A Council with Principles?
Article published: Monday, May 19th 2008
Local environmental groups give their views on Manchester City Council’s 17 ‘Principles’ for tackling climate change
In February, Manchester City Council released seventeen principles that will underpin the citys strategy for tackling climate change. The principles are the foundation of a wider strategy that the council hope will result in a 1 million tonne reduction in Manchesters CO2 emissions, and range from adopting the governments climate change targets to supporting renewable sources of energy.
Here environmental groups from around Manchester have their say on the principles.
Jane Glover,
Manchester Climate Action:
As election time looms large it seems the establishment is plainly avoiding the glares of the green groups of Manchester. This paper is the precursor for the elusive Manchester City Council Climate Change Strategy. The Councils sole aim with these principles appears to be to stall a public consultation on the matter, and the faintest whiff of the term public consultation is met with nervous laughs and twitching movements amongst our friends in supposedly high places.
The self-proclaimed principles for tackling climate change endeavour to cut Manchesters carbon emissions by a million tonnes annually by 2020. Based on the shady figures of DEFRAs 2004 Carbon Audit, the annual CO2 emissions for Manchester have been placed at 3.3 million tonnes – of course this is as long as you dont count the airport!
Dwight Towers,
Climate Activist, Manchester:
Manchester City Council, after a relatively slow start, seems to be getting its head around climate change, which can only be a good thing. Parts of the principles document are excellent for example, using the Climate Bill as a fl oor rather than a ceiling for targets, and the endorsement of the Global Commons Institutes Contraction and Convergence framework for sharing out global pollution rights.
Parts of it arent so hot- the airport is fudged, but thats no surprise. The usage of biofuels will enrage many, but if its from local waste, then whats the harm? Maybe Im naïve…
There are principles missing – on effective consultation, on adopting best practice from other parts of the UK and abroad, and on increasing recycling, especially of aluminium.
Overall though, they promise six months of consultation, and climate activists need to decide how theyll spend their limited time and energy campaigning. National spasms or local grind? Ones fun, the others not. Maybe neither is effective….
Think forward to 2010 or 2011. The council will be backsliding on the promises it was forced to make in 2008. But if you dont get involved now, in a rigorous and sensible and relentless manner, then youll have little moral right to complain (or protest) then…
Robby Gillet,
Plane Stupid, Manchester:
Whilst other parts of the Councils plans seem laudable, there is a massive omission in their scheme: no mention is made of aviation. They must be taking their lead from central government in Westminster, who have excluded aviation emissions
from the Climate Change Bill.
The City Council owns 55 per cent of the Manchester Airport Group, who in turn own FOUR airports – Nottingham East Midlands, Bournemouth, Humberside and Manchester. All these airports have barmy expansion plans Manchester Airport wants to nearly double passenger numbers to 39 million per year by 2015.
The airport already emits twice the level of emissions as Uganda, according to the World Development Movement. The City Council is a key player in the largest UK-owned airport group. Its silence on the issue makes a mockery of all its other green plans.
Steve Durrant,
Manchester Green Party:
We know talking green is easy, so when leaders do so we should ask three questions: Do they mean it? Do they really get it? And can we trust them to do what they say? Its clear those responsible for writing this document are clued up and probably sincere. They give detailed practical plans, promising commitments to annual targets and taking adaption seriously.
But there are let-downs too. With little time to act, the council hopes to be on track to reduce carbon emissions to a level which would keep global Celsius increase below two degrees by 2020. We wont beat that level, but aim to be on track (and we know how targets can be diddled).
Also, just because the environment people have good ideas, will others on the Council co-operate? Are they prepared to sacrifi ce economic growth if needed? Will they ever take responsibility for the airport? As ever, we should applaud noble intentions while keeping a beady eye out for spin and shifting goalposts.
Vanessa Hall,
Transition Town Hulme:
I was really disappointed when I finally saw the Councils climate change principles. It was months late, but with the time it had taken and urgency required they should have produced the strategy and action plan as well. They do well to acknowledge the contradiction between expanding aviation and tackling climate change, but then dont go anywhere with it. It should be followed with some bold statement regarding ending domestic flights.
They agree with me in the Council Chamber on this when I force them to, but they wont put it in their green propaganda. The main problem with these principles is that they will only be implemented in so far as they do not hamper economic growth. Manchester Labour is still after more, more, more. They know they have to do something about climate change because it will damage the economy, but when they plan to expand Barton Aerodrome (owned jointly with Peel Holdings) into a city airport for private business jets, how can we take them seriously?
Adie Mormech,
People and Planet, Manchester:
While commending Manchester City Councils commitment to loftier and more explicit targets than other cities, anyone with a vague understanding of the causes of climate change will see the councils 55 per cent stake in Manchester Airport and its plans to double the airports passenger capacity to 50 million by 2030 as a total rejection of what it claims to aspire to.
On a positive note theyve started using decent science with references to the Tyndall centre and even a hint of aligning CO2 targets with their findings. But will the quantifiable planning targets involve transparent and strict monitoring, avoid rising hidden environmental costs and stick to Tyndall targets?
People are concentrating more, climate science is being increasingly heeded to and in some areas good practice is spreading. But I cant get away from this line in the principles paper: As Manchesters economy grows, the CO2 levels will also rise. There is a need to decouple the two; reducing the emissions, without stalling economic growth.
Economic growth in its current guise does not ensure social equality, mental health, increased leisure time or a better diet, and in my opinion does not sustain the eco-system which maintains all life. Planning to continue this I dont think will make us happier, but there are alternative paths that might. city airport for private business jets, how can we
Tim McMahon,
Sustainable Neighbourhoods Pool, Manchester:
From a community engagement point of view I found it demoralising that there was little time for public input into this document. The first round of consultation on the strategy closed just 10 days after the release of the principles document. However there are now indicators that measure civic participation, and the Council is obliged to take note of these. So now is the time to act!
It is imperative that the community and voluntary sector is engaged in setting out the new Climate Change Strategy currently being drafted by the Green City Team. This should take into account the proposed changes to the principles document made by community groups at the Sustainable Neighbourhoods Partnership Forum. Public consultation starts early this summer, and people can involved in setting the Climate Change Strategy by getting in touch with the Sustainable Neighbourhoods Pool on 0161 273 1736 or emailing sustainable@merci.org.uk
Tim Hunt,
Hulme Urban Garden Society, Manchester:
It will be interesting to see how the principles are turned into action. From the Councils point of view its good PR to make a big deal about them, but in the long term it could backfire if they fail to deliver.
As for concrete actions, their are loads of simple things that the council could have done over the past few years. In Hulme for example there are (and have been) many spaces that could be used to grow food.
In the past these have often been built on, and flats or offices (that are underused and in some cases still unoccupied) lie on previously green space. This pattern is repeated all across Manchester as unsustainable buildings appear on the skyline. In the future such spaces could be developed into community gardens.
The principles themselves dont help in practical cases, such as safeguarding green spaces or adopting a sustainable building policy. These, along with the desire for continued economic growth and a failure to include the airport, are the problems with the principles.
Claire DAmbra,,
Action for Sustainable Living (AfSL),Manchester:
This document is an improvement on past efforts and includes pledges of funding and some measurable targets. It is pleasing to see the emphasis on local solutions, making use of the built environment and empowering residents and businesses to make economical, simple and sustainable choices to combat our shared challenge – work that Action for Sustainable Living (AfSL) has been carrying out through local project managers across Greater Manchester for several years.
However, after learning that by 2020 Manchester will have successfully adapted its infrastructure to cope with the impacts of inevitable climate change and will have become a world leader in tackling the climate change challenge we learn in principle 11 that the Council will leave the admittedly difficult job of developing a more sustainable aviation solution to others, while they continue to profit from the damage.
Leadership on climate change will involve making diffi cult decisions and taking risks in order to improve our future. Manchester City Council is to be congratulated on an improved approach, but more needs to be done to cement this work. At the launch of the green city initiative several years ago, Councillor Neil Swannick said that dealing with climate change could help see Manchester residents receive cheques not bills if renewable technologies were installed. We wonder how many residents have received their cheques.
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