Report of the Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency and the Chair, Manchester Climate Change Partnership

This report provides an overview of progress being made to deliver the recommended actions in the 2022 Update to Manchester’s Climate Change Framework (2020-25) which was published in October 2022.

The Committee considered the report of Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency (MCCA) and the Chair, Manchester Climate Change Partnership (MCCP) that provided an overview of progress being made to deliver the recommended actions in the 2022 Update to Manchester’s Climate Change Framework (2020-25) which was published in October 2022.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Describing some of the positive actions that had been launched or delivered across the city since October 2022;

·         Describing the progress being made to map activity against the recommended actions put forward by the 2022 Update; and

·         Discussion of the challenges with capturing and collating robust and meaningful data on climate change activity and emissions reductions.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         Welcoming the information that described that the MCCA and MCCP had secured an A List rating for Manchester from CDP. Noting that this positioned the city as one of only 122 global cities that met the highest standard of leadership and transparency on environmental action and data disclosure. Only 12% of cities that were scored received this rating;

·         Asking how optimistic the Partnership was since the update to the Framework six months ago;

·         What would the impact of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme be;

·         Welcoming the information regarding the Manchester Climate Pack and the ‘story pack’ adding that this should be shared with NHS partners across the city so as to avoid any crisis in the event of a period of extreme weather;

·         Further information was sought as to the anticipated impact of the Greater Manchester Trailblazer Devolution Deal, published March 2023;

·         Commenting that this Trailblazer Devolution Deal should be used to maximise all opportunities, including green skills; and

·         The Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Strategy needed to be inclusive across the city.

The Chair of Manchester Climate Change Partnership provided the Members with a description of the Partnership, commenting that there was a positive range of activity across the partners to address climate change. He advised that membership of the Partnership was expanding, and the work had accelerated which was a very positive development. He commented that the A List rating was very positive for the city, however he commented that currently the city was not on target to remain within its carbon budget, and the message remained that more needed to be done. He stated that more support was required from government on this agenda, in particular to the issue of domestic retrofitting.

In response to comments raised regarding the Airport, the Chair of Manchester Climate Change Partnership stated that Manchester Airport Group (MAG) were members of the Partnership, and a specific subgroup had been established to consider this area of activity. He described that as an operator MAG had a good operating model in terms of carbon emissions and had led nationally on the discussions regarding the issue of alternative, sustainable aviation fuel. He further acknowledged that social change and climate justice was linked to climate change and made reference to the conversation that was ongoing regarding the use of aviation in these terms.

The Director of Manchester Climate Change Agency commented that the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme was welcomed, however it was not at the scale required. She commented that information was shared with NHS partners across the city and the wider Greater Manchester Integrated Care system. With regard to the Trailblazer Devolution Deal she advised that following finalisation of these arrangements a programme of detailed planning and actions would be undertaken, adding that this would include consideration of the issue of skills. The Deputy Chief Executive and City Treasurer informed the Members that the Greater Manchester Trailblazer Devolution Deal would not prevent Manchester from applying for future funding streams as and when they became available, and that work would be undertaken with Greater Manchester Combined Authority to maximise the outcomes of the Trailblazer Devolution Deal.

The Director of Manchester Climate Change Agency responded to the number of actions listed in the Updated Framework and advised that the actions were owned by the various stakeholders. The Chair of Manchester Climate Change Partnership added that stakeholders were committed to driving and delivering the actions and further added that the challenge was to understand, quantify and report the impact of these actions.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport stated that a report on the Electric Vehicle Charging Strategy had been considered by the Committee and Executive at their December 2022 meetings. She recommended Members referred to this report and advised that this was one element of the wider approach and consideration being taken in regard to the issue of active travel and carbon emissions.

The Chair noted the comment from the Chair of Manchester Climate Change Partnership regarding the ask of government. She advised that following the March meeting an email had been sent to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero inviting him to attend a meeting with the Committee, however this invitation had been declined.

The Chair thanked the guests for presenting the report and responding to Members questions. In noting the report, she recommended that when the Manchester Climate Change Agency/ Partnership 2022/23 Annual Report was submitted for consideration at the Committee’s October meeting this report should include information in relation to next steps, clearly defined actions and discussion of the challenges.

Decision

The Committee recommend that when the Manchester Climate Change Agency/ Partnership 2022/23 Annual Report is submitted for consideration at the Committee’s October meeting this should include information in relation to next steps, clearly defined actions, and challenges.