Last November 2018 we helped Manchester to set new climate change targets in line with the Paris Agreement and the latest science: a 15 million tonne 'carbon budget' for 2018-22, at least 13% reductions in CO2 every year (now at least 13.5% to take account of lack of progress in 2018), and zero carbon by 2038, at the latest.
A new technology See.Sense is being used by 200 bike-commuter volunteers across Manchester city centre. This technology links up to ‘smart’ cycle lights which contain sensors to collect data on the journey of a typical commute.
A second initiative has involved the instillation of ten courting sensors along Deasgate. These sensors record 12 types of road users so as to get a better picture of how Deasgate is being used.
Carbon co-op are currently expanding their team, recruiting a new staff member and a bank of freelance consultants to assist with the delivery of our People Powered Retrofit service.
The first point of contact for householders will be a new staff member, the Retrofit Advisor who will also help manage the service, co-ordinating workflow.
Carbon co-op are also recruiting a bank of freelance consultant Retrofit Co-ordinators to help householders make decisions, procure contractors and oversee Quality Assurance.
On Friday 20th September 2019 young people and workers across the globe joined for a Global Climate Strike to demand action on climate change. A significant moment as it was very likely the biggest protest for action on climate change in history. According to 350.org about 4 million people took part.
The Climate Strike is a big moment. It will focus minds and we welcome that. The climate emergency is the biggest challenge facing our city, and cities and societies the world over. A challenge we need to tackle right now, and over the years to come.
This week Manchester Cathedral hosted the annual Our Faith Our Planet Our Action Conference, which saw the coming together of people across all faiths and communities to discuss ongoing and future action towards climate change within Manchester.
The evening started with a wonderful selection of food supplied by Open Kitchen MCR, a waste food social enterprise, which transforms food into delicious meals and snacks, that would have otherwise gone to waste.
On Monday 8th July we welcomed a record number of approximately 200 attendees to the University of Manchester’s North Campus for our annual Climate Change Conference. People from across the city joined together to discuss climate change within Manchester, and over 20 organisations came to discuss how they were helping Manchester to achieve its zero carbon targets, and what their plans are for the future.
A recent report by the Committee on Climate Change has featured Manchester's strong levels of activity around climate change adaptation alongside other UK cities such as London, Liverpool and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, profiling some of Manchester’s major climate adaptation projects; Grow Green, Water Resilient Cities (now IGNITION) and Manchester Climate Change Agency.
Manchester proudly is one of 210 European mayors representing 62 million individuals calling on the European Council to agree to a path to net-zero emissions by 2050 when they meet at the Sibiu Summit on 9th May, for climate action for a greener, safer and more inclusive future for Europe.
We have around 12 years left to take action and drastically cut our reliance on fossil fuels to mitigate global warming and keep temperature rises to a maximum of 1.5ºC to 2ºC.
In support of this Manchester committed to stay within a 15 million tonne carbon budget. The good news is that there is already great work happening across Manchester, but we now need to accelerate action at every level. A combined effort is needed from everyone in the city - our residents, businesses, visitors, as well as politicians and policy makers.
