Manchester plan to slash carbon emissions

MANCHESTER City Council plans to attract green businesses and create sustainable regeneration areas in its bid to reduce its carbon emissions by a third.

The Manchester Climate Change Call To Action, approved by the council’s executive committee today, is the latest step in its goal of reducing Manchester’s annual CO2 output by more than one million tonnes by 2020.

A fund of £1m has been set aside to support the goal, and the council will encourage other public and private organisations to add their own funding to the pot.

Early plans include attracting green businesses such as environmental consultants, conservation groups and pollution control experts to the city. The report also suggests creating sustainable regeneration areas and creating “low carbon communities”.

Councillor Richard Cowell, executive member for the environment, said: “Our call to action describes how Manchester can become an even better place to live, work and visit by building on the last decade of regeneration and embracing early, decisive action on climate change.  

“We are proposing a new way of thinking about the challenge of a generation and want to show how, by doing this, we can shape the city for the better.”