Mayor’s pledge to cut 1m tonnes of carbon
ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND MORE EFFICIENT HOMES PART OF CITY’S GREEN PLAN
GREATER Manchester plans to ‘radically’ reduce its carbon emissions by 1m tonnes over the next three years.
Proposals to ‘overhaul’ public transport across all 10 boroughs are part of the scheme, as well as the region’s Levelling Up bid, to bring the city-region to carbon neutral by 2038, ahead of the national target.
An ‘accelerated plan’ to cut carbon over the next five years – seen as critical by experts to achieving longterm net-zero goals – was presented at this year’s Green Summit.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham called on more than 1,000 delegates at the region’s fourth summit this week to support the plan and said he believed that the drive to net zero carbon can help to level up the city-region’s transport, homes and jobs.
He added that it will require the government to act now, in its Spending Review next week, if national climate goals are to be met.
Greater Manchester’s proposed Levelling Up Deal, if implemented in full, is expected to remove a million tonnes of carbon from the cityregion’s economy – through a mixture of local renewable energy generation, improving efficiency of public buildings and homes, a switch to electric buses and taxis and increased levels of walking and cycling. 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, sciencebased 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.”