In 2019, Manchester City Council (MCC) declared a climate emergency. The original motion recognised that Manchester City Council must “make climate breakdown and the environment an integral part of activity throughout the Council, including all decision making, ensuring key decisions take into account the impact on achieving the zero-carbon target”.

A key part of our action around the climate emergency is encouraging residents to reduce their carbon footprints. The council owns 110 advertising units across the city and currently there are prohibitions on advertising for gambling, smoking, vaping and high fat, salt and sugary foods. These prohibitions are aligned with our policies around health and have clear public benefits. However, we have no such policy when it comes to encouraging residents to choose low carbon options, which we also know is urgently needed. Currently advertisements for petrol and diesel cars, holidays via flying and other fossil fuel-related products are all allowed.

Furthermore, Manchester City Council has put significant work into developing a Climate Change Action Plan, a Clean Air Plan, and an Active Transport Strategy, all of which are contradicted by messages to purchase and consume high carbon products such as fossil fuel powered cars and flights.

This motion aims to unify our messaging across different platforms so they align with our target of reaching net zero by 2038, and the priorities laid out in the Our Manchester Strategy.

Numerous other councils have already taken the step to include a ban on high carbon advertising, including –

·            Cambridgeshire County Council

·            Somerset Council

·            Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

·            Coventry City Council

·            Hackney Council

The city has two major advertising contracts. One of these is with Ocean which covers 24 large format units and several smaller loop units, and this contract is due to end on the 30th September 2025. The other contract is with JC Decaux, covering 86 digital advertising units around the city centre. This contract was awarded on the 1st August 2021 and will last for 10 years, with the possibility of a five year extension. Together, these contracts cover 110 advertising units around the city owned by Manchester City Council, with the digital advertising boards able to offer spaces for multiple products.

This Council notes that:

·            We have committed to our role as a climate leader and this motion aligns with our strategic goals.

·            Manchester city council owns only a small proportion of advertising units around the city, but this has not stopped us implementing prohibitions on advertisements for gambling, smoking, vaping and high fat, salt and sugary foods.

·            Ocean has previously agreed to meet our prohibitions standards even though it was not included in the advertising concession agreement, as a show of their good will and our positive and constructive working relationship with them.

·            Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also in the process of revising its advertising policy and it has many more advertising units across Greater Manchester than Manchester City Council alone.

·            A cohesive strategy which covers all of the ten Greater Manchester (GM) boroughs will have the greatest impact on behaviour change, therefore working with other organisations in GM to achieve this would be preferable to working alone.

·            This motion pertains to contracting for concession agreements/advertising only and does not require any changes to our current planning policy.

This Council resolves to:-

(1)      Recommend that the Executive commit to a ban on high carbon advertising for any of the units owned by MCC, including at the very least -

·       Advertisements for cars powered by fossil fuels, or those which are hybrid

·       Advertisements for airlines, airports, or flights

·       Advertisements for fossil fuels

This Council also resolves to recommend that the Executive:-

(2)      Review our advertising concession agreements immediately, to investigate the possibility of amending the current set of restrictions during the term of the agreement to include a prohibition on the products listed above

(3)      If this is not possible, to begin to work on a new advertising policy, to take effect when the advertising concession agreement is next renewed

(4)      Work with our partners at TfGM, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and the other borough councils to agree on a definition of high carbon advertising at least as stringent as our own, with the aim that it be uniformly applied throughout Greater Manchester

Proposed by Councillor Wiest, seconded by Councillor Nunney and suppoted by Councillors Abdullatif, Bayunu, Kilpatrick, Johnson, Leech and Northwood.

Councillor Wiest submitted the following motion which was seconded by Councillor Nunney:-

In 2019, Manchester City Council (MCC) declared a climate emergency. The original motion recognised that Manchester City Council must “make climate breakdown and the environment an integral part of activity throughout the Council, including all decision making, ensuring key decisions take into account the impact on achieving the zero-carbon target”.

A key part of our action around the climate emergency is encouraging residents to reduce their carbon footprints. The council owns 110 advertising units across the city and currently there are prohibitions on advertising for gambling, smoking, vaping and high fat, salt and sugary foods. These prohibitions are aligned with our policies around health and have clear public benefits. However, we have no such policy when it comes to encouraging residents to choose low carbon options, which we also know is urgently needed. Currently advertisements for petrol and diesel cars, holidays via flying and other fossil fuel-related products are all allowed.

Furthermore, Manchester City Council has put significant work into developing a Climate Change Action Plan, a Clean Air Plan, and an Active Transport Strategy, all of which are contradicted by messages to purchase and consume high carbon products such as fossil fuel powered cars and flights.

This motion aims to unify our messaging across different platforms so they align with our target of reaching net zero by 2038, and the priorities laid out in the Our Manchester Strategy.

Numerous other councils have already taken the step to include a ban on high carbon advertising, including –

·            Cambridgeshire County Council

·            Somerset Council

·            Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

·            Coventry City Council

·            Hackney Council

The city has two major advertising contracts. One of these is with Ocean which covers 24 large format units and several smaller loop units, and this contract is due to end on the 30th September 2025. The other contract is with JC Decaux, covering 86 digital advertising units around the city centre. This contract was awarded on the 1st August 2021 and will last for 10 years, with the possibility of a five year extension. Together, these contracts cover 110 advertising units around the city owned by Manchester City Council, with the digital advertising boards able to offer spaces for multiple products.

This Council notes that:

·            We have committed to our role as a climate leader and this motion aligns with our strategic goals.

·            Manchester City Council owns only a small proportion of advertising units around the city, but this has not stopped us implementing prohibitions on advertisements for gambling, smoking, vaping and high fat, salt and sugary foods.

·            Ocean has previously agreed to meet our prohibitions standards even though it was not included in the advertising concession agreement, as a show of their good will and our positive and constructive working relationship with them.

·            Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) is also in the process of revising its advertising policy and it has many more advertising units across Greater Manchester than Manchester City Council alone.

·            A cohesive strategy which covers all of the ten Greater Manchester (GM) boroughs will have the greatest impact on behaviour change, therefore working with other organisations in GM to achieve this would be preferable to working alone.

·            This motion pertains to contracting for concession agreements/advertising only and does not require any changes to our current planning policy.

This Council resolves to:

(1)    Recommend that the Executive commit to a ban on high carbon advertising for any of the units owned by MCC, including at the very least -

·            Advertisements for cars powered by fossil fuels, or those which are hybrid

·            Advertisements for airlines, airports, or flights

·            Advertisements for fossil fuels

This Council also resolves to recommend that the Executive:

(2)    Review our advertising concession agreements immediately, to investigate the possibility of amending the current set of restrictions during the term of the agreement to include a prohibition on the products listed above.

(3)    If this is not possible, to begin to work on a new advertising policy, to take effect when the advertising concession agreement is next renewed.

(4)    Work with our partners at TfGM, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and the other borough councils to agree on a definition of high carbon advertising at least as stringent as our own, with the aim that it be uniformly applied throughout Greater Manchester.

On the motion being put to the vote the Lord Mayor declared it lost.