Cerys Jones
And if you’re looking for history then yes, we’ve a wealth / But the Manchester way is to make it yourself
Tony Walsh, This is the Place
Manchester is one of the great cultural, sporting, and political powerhouses of the UK. As the UK’s second-largest city, it might even have snatched England’s unofficial ‘second city’ crown from Birmingham over the past half-century. On a weekend in the ‘rainy city’, it’s hard to miss its industrial past, sporting greatness, and thriving nightlife. But current mayor, Andy Burnham, wants the city-region to become the UK’s green capital too.
Clearing the smoke
The Industrial Revolution saw Manchester explode from a market town into a throbbing metropolis, particularly when it came to the cotton trade. As such, its historical relationship with greenhouse gas emissions isn’t a positive one – and the city-region has struggled to overcome that legacy. According to the Centre for Cities, the average Mancunian emitted 4.26 tons of carbon dioxide in 2018. This sits just below the national average of 5.19 tons, but above London, where the average is 3.48 tons.
Of the UK’s 63 cities (by the Centre for Cities definition), Manchester had the 33rd highest per capita carbon dioxide emissions in 2018. It also had the 12th highest number of days of poor air quality in 2019.
In 2014, road transport was the biggest single contributing factor to carbon dioxide emissions in Greater Manchester (31%) followed by rail (4%) and aviation (0.9%).
Looking forward
In 2019, The Greater Manchester Combined Authority – a body made up of the region’s ten councils and the Mayor, Andy Burnham – declared a climate emergency.
The plans for climate change mitigation in Greater Manchester are all put together by parts, or the whole, of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority – a body made up of the region’s ten councils and the Mayor. This followed the launch of their 5-year Environment Plan for Greater Manchester for 2019-2024. Since then, there have been further policy developments – most recently following the ‘Levelling Up Budget’.
Greater Manchester is currently aiming to become carbon-neutral by 2038– over a decade ahead of the national target. It’s estimated this will take an ambitious 13% reduction in emissions every year until the target.
The road ahead for transport in Manchester
Manchester has already made progress towards a green transport system. The Metrolink tram system runs on 100% renewable energy, for instance – but the GMCA has even more ambitious plans.
This Autumn, Rishi Sunak’s ‘Levelling Up’ budget granted £1bn of transport funding to the city-region. The plan is for Manchester’s transport system to be net-zero by using a new ‘Bee Network’.
“The Bee Network is our vision for an integrated transport system which will join together buses, trams, cycling and walking by 2024, with rail incorporated by 2030, to transform how people travel in Greater Manchester”
https://tfgm.com/destination-bee-network
The network will include a new bike hire system and expansion of the Metrolink. Buses operating in the city region will be 50% electric by 2027 and the plan is to make them 100% electric within 10 years. There will be an extension of cycling and walking facilities to many town centres, with 130km of cycling and walking routes to be completed. It’s hoped that this will replace the many short car journeys taken.
250 million car journeys in Greater Manchester alone are less than 1km
— Chris Boardman (@Chris_Boardman) November 7, 2021
Over 3/4 of parents said this would make them more like to walk with their kids to schools
So, really hope the evidence will lead to us being able to conduct large scale trials.👇 pic.twitter.com/f8qhUltLfo
Solutions to pollution
It’s not only carbon dioxide emissions that are under attack by the GMCA. Manchester is also known as one of the worst cities for air pollution in the UK, such as from nitrogen oxide – a pollutant associated with vehicle emissions and health issues.
To combat this, a Clean Air Zone is being phased in from May 2022. Vehicles that don’t meet emissions standards will have to pay a daily charge to drive in the city-region. By June 2023, this will cover most vehicles except private cars, motorbikes, and mopeds. There will be support available to upgrade vehicles and help those who can’t pay – the authorities say they want people to switch to ‘cleaner’ vehicles, not have to pay the charge.
Once complete, the zone will be the largest of its kind in the UK – but some campaigners are unhappy with the plan because it excludes private vehicles and many vehicles are exempt in the first year.
Reds and Blues under pressure to go green
It’s hard to write about Manchester without writing about football, and City and United aren’t exempt from the climate discussions in Manchester.
City’s training academy has been praised for its water usage reduction and the club was named a runner up for a sport sustainability award in 2018.
United was among the first clubs to launch a carbon reduction programme in 2008 and has since ‘reduced annual emissions from its operations by 2,700 tonnes.’ However, SlotsUp named Manchester United as the team with the highest carbon emissions from travel in the last five years’, having recently faced criticism for flying a ten-minute journey from Manchester to Leicester after the motorway closed.
Building a green future
The biggest source of carbon emissions in Greater Manchester is heating, so it’s hoped that upgrading buildings, for instance, to include renewable heating systems, will reduce this.
The Greater Manchester Retrofitting Task Force had its first meeting in May 2021, with the aim of setting out an action plan to mass-deliver home and building improvements. Burnham hopes the plan will make it more affordable for residents to have green homes, improve housing, and create jobs.
The biggest source of carbon emissions in Greater Manchester is heating, so it’s hoped that upgrading buildings – for instance, to include renewable heating systems – will reduce this.
The Greater Manchester Retrofitting Task Force had its first meeting in May 2021, with the aim of setting out an action plan to mass-deliver home and building improvements. Mayor Andy Burnham hopes the plan will make it more affordable for residents to have green homes, improve housing, and create jobs.
🗣️ “This is about setting out a positive vision for how we can tackle the climate crisis, the housing crisis, and the jobs crisis.”
— Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (@MayorofGM) May 20, 2021
🏡 Our new Retrofitting Task Force will set out how we can cut carbon emissions, improve housing and create green jobs.
👇https://t.co/ExqJ74wFr1
Reaching its net-zero target of 2038 would mean the city needs to upgrade 60,000 buildings every year.
Food for thought
The GMCA 5 Year Plan, says the city region wastes a significant amount of food and calls on businesses to reduce their food waste and support food redistribution.
A report of August 2021 claims that consumption of food and drink accounts for 16% of the city’s carbon footprint. The paper calls for the city to limit food loss and waste, reduce its reliance on meat, get rid of single-use plastic, and address food insecurity.
Its authors say the food sector should receive more attention in climate policy – the UN IPCC estimated that the global food system generated between 21% and 37% of man-made greenhouse gas emissions.
High flyers
As you can read in our COP26 Transport Day article, flying is a highly climate-intensive form of travel– any conversation about Manchester and climate change has to include its airport. However, aviation contributes relatively little to Greater Manchester’s emissions – around 0.9% in 2014.
Manchester Airport itself was certified carbon neutral in 2016, having invested over £7.5m in energy-efficient projects. All the airport’s electricity is bought from renewable sources, and the site’s other emissions are offset. However, this doesn’t include the emissions from flights using the airport estimated at 3.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.
Reducing these emissions relies on changes in the aviation sector more widely, which could link to a recent deal at COP26– but there are already some initiatives underway. A scheme has recently been announced to give passengers the ability to pay to offset the emissions from their journey.
A partnership with CarbonClick allows passeners to calculate the emissions from their flight and buy ‘carbon credits’ which fund carbon offsetting projects, such as distribution of efficient stoves in Nigeria and woodland development in Cumbria. The airport’s website suggests that a round trip to Amsterdam could be offer for as little as £2.14 per person.
“What Manchester does today, the rest of the world does tomorrow.”
Climate change activists and policy critics can and will push for more. But Manchester has forged the beginnings of a green future. Drastic action needs to be taken to follow through on its plans – but if the old saying is true, and the rest of the world follows similarly ambitious carbon neutrality targets, there could be hope that Manchester could be part of forming the solution to the industrial pollution it once led.
Featured image courtesy of Zohaib Alam on Unsplash. No changes were made to this image. Image license found here.
cerysjones
Cerys is a first-year journalism student at the University of Sheffield with a special interest in news journalism and politics. She has been published in Big Issue North and is also an Instagram Editor at Empoword Journalism. When she's not writing, she is usually watching Manchester United - or her dog has his head on her laptop keyboard.