidly and transparently reconciled.

Principle 12
We will continue to advocate implementation of an EU emissions cap and trade scheme that integrates aviation emissions with those from other sources in order to maintain total emissions levels within a globally recognised safe limit.


8.15 Manchester is committed to promoting and generating energy from renewable sources such as solar, wind and biomass. The City Council has urged new developers to integrate technologies into new communities. Manchester City Council buys 100 per cent renewable energy for its own operational buildings. It has declared Manchester 'a Nuclear Free City'  and does not consider nuclear energy to be an acceptable response to the challenge of climate change primarily because of the unresolved problem of nuclear waste disposal.

Principle 13
We will support energy generation from low carbon sources, but exclude energy generated from nuclear sources.

8.16 We have listened to the arguments put by Greenpeace and others that decentralised energy is less wasteful and potentially has a beneficial effect upon local awareness, and are inclined to support their view. In Manchester we can produce both heat and power locally from technologies like wind turbines, solar power, fuel cells, micro-combined heat and power, and ground and air source heat pumps.

8.17 Local generation in community buildings such as leisure centres and schools provides the opportunity to both reduce emissions and the engage the local people in tackling climate change. Businesses and households which have installed microgeneration technologies are also eligible for Renewables Obligation Certificates (ROCs) which are financial rewards for electricity exported to the grid. Take-up of these technologies might be considerably enhanced if premium rates were paid for locally generated power put back into the grid, as is the case in Germany.

Principle 14
We recognise the importance of local generation both in improved efficiency and in helping to raise awareness of climate change in the city and to show our commitment to helping the city become more self-sustaining in energy production. We will press for premium rates to be paid for locally generated power that is returned to the grid, as is the case in Germany. This should enhance the take up of these technologies.

8.18 Our target is based on Manchester’s emissions from burning fossil fuels by using energy in businesses, homes and transport activities. However, whenever we buy goods, their production and shipping also indirectly requires the burning of fossil fuels. The scale of these emissions can be estimated from our rate of consumption of products and services. One way to understand this is by monitoring Manchester’s ‘Eco footprint’. This is a measure of how resource intensive our lifestyles are (the impact of the goods and services we use), and measures how much land it would use to produce the goods and services. Manchester’s eco-footprint is 5.36 hectares per person, which means that if everyone lived like we do in Manchester, we’d need more than three planets to provide the resources needed.

8.19 Our eco-footprint is similar to the national average, but it is again higher than average for other large cities. The carbon footprint is a good measure that reflects the importance of the purchasing choices we make about the goods and services.

Principle 15
In order for Manchester to make its contribution to tackling global climate change we need to reduce the indirect impact of our behaviour on the environment. This can be determined through measurement of our eco footprint.


8.20 Most of the changes to Manchester's climate that will happen over the next 100 years have already been determined by past and present emissions. This means that whatever we now do to reduce our emissions in the city, some climate change is inevitable, and it will bring implications for many aspects of the environment, society and economy. Alongside efforts to cut emissions, we must also adapt to unavoidable climate change.

Principle 16
In adapting to climate change we will work on the basis that there will be a 2 degree increase in temperature by the end of this century and Manchester City Council will show leadership by considering the implications for both mitigation and adaptation in all its decisions.

8.21 Manchester has been a trading city throughout its history and has attracted people from all over the world to live here, bringing with them their talents and their cultures. In the last hundred years, Manchester has attracted people from Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, Africa and Asia and many of those new citizens have families and networks all over the world. For this and for economic reasons, Manchester takes an active interest in the rest of the world and recognises the importance of global relationships.

8.22 Inequalities in wealth between different parts of the world determine the different standards of living enjoyed by their residents, and the levels of C02 emissions. For this reason, it would be unreasonable to apply the same reduction targets to say, Bangladesh as to Europe or the USA, and we therefore support the principle of “contraction and convergence”. This means that Manchester City Council would support an allocation or carbon budget based on the total carbon reductions required on a country by country per capita basis. This would allow the poorest countries to initially grow their emissions whilst the richest countries reduced theirs. Allowing the poorest countries to initially grow their emissions would enable them to adapt for the effects of climate change.

Principle 17
We support the principle of “contraction and convergence” in a global context to allow the poorest countries to improve their standards of living and to adapt for the effects of  climate change.

9. Recommendations: Action to put in place a climate change strategy for Manchester

9.1 Manchester has already made steps in taking action on climate change and providing community leadership in carbon reduction, but we need a coherent strategy and practical action plan which recognises local priorities and utilises national policies, legislation and incentives. If the principles and priorities are agreed, we will then:

9.2 We will ensure that the strategy is informed by independent research, including:

9.3 Manchester City Council will recognise the implications of Climate Change mitigation and adaptation in every aspect of policy-making and service delivery, as estate manager and employer and in partnerships. We will initiate urgent work to increase the resilience of the city to extreme weather events and inevitable climate change.

9.4 We will set up two related bodies, the Manchester Carbon Reduction Innovation and Investment Fund and Manchester Offset, and Manchester City Council will ask partners to match its £1 million initial investment.