Report of the Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency

This report introduces the attached Manchester Climate Change Partnership (MCCP, the Partnership) and Manchester Climate Change Agency (MCCA, the Agency) Impact Report covering the period April 2022 to March 2023.

The Impact Report provides a concise overview of the activities delivered by the Partnership and Agency in support of the city’s climate targets and objectives, as set out in the Manchester Climate Change Framework (2020-25) and its 2022 Update.

The Committee considered the report of Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency that presented the Impact Report that provided a concise overview of the activities delivered by the Partnership and Agency in support of the city’s climate targets and objectives, as set out in the Manchester Climate Change Framework (2020-25) and its 2022 Update.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction and background;

·         Describing the purpose and structure of the Manchester Climate Change Partnership (MCCP) and Manchester Climate Change Agency (MCCA) Impact Report;

·         Providing an overview of the Manchester Climate Change Partnership;

·         An overview of key activities of the Partnership;

·         Providing an overview of the Manchester Climate Change Agency; and

·         An overview of key activities of the Agency.

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

·         Welcoming the report and the clarification provided regarding the structure and role of the Agency and the Partnership;

·         Recognising the progress made to date and welcoming the case studies provided;

·         Welcoming that Manchester as a city had secured an A list rating from CDP, noting that to earn an A score from CDP, organisations must have shown environmental leadership, disclosing action on climate change, deforestation or water security;

·         Noting recent national government announcements in relation to actions to address climate change and the negative impact this could have on the ambitions to reduce emissions;

·         Would the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Trailblazer arrangements provide any additional powers or levers of influence to address climate change;

·         Membership of the Partnership should not provide an opportunity for organisations to ‘greenwash’, and how were members of the Partnership monitored (Greenwashing was when an organisation spends more time and money on marketing itself as environmentally friendly than on actually minimising its environmental impact.);

·         Was carbon offsetting accepted as an action by Partners (Carbon offset was a way to compensate for your emissions by funding an equivalent carbon dioxide saving elsewhere.);

·         Consideration needed to be given to formally collating feedback from Partners, suggesting a stakeholder survey;

·         The Partnership should engage with local Muslim communities and organisations, noting that Quranic teachings called for the protection of the planet;

·         Noting that the scale of retrofitting of domestic and commercial properties required was a significant challenge for the city and was there a City Challenge on this specific activity;

·         Noting the importance of green skills and training to facilitate and deliver retrofitting at scale;

·         Welcoming the Manchester Climate Change Youth Board and supporting the launch of their manifesto and endorsing their priorities; and

·         Consideration needed to be given as to how the Manchester Climate Change Youth Board could be brought together with local decision makers.  

The Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency welcomed the comments and feedback from the Committee in relation to the clarity that was provided, and she paid tribute to her team for their work. She said that the report would provide a useful document to promote and articulate the work of the Partnership and to encourage new members. She encouraged all Councillors to promote this through their networks.

The Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency stated that she shared the Committee’s concerns regarding recent national announcements in relation to activities to tackle climate change, adding that despite this the work of the Partnership would continue and actions would be taken locally, making reference to the development of the Local Plan and the In Our Nature programme as examples. She advised that support was offered to organisation across the Partnership, making reference to the City Challenges groups, peer to peer learning, advisory groups and networking. She added that work was underway to consider opportunities to unlock additional investment from the private sector as it was recognised that this was key to delivering activities at the scale required.

The Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency said that Manchester City Council was a key partner of the Partnership and continued to demonstrate and provide clear leadership on the issue of climate change and this was demonstrable through the progress made against the Manchester City Council Climate Change Action Plan. 

The Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency stated that the zero carbon by 2038 ambition was shared across the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. She added that the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Trailblazer would provide an opportunity to unlock additional investment to drive this programme of activity. She described that the details of this would be worked through, and the related plans would emerge over the next two years.

The Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency welcomed the positive comments regarding the inclusion of case studies and stated that this were a small fraction of the wide range of activities undertaken across the Partnership. She addressed the issue of ‘greenwashing’ by commenting that the Partnership was alive to this issue and there were conditions to organisations joining and they had to commit to actions and to work collaboratively. In terms of monitoring and meaningful reporting, she stated that this was challenging and accepted this would be difficult due to different data sets used by different organisations and acknowledging that some organisations were local, whilst others were international, and it would be difficult to disaggregate the Manchester ‘slice’ from their activities.

The Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency welcomed the comment from the Member regarding engaging with Muslim groups and organisations and that she would follow this up with the Member directly outside of the meeting. She made reference to the Our Faith Our Planet Network, an inter-faith network based in Manchester that focused on climate change action through engagement and education. The group were committed to creating a green, healthy and inclusive city that contributed to the Manchester Climate Change Strategy. Further she referenced the In Our Nature Project that had engaged with a range of different community groups across the city.

The Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency addressed the issue raised relating to carbon offsetting by acknowledging this was a challenge. She said that the Partnership aimed to be inclusive and recognised that some organisations may choose to use this as a supplementary action to reduce their emissions. She added that it was understood that the Manchester could not achieve it’s targets and stated ambition by solely using carbon offsetting.

The Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency acknowledged the scale of domestic retrofitting required was a challenge. She described that funding was available to Registered Providers to deliver this work and referred to the Your Home Better scheme, an independent service delivered by retrofit experts, providing advice, planning and delivery to help reduce the costs of bills as well as carbon emissions associated with home energy and heating. In addition, she said that the Bee Net Zero partnership offered advice and support to businesses to go green. The Bee Net Zero partnership united a range of organisations and support programmes from across Greater Manchester who were committed to making the transition as straightforward and cost-efficient as possible for businesses.

The Director, Manchester Climate Change Agency commented that the Manchester Climate Change Youth Board consisted of people aged between 16 to 28 years of age and the ambition was to strengthen the links between the Board and local decision makers. She stated that the Partnership would continue to support the Board, including by developing and strengthening governance arrangements and support with grant funding applications to deliver projects.

The Executive Member for Environment and Transport stated that she would engage with the Manchester Climate Change Youth Board to discuss how they would wish to connect with decision makers in the Council and she would facilitate the progress of this as an action. She further stated that it was everyone’s responsibility to take action to tackle the climate emergency. She reiterated the request for all Councillors to promote the work of the Partnership across their networks and she concluded by thanking the Committee for their continued support and challenge.

The Chair informed the Committee that Manchester’s 2023 Emissions Report from the Manchester Climate Change Partnership and Agency would be submitted for consideration at the November meeting and the Work Programme would be updated to reflect this additional item.

Decision

1.    The Committee welcome the continued commitment for the city to reduce its carbon emissions in line with the agreed carbon budget and for Manchester city and the wider Greater Manchester city region to become zero-carbon by 2038.

2.    Endorsing the statement from the Executive Member for Environment and Transport who agreed to engage with the Manchester Climate Change Youth Board to discuss how they would wish to connect with decision makers in the Council.