Manchester will blow its carbon budget for the rest of this century within the next five years if urgent action is not taken, councillors have been warned. If the city continues on the current trajectory, it would exceed its carbon budget of 15 MtCO2 set for a 82-year period up to 2100 by around 2027.
Manchester council declared a climate emergency three years ago and the city now has a target of becoming net zero carbon by no later than 2038. The town hall is on track to halve its own carbon emissions by 2025, having already reduced the amount of carbon it directly emits by 30 pc since 2020.
A refreshed action plan, which was endorsed by the council's executive this week, recognises the progress made in retrofitting buildings to make them more energy efficient, installing LED street lights and using electric bin lorries. But the council only accounts for around 3 pc of the city's carbon emissions.
READ MORE: Temperatures are soaring and Manchester is still failing to act fast enough
Councillors were warned about the challenges ahead as an updated climate change framework for the city was approved on Wednesday (September 14). They were told the city would use up its carbon budget by 2027 if it continues to reduce its emissions by around 5 pc a year, as it did before the pandemic.
Labour councillor Tracey Rawlins, who is the executive member for environment and transport, said the framework is a 'call to action'. She said: "The city as a whole is not progressing as fast as we should be.
"The emissions that we're responsible for as an organisation are quite small. We're doing what we can, but it's really important we continue to drive that."
The town hall has put around £192m towards achieving its zero cabron targets. The next steps include the retrofitting of more council-owned buildings to improve their energy efficiency, further electrification of the vehicle fleet and getting involved in large scale energy generation – either by buying a solar farm or through purchasing energy directly from a renewable energy source.
The refreshed plan also seeks to build on the council’s role in supporting and influencing organisations across the city to reduce their carbon emissions too. But Coun Rawlins that the local authority has done 'the easiest things' so far, and the work that remains will be more difficult and requires more resources.
Council leader Bev Craig said the local authority has been 'moving at pace' to cut its own emissions, but the challenge for the rest of the city is still 'huge'. She said: "It's good that we're challenging ourselves with targets that we know need to be achieved, even in places where the technology and the means to do so isn't yet there.
"I think that's what's different around what we're trying to do in Manchester. This is a discussion about the city's targets, what collectively we do all together."
The executive endorsed the council's refreshed action plan and the updated citywide climate change framework which sets out the collective action required for the city to reach the 50 pc carbon emissions reduction milestone and includes recommended actions at a local, regional and national level.
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