1

Call to
Real Action
Full Report April 2009
Manchester Climate Forum
2
Call to
Real Action
Full Report April 2009
Manchester Climate Forum
This is a grass-roots report on what the Citizens and Council should do address
Climate Change.
It has been put together in 8 weeks and is by no means the final word on the matter.
We who wrote it, or contributed to it in other ways, are members of arious local groups or are
unaffiliated and is an entirely oluntary contribution with no-one receiing payment for its production.
!oweer, monetary contributions area always welcome so please get in touch.
"o group has formally endorsed the work...yet#
Thanks to...
$ete %bel, &ein %nderson, 'ark (urton, (rian Candeland, &ate Chappell, )an Collinson, *ustine !all, (ill
!arrop, 'arc !udson, 'ike &aufman, $enny +eggett, ,raeme -herriff, Tim 'c'ahon, *en "elson, ,ayle
./)onoan, "igel 0ose, &ate -mith and *o Wilkes.
-pecial thanks to...
"e1us Cafe and its staff
2nicorn ,rocery for the donation of food
http344www.unicorn-grocery.co.uk
%l (aker and the )ole 5ueue
http344www.myspace.com4alandhisguitar
6an $owell, photographer
%ndrea $erry-(ean
"emesis agency
'akeup4!air4Costume4-tyling
www.andreaperrybean.com
0ichard !arey
www.richmakeup.co.uk
*ames Christopher comedian
http344www.myspace.com4comedy7ames
http344www.comedyc.co.uk47ameschristoph...
3
Foreword
'y research within the Tyndall Centre is focussed on understanding the
mitigation and adaptation challenges posed by climate change. 0ecent work,
referred to in this report, has reisited climate change in light of the latest
science and emission trends, concluding that the reductions now re8uired are
een more urgent and radical than preiously thought. Whilst global
agreements to reerse swiftly rising emissions are ital, without meaningful
action at a local leel the scale of reductions necessary will not be achieed9
against this backdrop the :Call to 0eal %ction; is a timely and important
contribution to the debate.
'anchester has a proud history of being at the heart of the industrial
reolution and conse8uently has contributed significantly to the welfare and
material benefits of modern society. 2nfortunately the emissions from the
energy fuelling this rise in liing standards are seriously threatening the well-
being of the ne1t and future generations. If we are not to be8ueath our
children a world of dangerous climate change we need to reinigorate
'anchester<s innoatie flare and instigate immediately radical low-carbon
policies and technologies. To this end, 'anchester City Council should consider
carefully the policy recommendations outlined in the :Call to 0eal %ction;.
Proessor !e"in Anderson
Research #irector
T$ndall Centre or Climate Chan%e Research
=written in a personal capacity>
&
Contents
1. 'ntroduction (
2. The challen%e o climate chan%e )
The -cientific Conte1t ?
The 6conomics Conte1t3 -teady-state or bust 8
The International Conte1t @A
3. The Council*s Call to Action 13
% Bigorous )ebate @C
% Dair and $ositie Duture @C
Inoling 6eryone in 'anchester @E
+eadership and Bision @F
.rganisation and $artnership @F
'oney @G
&. Anal$sis o Catal$tic Actions 1+
,. -ur Anal$sis 23
Transport HC
Cycling HF
%iation H?
(usiness and 6conomic )eelopment CH
Duel $oerty C?
6nergy CI
!ousing EC
Dood EE
Transition EG
!ealth and -ocial Care FA
0esilience F@
(. Additional Catal$tic Actions ,&
). Communit$ .n%a%ement ,(
,etting its own house in order FG
.pen and transparent in dealings with public F?
$roide resources for local groups FI
6ncourage new ideas FI
+. Conclusion (1
,
1
'ntroduction
'anchester City Council wants to
:generate a igorous debate; about
its recent report, the :Call to %ction;.
This publication, the :Call to 0eal
%ction,; is a contribution to that
debate. It has been produced by a
group of citizens of 'anchester, all of
whom are inoled in deeloping
responses to climate change. -ome of
us carry out practical action, some of
us are inoled in campaigning or
policy change, for some of us it is our
7ob - but for all of us it is a passion.
We care about 'anchester and we
care about its future. We beliee, in
common with 'anchester City
Council, that if we moe 8uickly and
with principled coniction, then
responding to climate change will not
only bring great changes but also
great benefits oerall for the citizens
of 'anchester. We are, howeer,
disappointed by the report prepared
by the +ondon-based consultancy
/(eyond ,reen/, and we beliee the
Council to be capable of a bolder and
more ade8uate ision and strategy.
.ur report responds to the Call to
%ction, welcoming the proposals and
ideas in it, while offering suggestions
for improements to it. .ur Call to
0eal %ction also contains a myriad of
suggestions that the Council can
begin to put in place - or help the
people of 'anchester put in place -
right away, alongside the e1isting
Catalytic %ction. 'any of the
proposals put forward also would sit
ery well within the 'anchester
Climate Change %ction $lan, which is
to be written and released by the end
of the year.
Manchester Cit$ Council appro"ed
their /Call to Action0 in 1anuar$
2009. 't is intended /to en%a%e
people rom all walks o
Manchester lie in climate chan%e
action and 2uild support or a
new wa$ o thinkin% a2out
climate chan%e0. 't descri2es the
challen%e o climate chan%e3 the
opportunities or Manchester in
addressin% climate chan%e3 and
who has the responsi2ilit$ or
takin% action. The last section
descri2es 9 /catal$tic actions0
which will /pro"ide impetus3
2e%in to 2uild transera2le skills
and knowled%e 4 and show
leadership on some o the 2i%%est
challen%es and opportunities
climate chan%e poses to the cit$.0
Prior to the pu2lication o Call to
Action3 Manchester Cit$ Council
produced a set o Climate Chan%e
Principles 5Fe2ruar$ 200+6 and3
throu%h Manchester .nterprises3
a /Mini78tern0 report 51ul$
200+63 which descri2ed the likel$
impact o climate chan%e on the
econom$ o 9reater Manchester.
The inal /Manchester Climate
Chan%e Action Plan0 will 2e
pu2lished sometime in late 2009
ater widespread consultation.
This will la$ out how Manchester
will reduce its car2on ootprint 2$
1 million tonnes 2$ 2020.
(
2
The challen%e o
climate chan%e
2.1
The scientiic conte:t
It's later than you think - the lead
author of the J-cience of Climate
Change< report in HAA?, -usan
-olomon, repeatedly used this phrase
at a two day conference at the 0oyal
-ociety in +ondon.
In @IIH, at the 0io 6arth -ummit, the
goernments of the world agreed
they :should take precautionary
measures to anticipate, preent or
minimize the causes of climate
change and mitigate its aderse
effects.; %lmost two decades on from
that 0io meeting, the eidence of
man-made climate change is now
oerwhelming =I$CC HAA?>. There is
/hard eidence/ from all around the
world, in rapid glacier melting, the
changing acidity of the oceans, the
die-back of rainforests and a host of
other indicators.
%t a conference in Copenhagen in
'arch HAAI, the Dourth %ssessment
0eport of the Intergoernmental
$anel on Climate Change =I$CC,
HAA?> was shown to hae been too
cautious in its predictions. The
%ssessment 0eport was based on
peer-reiewed work that had been
completed before HAAF, and most of
this did not factor in /positie
feedback loops/ that amplify the
problem.
There is now a spectre haunting
6urope and the world, of crossing a
threshold of /tipping points/, where
these positie feedback loops feed
upon themseles. The two most
popularly understood are the %rctic
icecap and the %mazon rainforest.
White surfaces reflect heat, so the
more ice there is, the more heat
/bounces off/ the earth. %s ice melts,
and is replaced by dark ocean, the
ocean warms up, melting more ice.
The rainforests are a :sink; for
carbon dio1ide, meaning that trees
absorb some of the carbon dio1ide
that human actiity puts into the
atmosphere oer and aboe natural
emissions. (ut as the global
temperature increases, and the
forests dry out, they become more
ulnerable to fires. % fire a> releases
all the carbon that was stored and b>
means that the :sponging up; effect
is no longer aailable.
The general trend of climate change
science seems to indicate that the
situation is worse than preiously
thought. 0adical action is needed
now if we are to aoid a global
catastrophe.
Practical actions;
'anchester City Council could
employ a climate communications
consultancy =e.g. Climate .utreach
Information "etwork, which has
preiously run training for
:'anchester is 'y $lanet;> to deise
a set of simple e1planations that use
specifically :'ancunian; analogies to
put across the basic science of
climate change, and the global and
local implications.
Bisual representations of iconic
buildings and meeting places like .ld
Trafford football stadium, the +owry,
)
etc. could be used as measuring
sticks for deforestation, warming etc.
The Council could run a
competition to encourage local groups
to deise their own communication
strategies, on a peer-to-peer basis,
as part of their catalytic action
number F. The competition could
hae different age categories, from
school children through to
pensioners. The council could then
work with the best entries =not 7ust
the winning ones> to deelop and
implement their work in schools,
community groups and other places.
The council could run a cartoon
contest for the best e1planations of
climate science. .ne 'anchester-
based cartoonist has already had
work published on a ariety of highly
prestigious websites and magazines
www.realclimate.or% and
www.climatepro%ress.or%
The Council could work with local
media, especially 'anchester 6ening
"ews and Channel ' to produce
scientifically sound climate outreach
materials.
2.2
.conomics conte:t;
stead$7state or 2ust
"All truth passes through three
stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it
is violently opposed. Third, it is
accepted as sel-evident. -
-chopenhauer, ,erman philosopher.
'anchester has a real opportunity to
show genuinely new thinking on
climate change, blazing a trail for true
sustainability in the H@st century.
!oweer following this path will
re8uire both determination and
humility.
The Industrial 0eolution, born in
'anchester, launched the relentless
growth of our economies with a
reliance on the eer-greater use of
coal, gas and oil. We know that we
cannot go on like this.
If 'anchester wishes to be a part of
the post-industrial reolution, then it
will hae to challenge its own habits,
hopes and ested interests. The
challenge is enormous, but surely no
larger than what faced the brae
'ancunians who campaigned for the
abolition of the slae trade, for the 8
hour working day, or otes for
women. In all those cases and others
the people supporting the status-8uo
predicted the end of ciilisation if the
campaigners got their way.
Ciilisation didn/t end but it might
7ust if we don/t get the steady state
economy built. "ow.
While the Call to %ction =Catalytic
%ction G> suggests3
"The !ity !ouncil recognises that
develop"ent adds to #anchester$s
car%on ootprint, %oth in the
&e"%odied energy$ that is used
si"ply in the process o constructing
%uildings and inrastructure and in
the additional e"issions generated
%y e'tra residents. (o)ever, it
re*ects the suggestion that this
argues or reducing the pace or
+uantu" o develop"ent in
#anchester."
We would 8uote the following, from a
recent -ustainable )eelopment
+
Commission report entitled
J$rosperity Without ,rowth3 The
transition to a -ustainable 6conomy<3
A return to %usiness as usual is not
an option. ,rosperity or the e)
ounded on ecological destruction and
persistent social in*ustice is no
oundation or a civilised society. The
current econo"ic crisis presents us
)ith a uni+ue opportunity to invest in
change. To s)eep a)ay the short-
ter" thinking that has plagued
society or decades. To replace it )ith
considered policy capa%le o
addressing the enor"ous challenge
o delivering a lasting prosperity.
For at the end o the day, prosperity
goes %eyond "aterial pleasures. It
transcends "aterial concerns. It
resides in the +uality o our lives and
in the health and happiness o our
a"ilies. It is present in the strength
o our relationships and our trust in
the co""unity. It is evidenced %y
our satisaction at )ork and our
sense o shared "eaning and
purpose. It hangs on our potential to
participate ully in the lie o society.
,rosperity consists in our a%ility to
lourish as hu"an %eings - )ithin the
ecological li"its o a inite planet. The
challenge or our society is to create
the conditions under )hich this is
possi%le. It is the "ost urgent task o
our ti"es.
Practical Actions;
The Council should fund a series
of public meetings and debates
during the course of HAAI, ensuring
the widest possible participation from
academia, business, the Trade
2nions, the :third sector; and
'anchester citizens. This process
should culminate in a report on
steady-state economics and its
meaning for ,reater 'anchester.
This process and report could draw
on the work of international figures
such as !erman )aly, formerly an
economist with the World (ank. Dor
his recent analysis of the :credit
crunch; see here
www.ad2usters.or%<ma%a=ine<+
1<the>crisis.html also the $ost
Carbon Institute
www.postcar2oncities.net
International figures should be
inited to participate only ia tele-
conferencing. 6en if they are able to
fund their own trael to 'anchester,
they should be respectfully declined.
"ationally it could draw on the work
of the new economics foundation.
www.neweconomics.or%, the
,oernment/s -ustainable
)eelopment Commission www.sd7
commission.or%.uk and Kero
Carbon (ritain
www.=erocar2on2ritain.com
+ocally it could draw on the work of
the "ew ,reen )eal for 'anchester.
http;<<%reendealmanchester.wor
dpress.com< and other local
initiaties and e1pertise, such as
2rbed www.ur2ed.coop
The Community -trategy for HA@F
and beyond should use this work as
its underlying assumption.
The Council should fund places for
local campaigners and residents to
attend the Centre for +ocal 6conomic
-trategy/s two day conference in *uly.
.ver t)o days the Su""it )ill
e'a"ine ho) )e deal )ith local
9
econo"ic challenges and develop the
ne) approaches to strategy, policy
and delivery re+uired to create
resilient local econo"ies. The event
attracts speakers including
/overn"ent #inisters, key pu%lic
oicials and senior people ro"
regional and local govern"ent. -
www.cles.org.uk4information4@ACFAF4
clesLsummit4
2.3
The 'nternational
Conte:t
I"agine 01 ra%%its lost at sea, in a
%oat carved out o a giant carrot. The
carrot is their only source o ood, so
they all keep ni%%ling at it. The %oat
is shrinking rapidly - %ut none o
the" )ants to %e the irst to stop,
%ecause then they$ll %e the irst to
starve. There$s no point in any o
the" stopping unless everyone stops
- i even one ra%%it carries on eating,
the %oat )ill sink.

This is the international cli"ate crisis
in a 23eatri' ,otter-lavoured4
nutshell5 action %y individual nations
achieves little unless )e all act
together. . course, reality is a little
"ore co"ple'.
6hile it$s easy to i"agine the ra%%its
reaching a si"ple agree"ent )here
they all learn to dredge or sea)eed
instead, our situation involves
"assive glo%al ine+ualities, diering
levels o responsi%ility, and a history
o e'ploitation and %roken
international pro"ises. - '7ust or
3ust' 8anny !hivers, 9e)
Internationalist, 7anuary :11;
%s the Call to 0eal %ction is being
finalised and launched, goernment
representaties from all around the
world are meeting in (onn, ,ermany,
as part of the 2nited "ations
Dramework Conention on Climate
Change =2"DCCC> process. This year
there will be a series of meetings, in
(onn, -ardinia and (angkok,
culminating in a ma7or conference to
be held 7ust before Christmas, in
Copenhagen, )enmark. The 2"DCCC
emerged from the :6arth -ummit;
held in 0io de *aniero in @IIH. That/s
almost two decades, and seeral
thousand reports urging action to
reduce our ecological footprint, ago.
The 2"DCCC process has ground on,
slowly eer since, with /highlights/ if
you can call them that, of the &yoto
meeting in @II? =the agreement for
that didn/t come into force until
HAAF, and een countries that hae
signed up to it are nowhere near
meeting their targets>, and the (ali,
Indonesia meeting of HAA?, =which
set the /0oadmap/ for Copenhagen>.
The crucial point is that emissions of
greenhouse gases hae been
climbing remorselessly, 8uicker than
the most pessimistic predictions. In
reality, it is almost unimaginable that
a strong enough deal will emerge. %s
&ein %nderson, 'anchester-based
director of the Tyndall Centre for
Climate Change 0esearch recently
said3
6e all hope that !openhagen )ill
succeed %ut I think it )ill ail. 6e
)on't co"e up )ith a glo%al
agree"ent. I think )e )ill negotiate,
there )ill %e a e) udges and there
)ill %e a very )eak daughter o
<yoto. I dou%t it )ill %e signiicantly
10
%ased on the science o cli"ate
change. -
www.timesonline.co.uk4tol4news4eni
ronment4articleF8?A?HI.ece
61pectations for the Copenhagen
meeting are being massaged
downwards. Barious countries hae
said they need more time for
discussion and debate. 'oni8ue
(arbut, chief e1ecutie officer of the
,lobal 6nironment Dacility the head
of a ma7or enironmental funding
agency recently said that the deadline
for a new global accord on climate
change should be e1tended if
Washington is not ready to make
commitments on cutting greenhouse
gas emissions by )ecember.
Crucially, the newly present 2nited
-tates has its own political timetable.
In recent )eeks, ho)ever, senior
igures in the .%a"a ad"inistration
have )arned that the president "ay
need at least another si' "onths to
)in do"estic support or any
proposal. Indeed, A"ericans )ould
preer to have the green light ro"
!ongress and ear that i the =S
signed up to a deal )ithout the
(ouse and Senate's approval, it
)ould result into a serious do"estic
%acklash, as )as the case )ith the
<yoto ,rotocol, )hich )as signed %y
,resident !linton %ut never ratiied.-
=(umpy ride ahead for 2" climate
talks> www.euracti.com4en4climate-
change4bumpy-ride-ahead-un-
climate-talks4article-@8A?GH
,ien the high-likelihood of a :not-
strong enough; deal being signed
either in Copenhagen or in the first
months of HA@A, the Council should
do the following3
'ake a public commitment to
e1ceed the Copenhagen agreement.
This could be along the lines of
principle two of its HAA8 :$rinciples;
document. That principle was linked
to the goernment/s Climate Change
bill =now the Climate Change %ct>,
and stated -
:We will adopt a higher carbon
reduction target if the science shows
that GAM reduction by HAFA will not
achiee a high probability of keeping
within a H degree Centigrade global
temperature increase, and we can
find ways to protect and enhance the
standard of liing of our most
depried citizens.;
The new principle could be worded as
such -
:We will adopt a higher carbon
reduction target than that agreed at
the 2"DCCC Copenhagen meeting or
its successor, if the science shows
that the agreed target for adanced
economies will not achiee a high
probability of keeping within a H
degree Centigrade global
temperature increase. We recognise
that we hae no choice but to do
this, because in the long-term it is
the only way to protect and enhance
the standard of liing of our most
depried citizens.;
(ring the publication of its
Climate Change %ction plan forward
to "oember HAAI, so that it acts as
a beacon and inspiration for those
attending the Copenhagen Climate
talks.
0eaffirm and publicise its
commitment to Contraction and
Conergence 5www.%ci.or%.uk6
$rinciple @? of the principles
11
document3 :We support the principle
of /contraction and conergence/
in a global conte1t to allow the
poorest countries to improe their
standards of liing and to adapt for
the effects of climate change.;

Bigorously and materially
support the efforts of IC+6I
=+ocal ,oernments for -ustainability,
www.iclei.or%>
:In parallel to the (ali %ction $lan,
+ocal ,oernments =+,s> hae also
adopted their roadmap during C.$@C
in (ali HAA?, with a iew to achiee a
comprehensie post-HA@H global
climate agreement. +,s seek a strong
agreement and offer local-national
partnership to make its
implementation possible. With this
ob7ectie +,s hae presented during
C.$ @E a draft te1t of a C.$ decision
on NCities, +ocal %uthorities and
Climate ChangeN, and which will be
hopefully adopted during C.$ @F.;
$roide funding and space for a
community led- :teach-in;
programme of eents in the second
half of HAAI, enabling 'ancunians to
understand the 2"DCCC process and
its importance.
12
3
Call to Action
3.1
A ?i%orous #e2ate
Makin% a real #ierence
The !li"ate !hange ,rinciples
identiied a need to reduce
#anchester$s direct e"issions in
order to "eet a saving o one "illion
tonnes a year %y :1:1 co"pared )ith
0;;1 levels. This no) needs to %e
updated in line )ith the tougher =<
target o an >1 per cent cut %y
:1?1. - Call to %ction p@H.
3ecause do"estic e"issions
account or around one "illion tonnes
- one third - o #anchester$s direct
e"issions, &retroitting$ e'isting
ho"es to %eco"e "ore energy
eicient is argua%ly the single
greatest cli"ate change challenge
acing the !ity. - Call to %ction p@8.
0educing the amount of carbon
dio1ide we pump into the atmosphere
in 'anchester has to happen. .ne
million tones is going to be an
immensely difficult target to reach
and it is probably not enough. It is to
the credit of 'anchester City Council
that they hae set a target, most
other councils hae not. !oweer, as
Call to %ction states, we do not hae
an accurate figure for @IIA leels so
we, as yet, do not know what we are
aiming for.
6ery year we put more carbon into
the atmosphere and it has a
cumulatie effect, so the 8uicker that
we reduce the amount of carbon
produced in 'anchester the more
impact we will hae. There are no
year by year targets set.
In order to be able to target action
accurately we need to know more
detail about carbon emissions. We
know rich people are responsible for
much higher leels than poorer
people =as they are across the world>
so what does this look like in
'anchesterO +ocal action re8uires
local plans, which in turn re8uire
local information. The Call to %ction
does not hae this, nor lay out how
the Council will get this ital
information. -ince retrofitting
e1isting homes will be a key
measure, more detail about how this
might be done is urgently needed.
3.2
A Fair and Positi"e
Future
6e )ant our residents to recognise
that through "easures such as
sustaina%le transport inrastructure,
energy-eicient housing and lo)
car%on energy supplies, they )ill
%eneit directly through i"proved
access to services and a"enities,
lo)er uel %ills and through living in
thriving neigh%ourhoods that they
and their co""unity can %e proud
o. - Call to %ction pHH

:The shift to a lower carbon economy
presents opportunities for
'anchester in fostering new
enironmental technologies,
encouraging eco-innoation in
e1isting sectors, cutting input costs
=e.g. of energy>, improed spatial
planning and energy planning.; - Call
13
to %ction p@?
!reating "i'ed neigh%ourhoods )ith
%etter local services should not %e
the preserve o "a*or regeneration
areas - Call to %ction pHA

'eeting the challenge of climate
change and moing toward a low
carbon future can offer immense
benefits if wholeheartedly embraced
and Call to %ction recognises this. 2&
society has become progressiely
more unfair oer the last HA years as
has 'anchester albeit on a smaller
scale. The rich hae got richer and
the poor hae got poorer in
comparison een though the links
between well-being, and fairness and
e8uality, hae been clearly
established.
%dapting to climate change should
mean better public transport, more
local facilities, more green spaces,
local energy production, thriing local
businesses, growing food locally, and
a fairer economic model that
measures people<s health and well-
being rather than 7ust oerall wealth.
'anchester has some of the poorest
and most disadantaged communities
in the 2&. It is to the credit of
'anchester City Council that it has
linked policies on climate change with
those of fairness and e8uality. It
would hae been better if the Call to
%ction had a clearer ision of the
future we are heading for that all of
us could understand and beliee in.
3.3
'n"ol"in% ."er$one in
Manchester
The task or #anchester is to %ring
local, grass-roots, co""unity-%ased
collective action together )ith the
inluence, capacity and resources o
organisations in govern"ent and
%usiness to sei@e the opportunity or
the city and to create a %roader
coalition or action dra)n ro" all
aspects o #anchester lie. - Call to
%ction pC
Angaging #anchester residents in
cli"ate change #anchester residents
)ill need to understand the %eneits
o &cli"ate change action$ and spread
their understanding to their peers,
there%y helping to drive a
co""unity-%ased shit to lo) car%on
%ehaviours and attitudes - Call to
%ction pCC
The Call to %ction recognizes that
engagement is at the heart of the
response to climate change. The
citizens of 'anchester will hae to
adapt whether they like it or not, but
it could be a positie and constructie
process, which improes the lies of
'ancunians especially the poorest
and most disadantaged. "o aspect
of our lies will remain untouched.
We are all inoled in the debate.
The City Council has made a welcome
contribution to this debate by
producing the Call to %ction. The title
itself urges all of us to get inoled.
!oweer, it would hae been helpful
if the Call to %ction had a lot more
detail about how this engagement
1&
was going to happen. There are
partial elements of an engagement
strategy in the document but these
are not drawn together. 'anchester
City Council is to produce a detailed
:$lan of %ction; later this year but it
is not clear how others will be
inoled in contributing to this.
%s Call to %ction states, engagement
has to happen at eery leel and this
will re8uire a comprehensie
approach. The document talks about
engaging with business but there are
thousands of businesses of all sizes in
'anchester. It recognizes the
importance of educational
establishments but has no plans
about how to engage school children
who will e1perience the greatest
impact of climate change. It doesn<t
mention students at all despite
'anchester haing the largest
student population in 6urope.
.ne of the principles that Call to
%ction recognizes is the need to work
at a local leel, howeer the
document makes no reference to
council wards, the building block of
both representation and
neighbourhood engagement.
3.&
@eadership and ?ision
It is greatly welcomed that
'anchester City Council accepts its
leadership role. %s it rightly states it
has a leading role to play in
encouraging the goernment to moe
faster and further, in driing forward
policy and practice in the "orthwest
and in ,reater 'anchester and, of
course, most of all in the City of
'anchester. It has shown a
commitment far aboe many other
cities and towns in the 2& by,
amongst other initiaties, setting a
target for carbon reduction and by
producing the Call to %ction.
The Call to %ction lists many ideas
and initiaties and pilots, but oerall
is a difficult and confusing document.
It is full of 7argon and short of ision.
It does not paint a clear picture of
what we all will hae to deal with. It
assumes a leel of knowledge about
response to climate change that most
citizens of 'anchester do not hae.
'ore than anything leadership is
about ision, about clarity of
purpose. The Call to %ction identifies
other cities who hae embraced a
ision, "ew Pork, with $la"PC,
'elbourne with its plan for Kero "et
6missions by HAHA. 'anchester has
to be bolder, and needs to do it
8uickly. We all acknowledge that
action has to take place at eery
leel and in eery sector but where
are the headline grabbing initiaties
that speak to the people of
'anchesterO and put action to stop
climate change properly on the map
in 'anchester.
3.,
-r%anisation and
Partnership
The !ity !ouncil )ill appoint a ne)
(ead o Anviron"ental Strategy )ith
responsi%ility or delivering the !ity
!ouncil$s agenda or cli"ate change
action, supported %y ne) and
reconigured resource capacityB and
The !ouncil )ill esta%lish a
per"anent Anviron"ental Strategy
1,
,rogra""e 3oard o senior oicers
dra)n ro" econo"ic develop"ent,
procure"ent, planning, regeneration,
housing, adult and children$s services
and other areas to drive
i"ple"entation o the agreed !li"ate
!hange !all to Action and ensuing
Action ,lan. - Call to %ction pCF

!li"ate change activity )ill
thereore %e strongly supported %y
the #anchester ,artnership, )hich is
"ade up o a )ide range o partners,
co""itted to realising the vision o
success that #anchester$s residents,
pu%lic, private and third sectors,
aspire to. - Call to %ction pC@
It<s all ery well to hae ision and
leadership but someone has to
actually do the detailed work and the
Call to %ction outlines some of the
arrangements that the City Council is
making. The proposals for a !ead of
6nironmental -trategy and an
6nironmental -trategy (oard are
welcome as they gie added
prominence within the Council for
issues around climate change.
!oweer, there is little detail about
these proposals.
What power will the new post and the
(oard haeO Who will be on the
boardO The !ead of 6nironmental
-trategy will be supported by a :new
and reconfigured resource capacity;.
What does this meanO !ow will
climate change actiity be supported
by the 'anchester $artnershipO
Crucially, when will the !ead of
6nironmental -trategy actually be
appointedO -ince there was no
successful candidate at the last round
of interiews, we are surprised and
e1tremely disappointed to know that
the post has not yet been re-
adertised.
The Call to %ction makes many
references to partnerships with
public, priate and community
organizations and how ital they are.
It would hae been more conincing
if there was more eidence within the
document of the nature of the
partnerships and the commitments
that other organizations hae made.
% 'emorandum of 2nderstanding is
to be signed with the 2niersity of
'anchester but this seems to be of
limited scope and it is unclear what it
will mean in practice. There is
nothing about what the !ealth
-erice in 'anchester or other public
bodies hae committed themseles
to or details of the plans of priate
businesses.
We beliee that the Call to %ction
would hae been a stronger
document if it had been produced in
partnership rather than by
'anchester City Council alone.
3.(
Mone$

As )ith all plans, delivering action
on cli"ate change and %uilding
conidence a"ong citi@ens and
%usinesses in a co"prehensive plan
re+uires a clear unding strategy.-
Call to %ction pCF
Dor 'anchester to become a leader in
addressing climate change it will take
money and lots of it, but it will cost a
lot more in the long run if we don<t
make that inestment now. The 'ini-
-tern for 'anchester =a report
produced by )eloitte in %ug HAA8
1(
assessing the economic impact of
climate change> makes this ery
clear.
The Call to %ction identifies seeral
ways in which the funding can be
found9 through integrating funding
from a ariety of sources including
6uropean funding, borrowing from
financial institutions =though this may
be ery difficult gien the credit
crunch> and inestment from the
priate sector9 through innoatie
financing models such as green
mortgages and 6-C.s =6nergy
-erice Companies>9 and through
leering in additional inestment by
eents such as the Commonwealth
,ames.
Without doubt new money is needed
and 'anchester City Council will hae
to be bold and creatie in seeking
sources of new money. !oweer, it
would hae been good to see much
more detail of how the Council is
intending to restructure the use of its
e1isting resources to tackle climate
change. The e1penditure of the
Council was oer Q@.F billion in
HAA?48. What proportion of these
immense resources will be channelled
into climate change and howO 'ost of
these resources are restricted in their
use and hae to be spent on schools,
housing, highways and culture but
with enough will and determination
and ingenuity they can also help to
moe 'anchester toward a low
carbon future.
The Centre for Climate Change
6conomics and $olicy at +-6 =where
+ord -tern is based> suggests that
the fiscal stimulus to deal with the
recession needs to be around EM of
,)$ =i.e. ,B% for the 'anchester
economy>. .f this about HAM could
reasonably be on green inestment
=http;<<tin$url.com<dllsA:>. Dor
the City of 'anchester this latter
amount e8uates to QEAA' =for the
"orth West as a whole Q@,@@C'>.
These figures can only be ery broad
guides =and it is not clear whether
the +-6 group are suggesting this is
a one-off figure, based as it is on the
annual ,)$>, but they do gie an
indication of the scale of inestment
needed following fairly orthodo1
assumptions about the economy.
'oreoer, by no means all of it would
need to come from the Council/s own
budget.
1)
&
Catal$tic Actions
The !ity !ouncil proposes a
progra""e o catalytic actions )hich
)ill provide i"petus, %egin to %uild
transera%le skills and kno)ledge -
&learning %y doing$ - and sho)
leadership on so"e o the %iggest
challenges and opportunities cli"ate
change poses to the city. - Call to
%ction pC?
!ere we make a preliminary
assessment of the catalytic actions
that Call to %ction has suggested. We
applaud the idea of catalytic actions
which hold the promise of significant
leerage on the entire socio-economic
system that is the City. (ut sadly our
ealuation indicates that these are
not ade8uate to the scale of the
challenge and we therefore suggest
ways in which these actions can be
made stronger and more effectie. In
the subse8uent sections we suggest
elements of a more comprehensie
plan for action R a true 'ancunian
plan R ambitious, practical and trail-
blazing.
Action 1 7 Borld7@eadin%
Cei%h2ourhood
Re%eneration
6ith the help o partners, the !ity
!ouncil intends to identiy trail%la@ing
"a*or regeneration neigh%ourhoods
in )hich to develop internationally
recognised e'e"plars or socially,
econo"ically and environ"entally
sustaina%le place-"aking.
This could make a highly significant
impact for the people liing in those
neighbourhoods and on carbon
targets for the city depending on the
scale inoled. It could act as a test
bed for the changes that need to
happen throughout the city especially
the :retrofitting; of energy inefficient
housing.
!oweer, will the regeneration focus
on making e1isting housing and
neighbourhoods better or on new
buildO The neighbourhoods hae not
yet been identified nor the money. It
could take many years before any
benefit is shown. There is a danger
that rather than this being a catalyst
in the city it could draw all resources
to it.
)o we need e1emplars, beacons of
good practice or has the time come
for action across the cityO We
suggest a targeted programme of
increasing the energy efficiency of
the entire housing stock of the city.
This will re8uire a combination of3
Kero carbon new build 4
regeneration initiaties
Work with the council<s social
landlord partners and the "orthwards
%+'. to retrofit e1isting housing
stock R using a combination of grants
=an e1tension of the e1isting ones>
and proision of incenties through
the contracts the council has with
these proiders.
Incenties for priate housing
stock R including grant aid ia the
energy companies and programmes
of inestment ia the housing market
renewal programme.
We recognise that funding may be
limited and would encourage the
council to lobby central goernment
to obtain the necessary resources R
1+
resources that will represent not 7ust
inestment to sae but inestment to
sae the planet.
It would help if the council were to
8uantify the benefit from this
programme. We need to know the
likely impact in terms of the total
greenhouse emissions from the city in
order to ealuate whether this is
=together with other initiaties>
ade8uate to the challenge.
Action 2 7 Retroittin%
Manchester Ci"ic
Derita%e
6e are currently undertaking a
study to look at the easi%ility o
inancially via%le, lo) car%on retroit
options or the To)n (all co"ple'.
Clearly this is to be welcomed as part
of 'anchester City Council :putting
its house in order.; (ut it is not clear
how or whether this will catalyse
other actions. !ow does retrofitting a
building of the indiiduality of the
town hall really help in work on other
council buildings, many of which date
from far more recentlyO The
improements in the Town !all are
likely to be barely isible from the
outside, and only the relatiely few
citizens of 'anchester who regularly
go to the town hall will notice any
change. $erhaps more effectie would
be isible action taken in eery
council building.

We suggest that a more ade8uate
catalytic action would be to retrofit
the entire council estate and through
the 'anchester $artnership, to
facilitate that all the council<s partner
organisations do the same. This
re8uires setting new priorities for the
%'$ and ,ateway programmes. The
recent establishment of the
Corporate $roperty team proides the
basis for such focussed action, but it
will re8uire challenging ob7ecties
and strong performance
management.
Action 3 7 A Eusiness
Alliance or Climate
Chan%e Action
To e'plore the issues and options
urther and kick-start such a
coalition, the !ity !ouncil proposes
to prepare a su""it on %usiness and
cli"ate change in #anchester later in
:11; )ith a "a*or international
speaker and an invited group o
"a*or #anchester %usinesses
including developers, in)ard
investors and "a*or e"ployers.
'a7or businesses already know about
climate change and many will hae
prepared plans for how their business
will adapt. The plans ary depending
on the sector they work in. 'ost of
the ma7or businesses already meet
with 'anchester City Council at a
wide ariety of forums. If they want
to understand business iews on the
Call to %ction, there are cheaper and
easier ways of doing this.
While we endorse the need to engage
with business partners in assertie
and ground-breaking ways, there is a
real danger that the proposed
conference with an internationally
recognised speaker will simply add to
public cynicism that the Council is
doing more talking than doing. There
19
are no direct impacts on carbon
dio1ide reductions from this catalytic
action and no clear routes.
.ur alternatie suggestion is that the
council enters into a series of
partnerships for green economic
deelopment and climate mitigation
with the ma7or players R large firms
and business associations.
This strategy of partnership will be
complemented by the use of all the
council<s powers to both encourage
and sanction companies. 61amples
are gien in the following sections,
but the point here is to use all the
legal leers that the council has so
successfully used to build the
'anchester economy to harness the
creatie and financial muscle of the
priate sector for social and
enironmental goals R again with
clear targets for ambitious carbon
reductions.
Action & 7 @ow car2on
ener%$ inrastructure
The esta%lish"ent o the right
critical energy inrastructure is a vital
step on the road to a lo) car%on
econo"y.
The main proposal to achiee this
seems to be the possible creation of
an 6nergy -erice Company =6-Co>
across ,reater 'anchester. It is not
clear how long that this will take to
set up, or een whether it will be set
up or what e1actly it will do when and
if it is set up. Without a clearer
understanding of what it will do it is
impossible to estimate the impact.

!oweer we do welcome the general
idea of building a zero carbon
infrastructure. Durther study is
needed but some work has already
been conducted, for e1ample the
20(6) feasibility study on
photooltaic manufacture. The
impressie knowledge and science
resources of the region proide a
platform for this deelopment,
although it should also be noted that
much of what needs to be done is
already understood.
Action , 7 @ow Car2on
Communities
The !ity !ouncil )ill encourage
neigh%ourhood or co""unity groups
to identiy opportunities across the
city in )hich to pilot transor"ational
Co) !ar%on !o""unities
It is welcomed that 'anchester City
council recognises that action by local
people must be at the heart of a
climate change policy. It has a huge
role to play in encouraging, rather
than controlling, that action. There is
a great deal of local action already
taking place in 'anchester which
they can build on.
This could be the most effectie of all
the catalytic actions if 'anchester
City Council and its partners put
enough money and will behind it as it
will create the local action and
engagement that will lend legitimacy
to all the other proposals contained
with the Call to %ction.
We would urge the council to work
with the uniersity and college sector
to deelop education and training for
the local community to lie in a zero
carbon world, drawing on traditional
20
and new skills, knowledge bases and
practices. It would be worth inesting
in local sustainability champions to
catalyse community members<
actions at a local leel, acting as
knowledge and skill resources and
motiators. The council could also use
its weight to encourage local media to
support and disseminate the
necessary knowledge and attitudes.
Dinally the council could build on
initiaties like Dood Dutures to enable
local groups to establish food
production, composting,
refurbishment and re-manufacture
and local transport through
cooperatie and small enterprise
deliery mechanisms.
Action ( 7 A Climate
Chan%e read$ @ocal
#e"elopment Framework
The C8F is the spatial e'pression o
the !o""unity Strategy and as such
cli"ate change activity needs to %e
e"%edded )ithin C8F, as in the
!o""unity Strategy and the Cocal
Area Agree"ent. There )ill %e
several dierent parts to the C8F and
as such several opportunities to
e"%ed lo) car%on planning and
design re+uire"ents into the !ity$s
uture architecture
'anchester City Council is proposing
to encourage building and population
growth through this framework so the
likely outcome will be increased
oerall emissions in 'anchester.
61isting and upcoming goernment
legislation will re8uire low carbon
planning and design.
It is therefore necessary to
conte1tualise this action within a
regional and sub-regional conte1t of
increasing population concentrations
and reducing the oil-dependent trael
of large sections of the population.
The co-operation of the other %,'%
authorities will be re8uired if this is
to stand a chance of success and the
council is to be commended for its
role in the deelopment and
e1tension of %,'% which will hae a
crucial role in sustainable bio-
regional deelopment.
"eertheless this action really does
need a much clearer definition and
appraisal in terms of net reduction of
carbon emissions.
Action ) 7 The
Manchester Pri=e
"The !ity !ouncil proposes the
introduction o a #anchester ,ri@e
)ith the ai" o esta%lishing the !ity
as a centre o design or
sustaina%ility and a place in )hich
good ideas ro" around the )orld,
connected )ith the creation o lo)
car%on, environ"entally %eneicial
)ays o living, are de"onstrated
This will be a ,reater 'anchester
biannual prize starting in HA@@
relying on priate sponsorship. While
possibly important in headlining
other actions, this is unlikely to hae
much direct impact on carbon
emissions, so its catalytic action
relies on the publicity and
inolement it generates. Can this be
great enough, will it really capture
public imagination or are there better
ways of doing thisO %nd if it is to
happen in the present format, we
21
urge that it is brought forward to
commence in HA@A rather than HA@@.
We suggest that the prize be offered
instead to local initiaties from
businesses, public sector and
community with clear measurable
criteria in terms of emission
reduction.
Action + 7 9reenin% the
Cit$ i7Trees
The #anchester !ity South
,artnership )ith Ded Dose Forest has
developed the i-Trees proposal or
long-ter" invest"ent in greening in
the !ity South area )hich centres on
.'ord Doad, the %usiest road
corridor in the 9orth 6est and a
"a*or gate)ay to the !ity !entre."
This proposal will be centred on
.1ford 0oad and is particularly aimed
at adaptation to unaoidable climate
change. It seems an interesting
pro7ect but it is entirely unclear why
it should be chosen as one the I
critical catalytic actions in 'anchester
rather than numerous other pro7ects
within the city. The name also risks
initing ridicule and could thereby
bring the whole strategy into
disrepute.
Action 9 7 A %reen airport
"#anchester Airport has co""itted
to %eco"ing car%on neutral in its site
energy use and vehicle uel -
including "a*or i"prove"ents in the
)ay people access the airport ro"
the surrounding area. This is a very
stretching co""it"ent, and the !ity
!ouncil )ill do everything it can to
help the Airport achieve its ai"s -
including involving the Airport in all
the "a*or actions identiied in this
plan."
We recognise that the council is a
stakeholder in the airport and this
has up to now been a significant
plank in the Council and regional
economic strategy. (ut let us be
honest here and acknowledge that
sadly there is no such thing as a
green airport. The pretence that
there can be undermines not only the
catalytic actions but the whole Call to
%ction.
We call for leadership, courage and
genuinely new thinking in recognising
the unsustainability of this approach.
There will possibly be a role for a
reduced airport and possibly a need
for engineering deelopment of
alternatie international
transportation =airships and smart
sailing ships might be options> R
could 'anchester with its strong
technological base and tradition of
inention lead the way hereO
22
,
-ur Anal$sis
The community iew on the key
issues facing 'anchester with regard
to Climate Change.
,.1
.conomic
#e"elopment
,.1.1 7 Transport
Transport is a significant contributor
to the emissions that are causing
climate change. Changing how, or
why we trael, or transport goods can
also play an important part in
addressing them.
'anchester is one of ten local
authorities that make up the larger
metropolitan area. There are
significant flows among them and in
and out of both the city and the city
region.
The city council has obligations and
commitments to policies and
decisions made on a metropolitan,
regional, national and 6uropean leel.
This may make implementing
changes at the immediate 'anchester
leel a little more difficult, but not
impossible.
There are seeral interlocking reasons
for people to trael, including
economic, social, personal and family
reasons. They are all interdependent.
'iss out on one and this will impact
on the others. 'anchester should
use the planning system to ensure
that these needs are catered for at a
local leel first by making more
facilities within walking and4or cycling
distance. It would make
neighbourhoods more appealing and
encourage residents to stay rather
than moe out of 'anchester.
'anchester should look at better use
of what already e1ists. +ocal schools
for e1ample could be better utilised
by proiding more further education
or training in the eenings or at
weekends. (uilding on the 61tended
-chools model, schools could house
small shops for essential eeryday
items like fresh fruit and eg so
parents collecting children can make
one less 7ourney, reducing the need
to trael and proiding opportunities
for neighbours to meet.
-chools could be used to hold
community groups< meetings,
enhancing the feeling of local
inolement. They could een be
used to show films and local art or
other cultural e1hibits, again
reducing the need to trael.
Dow we tra"el 7
"o matter how well we manage to
reduce the need to trael there will
always be a need, or desire to do so.
'anchester already has a structure
on which to base priorities in relation
to trael which is the 0oad 2sers
!ierarchy =02!> adopted in @II?.
The stipulations of the hierarchy
state that in assessing schemes and
policies priorities should be gien to3
Pedestrians and #isa2led
eFuall$G
C$clistsG
Pu2lic Transport HsersG
Access 5commercial6G
9eneral traic 5o peak6G
9eneral traic 5peak6.
% ariety of illustratie initiaties can
be easily generated arying from the
23
practical and incremental to the
frankly /blue sky/ =or worst case>
scenario. There would need to be an
impact assessment to select the most
promising catalytic ones. Dor
e1ample3-
Ta:es on parkin% spaces3 work
place3 supermarkets etc. which
hi%hli%ht the real cost o parkin%
rather than dis%uise it. The
parker needs to 2ear the costG
'mplement a re"erse milea%e
allowance i.e. a hi%her rate or
walk<c$cle<pu2lic transport and
decreasin%l$ little in relation to
"ehicle emissionsG
Re7re%ulate pu2lic transportG
'nte%rated electronic ticketin% or
pu2lic transportG
.:tend the ree cit$ centre
metroshuttle 2us to tra"el to
outl$in% areasG
'mpose and enorce a 20mph
2lanket speed limit cit$ wide
5ma$2e allow 30mph on some
ur2an dual carria%ewa$s6 with
onl$ , mph in residential streetsG
Remo"e railin%s that se%re%ate
pedestrians and cars and
introduce more #utch st$le
shared spacesG
More in"estment in 'T to reduce
the need or ace7to7ace
meetin%sG
Clampdown on ille%al parkin%3
reduce the num2er o car parks
and con"ert some to shared
pu2lic open spaces 5parks<%reen
spots6 and housin% de"elopmentG
Htilise 5and up%rade6 the canal
s$stem or deli"eries on non7
perisha2le %oodsG
Reduce the need or people to
tra"el with incenti"es to li"e near
the workplace 5or "ice "ersa6.
For e:ample 2$ e:aminin% the
easi2ilit$ o settin% up a Ao2
swap scheme i.e. accountant
tra"ellin% rom Barrin%ton to
Manchester inds similar person
doin% trip other wa$ and swaps
Ao2 to sa"e on the tra"elG
#e"elop impro"ed human
powered "ehicles3 e.%.
li%htwei%ht 2icita:is and *"ans*
like the *Ero:* de"eloped in
9reater Manchester in the 1990sG
Free pu2lic transport I or the
irst 37, milesG
Parkin% restrictions around all
schools and promote and e:tend
sae routes to school3 walkin%
2uses etcG
Reduce the need or transport o
%oods 2$ localised production
and distri2ution I und local
anal$sis o suppl$ chains in order
to take action on wasteul
produce contralowsG
'ncrease pu2lic understandin% o
the trade su2sidiarit$ principle I
in the medium term esta2lish <
lo22$ or an em2odied car2on
la2ellin% scheme or all maAor
trade items startin% with ood
and 2uildin% materialsG
Hse inancial incenti"es to take
car parks out o use. Euildin%
housin% on some o them will
reduce the transportation
demand rom the su2ur2s3 and
others can 2e con"erted to
%arden patios3 pu2lic sFuares3
pla$ areas and so onG
ReFuire all new 2uild housin% to
desi%n out the car I or e:ample
2$ limitin% on street parkin% to
disa2led people and makin% hi%h
char%es or parkin% on the
peripher$ o the estate area 58ee
the e:ample o the ?au2an
district in Frei2ur%3 9erman;
http;<<www."au2an.de<ino<a2s
tract.html6G
2&
'n"est and continue to seek
national %o"ernment in"estment
in 2us and rail I lo22$ or re7
re%ulation o 2us ser"icesG
.sta2lish home deli"er$ ser"ices
2ased on the e:istin% milk
deli"er$ leet. .ncoura%e these
irms to ne%otiate renewa2le
ener%$ suppl$ contracts or
electricit$.
There are many policy, research and
other documents to call on to identify
ways to reduce emissions from
transport. 'anchester has dedicated
and committed people working
towards these aims, both within the
council and in the community. In
terms of its own direct impact on the
transport problem the council could
launch an initiatie with an aim of
reducing free business-related car
parking spaces by FM per annum and
reducing commuter car miles by @AM
per annum. This should be done in
con7unction with Trael $lans agreed
with significant affected companies to
ease the transition from current
leels of car use.
The Call to %ction recognises this in
its call for a broad coalition from
grassroots, local authority and
business to come together to work on
solutions.
The current economic climate, and
calls to focus on a green economy
add to the impetus. %ddressing
'anchester<s transport problems,
tackling emissions and building a
better infrastructure are employment
opportunities in themseles.
Imagination, courage and
determination are re8uired. The
blinkers and silos need remoing.
'anchester is historically renowned
for its innoation, and that is truly
what is needed, innoatie thinking
and courage.
C$clin% solutions 7
%ccording to Cycling 6ngland there
Nare ery few actiities that tackle so
many of the things that the
goernment is concerned about, from
health and obesity to enironment
and pollutionN
We therefore welcome the Call to
%ction document acknowledging the
need to literally :green the city R
which also improes amenity and
aesthetic alue and helps make
walking and cycling more attractie;
and that the Council wants to support
a :radical shift to walking, cycling
and the use of public transport; in
ma7or regeneration areas across the
city and other areas such as the
.1ford 0oad Corridor.
'any 6uropean cities such as
Copenhagen =)enmark>, Dreiburg
=,ermany> and ,roningen
="etherlands> hae deeloped
transport policies which encourage
people to cycle and in such cities
cycling now accounts for HF R GAM of
all non-pedestrian 7ourneys. Dor
e1ample, in ,roningen, a uniersity
city of @8A,AAA people, :GAM of
7ourneys are now made by bike.;
!oweer, in the 2nited &ingdom
nearly HFM of all car 7ourneys coer
a distance less than H miles and
some FGM of all car 7ourneys trael
less than F miles. In ,reater
'anchester in HAA? some 8? M of
peak car 7ourneys were made by a
one person in single ehicle. %erage
off-peak car occupancy decreased
from @.CG to @.CA persons per car.
)istances of H to F miles can be
2,
reliably traelled within @FRCA
minutes by bicycle which is also the
length of time that people are
encouraged to e1ercise each day to
keep fit and healthy.
The transport sector accounts for
some HA - HFM of 'anchester<s CAH
emissions. If 'anchester could
achiee 6uropean leels of cycling
then oer CF,AAA tonnes of CAH could
be saed each year.
(ut it is not 7ust about reducing CAH
emissions. Cycling-oriented transport
policies hae also proed to be better
for people<s health as well as
community and social cohesion.
)esigning cities for the car has
encouraged out-of-town shopping
centres and workplace locations that
are dependent on single occupancy
car trael. 'ore cars has meant more
traffic congestion. It is estimated that
an additional F.? million cars =H@M
increase> will trael on 2&<s roads by
HAC@ and traffic congestion is
e1pected to get worse in ,reater
'anchester within @A years.
!igh traffic density has also
contributed to increasing health
problems from air pollution and
research from (ristol has suggested
that residents on busy streets hae
less than one 8uarter the number of
local friends compared to those liing
on similar streets with little traffic.
(ecoming dependent on cars has also
contributed to the rise in obesity
through lack of e1ercise. In HAAE, the
$arliamentary !ealth -elect
Committee reported that3 :If the
,oernment were to achiee its
target of trebling cycling in the period
HAAARHA@A =and there are ery few
signs that it will> that might achiee
more in the fight against obesity than
any indiidual measure we
recommend within this report.N
%chieing a Jtipping point< for cycling.
'any people, particularly women, do
not cycle because they feel that the
speed and high leels of road traffic
makes cycling unsafe. !oweer,
research by +ondon %nalytics has
illustrated how achieing cycling
leels where HAM of commute
7ourneys are made by bicycle
produces a Ntipping pointN.
This leel of cycling has been
achieed in the many 6uropean cities
and only a few 2& cities R
'anchester is not yet one of these
cities. Where such cycling leels are
achieed a Jpositie cycle< can be
obsered - people feel that cycling is
safer so more people are happy to
cycle and, in particular, the
proportion of women cyclists
increases to FAMS.
Practical actions;
-et bold targets for cycling
leels. %im for that HAM tipping point
R HAM by HAHA9
2se planning powers to ensure
that housing, shops and key serices
are always within walking =A.F miles>
and cycling =H miles> distance9
0e8uire deelopers and
companies to implement Trael $lans
with ambitious targets for modal
shift9
Introduce a city region wide
Trael (ehaioural Change
programme R proen to hae the
most effectie cost benefit impacts
for achieing changes in transport
behaiour9
2(
6nforce parking and speed
restrictions9
Introduce HAmph speed limits in
areas where people lie9
6nsure consistent T effectie
cycle promotion9
%llocate funding for both adult
and child cycle training9
Integrate cycling into the public
transport network by means of cycle
storage and cycle carriage.
,.1.2 7 A"iation
'anchester %irport is owned by
'anchester %irports ,roup ='%,>,
which is in turn owned by 'anchester
City Council =FFM> and the other nine
,reater 'anchester authorities =FM
each>. 'anchester %irport is the third
busiest in the 2& and is aiming
towards being the second busiest by
HA@F. In HAAG, 'anchester %irport
handled oer HH million passengers
traelling on around HHG,AAA aircraft
moements.
'anchester %irport faces a future
burdened by rising fuel costs and
challenged by emerging local,
national and international regulations
aimed at combating Climate Change.
This is in direct opposition to the :go
for growth; attitude of '%,. The
Climate Change (ill, now has a target
of 8AM cut in emissions by HAFA.
This includes all emissions resulting
from aiation and shipping. !oweer,
the 2&/s aiation greenhouse gas
=,!,> emissions are set to double
oer the ne1t HF years if the
,oernment<s airport e1pansion plans
are followed through.
M$th; A"iation is Aust 2J o
%lo2al C-2 emissions
Fact; This isnKt ar rom the truth3
2ut that i%nores the act that
most o the world isnKt l$in%.
A"iation was 2J o %lo2al C-2
emissions in the late 1990s3 2ut
has 2een %rowin% at an alarmin%
rate e"er since3 as more and
more countries are encoura%in%
airport e:pansion and short7haul
li%hts. ."en i a"iation is not $et
a %lo2al pro2lem3 itKs a massi"e
pro2lem in the H!. Per capita3 the
Eritish population lies more than
an$ other countr$ on .arth.
ThatKs wh$ a"iation is 13J o the
H!Ks climate impact.
If aiation is allowed to e1pand to the
e1tent anticipated by the
goernment, it alone will account for
around @CAM of the 2&<s allowable
emissions in HAFA.
In the 'ini--tern 0eiew the Council
identifies the risks inoled with
'anchester airport/s e1pansion. We
commend the Council for taking that
first step. !oweer, we feel this does
not go far enough.
In the Call to %ction the Council
acknowledges that the long term
growth in air passenger figures is
unsustainable. The Call to %ction also
pledges to support a ,reen
'anchester %irport by facilitating the
airports ground operations to become
carbon neutral.
We agree this will make a small step
towards addressing threat of rising
C.H from the planes taking off and
landing there. The problem with the
2)
focus on the ground operations is that
it does not gie us a true account of
the situation we are facing. It is like
going on a diet but not counting the
calories in chocolate. We need to
know what we are facing and how we
can deal with this.
)ue to its ma7ority stake in '%,,
'anchester City Council are in a
uni8ue position to shape the
operations and reduce the emissions,
including those from the planes.
.conomics
The aiation industry claims that it is
a ital national industry supporting
hundreds of thousands of 7obs and
that additional 7obs can be created
through the e1pansion of airports.
These claims hae been accepted by
central goernment and local
goernments alike. We beliee that
this outlook fails to take into account
the economic realities of the
situation.
A"iation is a relati"el$ small
part o the national and re%ional
econom$ and the claims made in
support o Ao2 creation are not
supported 2$ the e"idence.
'n realit$ a"iation is a
relati"el$ small component o the
econom$ o Corth Best .n%land.
Total direct emplo$ment 2$
the a"iation industr$ accounts or
onl$ 0.(J o total emplo$ment in
the Corth Best Re%ion.
.f course all contributions to 7ob
creation are aluable in this time of
recession but we must recognise that
aiation itself is not imperatie. (eing
economically frugal, while still
creating new 7obs, is imperatie.
Therefore we must be looking
towards what can gie us the best
return for our inestment and
aiation does not do that.
-utward in"estment
The claims that are made for the role
of aiation in encouraging inward
inestment to the region and to the
2& are not supported by the data.
-tudies show a much higher outflow
of funds from the 2& than funds
coming into the country. This deficit
is enough to account for the loss of
@GF,AAA 7obs each year in the "orth
West.
Tourism cash flows reeal a similar
story. Those tourists leaing the 2&
spend far more abroad than those
tourist entering the 2&. Tourism is a
net drain on the 2& economy and not
an economic gain as the aiation
industry maintains.
The industry also claims that its own
actiities generate or support large
numbers of 7obs in other sectors of
the economy. This claim is based on
a multiplier effect which routinely
double counts 7obs in other sectors
and has no place in a rigorous
ealuation of the economic benefits
of aiation. %iation has a number of
well documented aderse
enironmental conse8uences. There
is detailed eidence that, in addition
to enironmental damage, aiation is
ery poor alue for money.
M$th; Be can e:pand airports
and tackle climate chan%e
Fact; Cot accordin% to the H!Ks
top climate scientists we canKt.
The T$ndall Centre or Climate
Chan%e Research predicts that
the H!Ks a"iation emissions alone
could e:ceed the %o"ernmentKs
2+
tar%et or the countr$Ks entire
output o %reenhouse %ases in
20,0 2$ up to 13J.
The ,oernment<s preferred solution
is the 6uropean 6missions Trading
-cheme, where the industry would be
gien a carbon limit and has to buy
credits if it couldn<t reduce its
emissions enough. The 6T- will allow
the aiation industry to e1pand
further and increase emissions
unchecked.
'any are already predicting that the
aiation 6T- will to be a disaster, with
a WWD report warning of massie
windfalls for airlines, and '6$<s
concerned that under the 6T-, the
industry will continue to grow
massiely3 by ?8M instead of 8CM.
First Mo"er 8tatus
Currently airports hae limited
responsibility with regards to the
planes that land and take off from it.
This abdication ignores the role that
airports play in facilitating the airlines
that use them and also oerlooks the
role they play in creating the demand
for flights through their adertising
budgets.
'anchester %irport is in a strong
position to suggest a cap on the
emissions from airlines using its
facilities. It would then be up to the
airlines themseles to figure out how
to meet these targets. This could be a
pioneering moe by the council. This
in turn could lead to what is known in
the business world as JDirst 'oer
status< for 'anchester City Council.
.ur own Tyndall Centre could help
shape this research and
implementation. If 'anchester chose
to capitalise on this first moer status
this could lead to renewed interest in
'anchester as a knowledge centre
and a renewed perception of
'anchester as a leader in creating a
0eal +ow Carbon City.
5uality of +ife
.ect on @ocal communities
%ctions included in the 'anchester
$lan by the Council hae resoled to
address 8uality of life issues for the
residents of 'anchester and ,reater
'anchester. We recognise this effort
and hope this can be integrated into
a sustainable plan for future airport
e1pansion. % truly sustainable airport
would bring together three key
concepts 6conomy, 6nironment and
-ocial well-being.
In the past, the effects of 'anchester
%irport/s e1pansion on the local
community appear to hae been
oerridden by a go for growth
attitude. With the current aailability
of information regarding the impacts
of unfettered airport e1pansion we
hope that this can change. "egatie
impacts of airports and aiation
include land take, noise, air pollution,
climate change and effects on the
social structures of local
communities.
Coise
"oise is the ma7or problem for most
communities liing around airports
and under flight paths, especially at
night. -tudies hae shown that
e1cessie noise has been linked to
stress, poor health, educational
underachieement, and a low 8uality
of life.
Thousands of people =c.CF,AAA> are
effected by the noise from planes
29
landing and taking off from
'anchester %irport. %ircraft noise has
been an issue eer since the
introduction of the first 7et aircraft,
since then the benefits of progressie
technological improements hae
tended to be offset by the
introduction of larger aircraft, more
fre8uent moements =often at
sensitie times of day> and growing
community e1pectations. There is
little prospect of significantly 8uieter
planes being introduced oer the ne1t
HA years.
+ast year there were nearly @,AAA
complaints about the noise from
'anchester %irport. '%, see this as
an improement on recent years but
as the former mayor of -tockport Cllr.
$eter (urns said3 :there is a
difference between people being
annoyed and people complaining.
%fter people complain for a third
time, complaint fatigue sets in.;
'%,<s approach has been to accept
that the noise climate will get worse
and try to lessen the blow for those
worst affected. They do this through
the compensation and mitigation
measures that airports are e1pected
to proide. (ut these schemes are far
from generous and are not on offer to
the ast ma7ority of people affected
by aircraft noise.
Air Lualit$
%ir pollution is a ma7or issue for those
who lie in the icinity of large
airports. 6missions from aircraft, air-
side support ehicles and airport
related traffic all contribute to a build
up of potentially harmful gases such
as o1ides of nitrogen, carbon
mono1ide, B.Cs =olatile organic
compounds> and ozone. They also
produce small particulates.

The most important pollutants are
usually nitrogen dio1ide =".H> and
small particulates. The air 8uality
surrounding 'anchester %irport is the
worse in all of ,T 'anchester
according to the maps proided by
'anchester City Council in the Core
issues and .ptions for the +)D.
6missions of nitrogen o1ides =".1>
and particulates may adersely affect
the health of airport workers and
local residents, and any areas of
protected biodiersity. This has ma7or
implications for the e1pansion of
'anchester %irport as it lies within a
green belt area. It is possible in the
future that constraints may be placed
on 'anchester %irport<s growth due
to its affects on local air 8uality and
in particular rising ".1 leels.
Climate Chan%e
,oernment figures show that in
HAAF aiation accounted for @CM of
total 2& climate change damage.
That is an understatement because it
is based on departing flights only3 if
the calculation is based on return
flights by 2& citizens in HAA? the
figure would be nearer HAM. (y HAFA
aiation, if it were to go on growing
as forecast, would use @CAM of the
carbon the 2& can afford to emit if
we adopt the climate change target
most scientists think is right.
M$th; Cheap li%hts are helpin%
poorer people to l$ or the irst
time.

Fact; 't*s the wealthiest people
who are 2eneitin% rom the
%rowth in a"iation. The a"era%e
annual household income o
8tansted passen%ers is M&3393,3
compared to the a"era%e
30
household income is M303000.
A"era%e 2usiness passen%er
salar$ is M(3333(. @ow7skilled
people and people on 2eneits3
despite makin% up a Fuarter o
the population3 onl$ took (J o
all H! li%hts. Meanwhile the top
Fuarter o the population took
almost hal o all li%hts.
Practical actions 7
We welcome the Catalytic %ction no.I
to make the ground operations of the
airport carbon neutral. !oweer, we
can change all the light-bulbs we
want but if 'anchester %irport keeps
on e1panding, all the other actions
we take are pointless. The first rule
of holes says, when you are in a
hole... stop digging#
The Council should stop e1panding
'anchester %irport.
"ot shut it down, 7ust halt its
growth9
Cap emissions at 'anchester
%irport. '%, can set an annually
reducing cap on the C.H leels from
the flights that it facilitates. It will be
up to the airlines how they can
accommodate this regulation9
-top inesting in adertising that
promotes unsustainable trael9

-top all domestic flights and
unnecessary short haul flights where
alternaties e1ist9
Inest in rail and other
sustainable modes of transport9
Work with local businesses to
incorporate business flights into their
staff trael plans. Work with
workplace trael coordinators to
reduce unnecessary business flights
through the promotion of
teleconferencing and rail alternaties.
0esearch and encourage
alternaties to air freight. +ocal food
production would create 7obs, reduce
food air miles and therefore
emissions.
$rotect our ,reen (elts
through truly sustainable planning
systems which reflect the wishes of
the local community and not
prioritise business interests. True
sustainability brings together a
synthesis of 6conomy, -ocial Well
being and 6nironment.
(ased on the issues discussed in this
section there is a growing consensus
that we will need to stop airport
e1pansion, and to stabilise it at its
current leel. That would not be
depriing anyone of anything they
hae now - merely stopping our
addiction to flying from getting any
worse.
6entually, if we in the 2& are to play
our global role in reducing climate
change, we need to reduce our air
trael.
To illustrate the kind of new thinking
that will be re8uired, in the face of
possible loss of income that is
currently linked to the airport, one
growth area oer the ne1t HA years
could be /irtual tourism/. The
region<s tourist attractions could be
offered ia such a medium, drawing
on the city region<s strong media,
creatie and digital industries - for
e1ample using a combination of real
time digital technology and Jpro1y
tourists< who would go where the
31
distant tourist =for a fee> re8uested.
The point is that the world will
change, is changing and 'anchester
has the great adantages of strong
infrastructure and first moer status
to shape this new world in
sustainable and profitable ways.
,.1.3 7 Eusiness and
.conomic #e"elopment
The Call To %ction is a ery welcome
contribution to the debate in
'anchester on how to moe toward a
low carbon economy but it does not
go far enough.
In order to een limit the immense
impact of climate change in the 2&
and the world radical measures are
needed and soon. % new economic
model is re8uired and action across
eery element of business in
'anchester and the "orthwest.
'anchester, as the leading city in the
"orthwest and particularly within
,reater 'anchester can and should
lead the way toward the new kind of
economy.
The City of 'anchester has embraced
:The 'anchester Way; a set of F key
aims for 'anchester, at the heart of
which is e8uality. The 'anchester
Way must be a low carbon way and
the best way of moing toward a
more e8ual society is by moing away
from an economic model based on
the unsustainable fallacy of
eerlasting growth and e1ploitation of
lowly paid workers both here and in
the deeloping world.
The trickle down economics has failed
leaing a sizeable proportion of
'anchester residents among the
poorest and most disadantaged in
the country. The -ustainable Cities
Inde1 produced by JDorum of the
Duture< rates (ritain<s twenty largest
cities according to social, economic
and enironmental performance9 it
currently ranks 'anchester in @Fth
place.
.ne of the conclusions drawn in the
report is that economic models based
on a grand pro7ect, Jtrophy-collecting<
model of city deelopment is weak at
deliering enironmental benefit and
8uality of life.
0ather than using ,ross "ational
$roduct =,"$> as a measure of the
prosperity of 'anchester we should
focus on indicators that really make a
difference to the happiness and
welfare of citizens in 'anchester.
The "ew 6conomic Doundation
=www.neweconomics.or%> and
others hae proposed sets of
indicators for well-being and it has
been proed repeatedly that well-
being is closed linked with economic
e8uality. The issue in the "orthwest
is not simply the size of the economy,
but R as across the 2nited &ingdom -
the distribution of wealth.
The shift that must take place to
moe to a low carbon economy offers
an unparalleled opportunity for
'anchester to embrace a different
kind of economic model and show the
way for other cities. We welcome the
recognition in CH% that
@ower7car2on liest$les3 includin%
an emphasis on local shops and
acilities can create more
attracti"e3 popular and sociall$7
inte%rated places 5with %ood
e:amples rom 8weden and
#enmark.
A lower car2on econom$ would
32
present opportunities to oster
new technolo%ies and inno"ation
in e:istin% technolo%ies3 as well
as cuttin% input costs and
impro"ed ener%$ plannin%.
That %reenin% the Cit$ would not
onl$ reduce its car2on ootprint
2ut also help with adaptation to
the ine"ita2le climate chan%e
resultin% rom %ases alread$
released.
The 8uestion then becomes how to
moe forward toward a zero growth
low carbon economy.
We acknowledge that any
enironmental business engagement
strategy that 'anchester City Council
adopts cannot be a one size fits all
approach.
'anchester is home to @?,AAA
businesses. The re8uirements and
responsibilities of small 'anchester-
based companies will differ from
those of a 'ultinational.
(elow is a table that attempt to
coney the sizes of enterprises in
'anchester, to understand that when
we think of Jbusiness< we are
addressing not 7ust Jbig business<, but
enterprises of all different shapes,
sizes and organisational structures.
This table shows both 'anchester
registered 2nits and 'anchester
registered 6nterprises.
employees % employees (
A-E @AGEA A-E I@HF
F-I H??F F-I @GEF
@A-@I @8AA @A-@I I@F
HA-EI @CFA HA-EI FCF
FA-II FHA FA-II @EF
@AA-HEI C@F @AA-HEI @AF
HFA-EII @@F HFA-EII IA
FAA-III EF FAA-III
@AAAS HA @AAAS
=)ata taken from ."- R 2&
(usiness3 a R number of 'anchester
0egistered 2nits, b R number of 'anchester
0egistered 6nterprises>
These businesses hae impact on
carbon emissions through the offices
and factories they inhabit, the
conditions and benefits for their staff,
the things they make or serices they
offer, their relationships with other
businesses through procurement or
partnership. 'anchester as a
financial centre influences the
inestment of billions of pounds.
%s well as priate business there is a
large public and oluntary sector in
'anchester producing carbon. The
Climate %ction plan will need to
address eery element of business in
'anchester.
Durthermore the economy of
'anchester can only be understood
in relation to the ,reater 'anchester
regional economy and the wider
economy in the "orthwest, not least
because many of its citizens work
outside 'anchester city itself and are
employed in high carbon industries in
Trafford $ark and elsewhere.
'anchester and its businesses hae
an immensely important role in
influencing and guiding economic
strategy across the region.
%s a contribution to the debate about
the actions needed to moe toward a
low carbon economy we propose the
following.
Eusiness .n%a%ement
The challenges of climate change
cannot be met by a /business as
usual/ response from companies in
'anchester. 6ngagement initiaties
hae to go beyond the usual
suspects, the /win-win/ situations and
the 'arketing 'anager if they are to
33
delier real behaiour change.
0eal %ction calls for all @?,AAA
'anchester businesses to change the
way they do business. ,uiding
principles for meaningful business
engagement should include
transparency and public
commitments to delier measurable
C.H emission cuts.
The Council should deelop a three-
tier strategy for engaging with
businesses in the City.
8mall to Medium enterprises
58M.s6
With small to medium sized
enterprises =-'6s>, the Council
should take an approach based on
the following 8uestions =amongst
others>3 !ow can the Council =and
third party organisations oer which it
has influence>
Make it Fuicker<easier or
mana%ers o 8M.s to include
en"ironmental considerations in
their medium and lon% term
plannin%N
Delp the mana%ers o 8M.s
%et access to en"ironmental 2est
practice3 so the$ can enAo$ irst7
mo"er 2eneits and steal a march
on their lar%er
national<multinational
competitorsN
Be propose that or small
2usinesses3 en%a%ement o
owners<mana%ers should take
place on a local le"el throu%h
nei%h2ourhood oicers3 and
throu%h local tradin%
associations.
%n e1ample of where this approach
has been successful can be found in
,lasgow where the ,oanhill
0ecycling and 6nironmental %ction
Team =,06%T> worked with local
shopkeepers oer the course of a
year to reduce their waste and
energy use, as well as improing the
appearance of their shops.
@ar%er Manchester enterprises
With larger 'anchester-based
enterprises, and national and
multinational enterprises, the
Council/s direct influence is less than
with -'6s. The approach it should
take with these enterprises should be
based primarily on these 8uestions3
!ow can 'CC =and third party
organisations oer which 'CC has
influence>
.ncoura%e the de"elopment
o en"ironmental 2est practice
within lar%e enterprises
operatin% in Manchester3 usin%
opportunities or these
or%anisations to
showcase<ad"ertise e:amples o
corporate en"ironmental and
social responsi2ilit$N
#o this in a wa$ that
ma:imi=es the knowled%e7
transer 2etween these
e:emplars and other Manchester7
2ased enterprisesN
We propose that the Council work
towards a strategic partnership with
,reater 'anchester Chamber of
Commerce for communicating the
Call to %ction to the companies that
are its members in 'anchester.
The (ritish Chambers of Commerce
hae deeloped a Climate Change
Charter for businesses to publicly
pledge reductions in C.H9 and other
Chambers of Commerce, for e1ample
"orfolk, use their website to promote
the Climate Change Charter to their
3&
members. 6ncouraging 'anchester
business publications to support and
disseminate a sustainability message
will also help raise awareness and
engagement leels.
MaAor national and transnational
companies
Dinally, the Council should engage
directly with the smaller number of
larger businesses located in
'anchester through a sector-based
approach. .ne recent e1ample of
such an approach was the
/-ustainable Clothing 0oadmap/
process, launched by the )epartment
of the 6nironment, Darming and
0ural %ffairs =)6D0%> and inoling
ma7or stakeholders across the supply
chain with the aim of improing the
sustainability performance of the 2&
clothing sector. The ma7or output of
the 0oadmap is an %ction $lan setting
out agreed stakeholder actions in the
fie key areas.
This approach seeks to ma1imise the
knowledge transfer between best
practice e1emplars and other
0oadmap stakeholders and could be
adapted to work on a city-regional
leel. We propose that 'anchester
City Council selects three sectors to
focus on based on the scale of their
/indirect/ carbon footprint i.e. the
enironmental impacts associated
with the use of their product and
serice.
We ask that the Council consider all
indiidual :touchpoints; =i.e
opportunities for continuous contact>
they hae with local business, from
planning, to waste management, to
business adice and training, to
property etc. This would include all
touchpoints where 'CC refer the
business to a third party
organisation. We then propose that
'CC audit all these touchpoints and
determine opportunities to make it
easier for business to include
enironmental considerations.

Dor e1ample, when conducting a
commercial property search on the
Council/s website, the business user
is directed to the 'I)%- site to
conduct the search. The Council
should use its influence with 'I)%-
to include the functionality within
their commercial property search to
filter4sort by energy performance
rating. It is a small change that
makes it easier for businesses to
include enironmental considerations
in their decision-making processes.
%ll touchpoints should be ealuated
in such a way to delier any similar
8uick-win solutions that make it
8uicker and easier for the
owner4managers of -'6s to include
enironmental considerations.
.states
The Council should continue with
the Eusiness .n"ironmental
Pled%e3 at least dou2lin%
num2ers o participatin%
companies3 and increasin% the
percenta%e within that who ha"e
reached the 9old standard.
The Council should ensure that
rec$clin% acilities are pro"ided
or all o the propert$ it owns
5whilst also acknowled%in% that
the priorit$ o the *3 R*s is
Reduce3 Reuse and then Rec$cle.
The Council should ensure that
smart meterin% is introduced or
all o the propert$ it owns3 and to
3,
act on the inormation recei"ed to
minimise ener%$ consumption in
those 2uildin%s %oin% orward.
Procurement
#eli"er$ o the Councils
procurement polic$ should 2e
audited 2$ an independent 3rd
part$3 with e:pertise in the area
o ethical procurement.
The Council should pu2lish and
pu2licl$ commit to increasin% the
wei%htin% %i"en to en"ironmental
actors within tenders
si%niicantl$ o"er time.
The Council should pro"ide a ree
9reen Procurement Code to
pro"ide ad"ice to 2usinesses and
other or%anisations3 alon% the
lines o Ma$or o @ondon*s 9reen
Procurement Code
Core 2usiness
The Council should launch and
sponsor "oluntar$ initiati"es in
si: sectors where 2usinesses can
si%n up and work with their peers
to reduce car2on emissions rom
their core acti"ities. .ach o the
si: initiati"es should 2e mana%ed
2$ an independent or%anisation
with e:pertise in car2on
reduction or 2usiness3 or
e:ample Forum or the Future.
'nluence outside
Manchester
't is reco%nised that there is a
serious power im2alance 2etween
multinational and lar%e national
2usinesses3 howe"er the Council
should de"elop relationships with
multinationals and seek to
identi$ an appropriate point o
contact or issues aectin%
Manchester.
Plannin%;
8ection 10( a%reements 7
Authorities can set policies on
theseG the Cit$ Council should set
a polic$ o prioritisin% action on
climate chan%e.
Manchester .conomic
#e"elopment
The Council should set up a scheme
to offer +ocal %uthority (onds to
residents and local businesses.
These were once used to build the
ciic infrastructure and utilities of our
cities and indeed they were a
common source of public finance
until the Thatcher goernment began
the era of constrained local financial
independence and increasing
centralised economic control.
There are no legal constraints on
local authorities raising bonds, but it
has not been encouraged by
goernments since the @I8As.
!oweer this changed when an
important precedent was set whereby
the Treasury authorised Transport for
+ondon =itself a local authority in
legal terms> to issue QGAAm of bonds
as part of its borrowings to improe
transport infrastructure. These were
snapped up by big inestors.
The proen economics of reducing
energy use through efficiency,
combined heat and power and
renewables for buildings make it an
e1cellent choice for funding by such
local authority bonds. $art of the
saings would fund the repayments
due on such bonds.
The Council should pu2licl$
measure its perormance a%ainst
well2ein% indicators 5e.%. Those
3(
o Cew .conomics Foundation6
@ocalisation
6conomic trends oer the past
decades hae seen a steady increase
in the distance traelled by both
people and goods. Whilst the City
Council talk about strengthening local
neighbourhoods, in practice they are
too easily seduced by mega-
deelopments such as the recently-
proposed %irport City, which will
encourage longer-distance
commuting and undermine any
carbon saings elsewhere.
The same approach needs to be
taken with public serices such as
health education and social serices,
and leisure facilities.
The Council should conduct a
mappin% stud$ o car2on
emissions across the Cit$ Re%ionG
The Council should pro"ide or
a capital %rants scheme rom its
economic de"elopment 2ud%et or
or%anisations who reFuire
in"estment to 2e a2le to deli"er
the actions outlined in this
proposalG
The Council should lo22$
9o"ernment to allow le:i2ilit$ in
2usiness rates3 with a "iew to
"ar$in% rates accordin% to the
climate impact o dierent
2usinesses should that 2e
achie"ed.
.:amples o 9ood Practice
Dreiburg, ,ermany3 ,ermany as a
whole has proided around ?FA,AAA
7obs in renewable energy9 een by
those high standards the city of
Dreiburg has achieed new 7ob
creation figures of around E times the
,erman aerage. This is largely
attributable to its -olar City
approach, for more information see
here
www.c&0cities.or%<2estpractices
<ener%$<rei2ur%>ecocit$.Asp
&irklees =!uddersfield and ad7acent
towns>, West Porkshire3 Closer to
home, &irklees has been leading the
way in council work on insulation and
renewable energy. The first council in
(ritain to proide a uniersally free
home insulation scheme, which has
led to a QE.F million reduction in fuel
bills for residents, as well as
proiding 7obs and reducing carbon
dio1ide emissions.
&irklees has now introduced a
renewable energy fund for
households9 this operates on a
reoling loan system with money
being paid back into the scheme
when the house is sold.
The CEA +arge Cities Climate Change
-cheme. Whilst the scheme mainly
coers the world/s ma7or cities,
=+ondon being the only 2&
representatie> - smaller cities can
become affiliates, =as %msterdam
and !eidelberg in ,ermany hae
become>. -igning up as an affiliate
would gie 'anchester better access
to best practices worldwide.
,.1.& I Fuel Po"ert$
%lthough we welcome the seeral
references in the Call to %ction to fuel
poerty, we are concerned that there
is no e1plicit target about reducing
fuel poerty within the document.
We call upon the Council to make
addressing fuel poerty a central
plank of the Climate Change %ction
$lan, and to engage local people who
lie in fuel poerty meaningfully in
3)
the drafting and writing of that $lan.

% household is said to be in fuel
poerty if it needs to spend more
than @AM of its income on fuel to
maintain a satisfactory heating
regime. Duel poerty is ine1tricably
linked to Climate Change because it
inoles an interaction between
energy consumption and the climate.

There are four main factors inoled
in determining fuel poerty3
ener%$ eicienc$G
ener%$ costG
ener%$ usa%e andG
household income.

Duel poerty damages people<s
8uality of life by remoing the
proportion of income aailable for
food, health, education, leisure
actiities and other household bills.
There are also wider costs on the
community and the direct effects in
relation to the health of people liing
in cold homes as cold homes are
susceptible to increased incidence of
internal fungus =including moulds and
mildews> and increased mite
populations.

0esidents liing in under-occupied
accommodation =usually resulting
from children leaing home and
spouse death> are a ma7or proportion
of those liing in fuel poerty. %
programme enabling ulnerable
people find suitable and comfortable
accommodation needs to be initiated,
implementing the e1pertise across all
sectors of society. This will not only
help reduce fuel poerty and curb
energy waste

Barm Oones is a not7or7proit
compan$ and a wholl$ owned
su2sidiar$ o Cational .ner%$
Action a national charit$. Barm
Oones deli"ers aorda2le warmth
to low7income and other
"ulnera2le amilies as well as
ener%$ eicienc$ measures or
the /a2le7to7pa$

Characteristicall$ Barm Oones
in"ol"es s$stematic identiication
o uel po"ert$ cases3 and ener%$
eicienc$ statistics o all
households in an area and the co7
ordinated customer7ocussed
deli"er$ o eicienc$
impro"ements and related
ser"ices to low income
households throu%h reerral to
Barm Front I a 9o"ernment
unded initiati"e. -ther ser"ices
include income ma:imisation and
ener%$ and de2t mana%ement.
Barm Oones also pro"ide
emplo$ment opportunities or
local people.

Duel poerty is part of a wider
problem of poerty and social
e1clusion caused by a combination of
high energy prices, low incomes and
poor housing conditions9 none of
which are dealt with well enough at
present through tactics that rely on
the :trickle-down; effect of the
oerall economic growth strategy or
by regeneration programmes that
hae tended to :slash and burn and
start again; rather than applying a
7oined up remedy.
"eertheless there is an opportunity
to augment the (etter !omes
standards with much higher local
standards for energy efficiency.
We also argue that there is scope for
much greater public participation in
3+
the greening of the housing stock, a
strategy that breaks cycles of
dependency and builds responsibility
for the ital maintenance of the
energy efficiency gains whether in
new build or retrofitted energy
efficient housing.

.2ico has 2een leadin% the wa$ in
cuttin% household ener%$ 2ills
since 199+. As a not7or7proit
compan$3 their core aim is to put
people 2eore proits I and to
pro"ide aorda2le ener%$ or
e"er$ home.

With no shareholders to keep happy,
they don<t hae to deal out diidends
to anyone. Instead, they can put all
of their resources into proiding fair
rates for eery customer, regardless
of their income or circumstances, or
how they choose to pay. 6bico seeks
to fight against fuel poerty and the
depriation is causes. It also works
to redress the bias towards profit in
the energy market by offering iable
alternaties that are e8uitable and
fair to initiate and practise wise
stewardship of resources. $lease see
www.e2ico.co.uk for more details.
,.2
Cei%h2ourhoods o
Choice
,.2.1 7 .ner%$
We applaud the work the Council is
doing as part of the $6$6-6C,
=$artnership 6nergy $lanning as a
tool for 0ealising 6uropean
-ustainable 6nergy Communities R
www.pepesec.eu> and we note with
interest the work being done at the
%ssociation of ,reater 'anchester
%uthorities =%,'%> leel on
renewable energy.
%s per the later section in the Call to
0eal %ction entitled NTransitionN, we
call upon the Council to start the
truly radical process of enisaging an
N6nergy )escentN programme. It is
only against a framework of
managing a planned decrease in
energy demand that we can build a
stronger, climate-resilient society. We
are well aware that this goes against
the grain of current economic
thought.
9as
In the nineteenth century and until
the mid-si1ties of the twentieth
century 'anchester/s gas supply was
typical of its era R large, smelly and
dangerously polluting coal-baking
plants :the gas works;, operating in
the poorer areas of the city =eg in
'iles $latting>, but also furnishing
the wealthier areas =e.g. Whalley
0ange>, produced both coal gas,
piped under pressure throughout the
city, and coke, essential to commerce
and metallurgy.
This :town gas; gas had two main
components3 carbon mono1ide, the
easily combustible but infamously
poisonous part, and hydrogen, clean-
burning, non-poisonous and - aboe
all, not climate changing - but
impossible to e1tract on its own from
coal without sacrificing the profitable
mono1ide component.
The releance of this infrastructural
inheritance to the present-day carbon
reduction4suppression challenge is
that the whole underground
distribution pipework is now used to
39
distribute the successor to coal4gas,
natural gas from the "orth -ea,
0ussia, %lgeria, 5atar and further
afield.
What had been a semi-indigenous
industry, offering :security of supply;,
using (ritish coal and technology,
locally processed, is now a mere
component of a global system, totally
out of the control of 'anchester or
any larger city or conurbation.
.ur gaseous inheritance is therefore
a powerful agent of global warming,
and yet essential for our present
physical surial. This conundrum
cannot be soled by 'anchester alone
R howeer, our city acting in concert
with other concerned parties =see
Juniersities< below> may find a
solution, comprising hydrogen or not.
In the meantime a rigorous
imposition of instruments already in
'anchester/s hands, for e1ample the
+ocal ,oernment %ct of HAAA, which
permits all councils to :do anything
which they consider is likely to
achiee; the :promotion of
social4enironmental well-being of
their area; may make inroads into
our carbon emissions and prime us
psychologically and electorally for the
harder decisions to come. Dirm
directies =see Jdirecties< below>
hae not yet been fully applied.
.lectricit$
%s with gas, so with electricity R
'anchester and all its citizens, public
institutions and enterprises are locked
in to a network of wires and
distribution centres which date from
the first decades of the twentieth
century. 'oreoer the transmitted
electricity is generated in the same
old way R by burning fossil carbon,
and releasing the uncapturable
carbon dio1ide into the atmosphere.
In the opinion of $rof "ick *enkins,
an electrical engineer based at
'anchester 2niersity, who has
researched the future of the grid
under both partial and total
renewable inputs, it would be
:unwise; to dismantle the grid and its
local dependencies, as it already
e1ists as an e1pensiely constructed
resource, and can be turned to good
use, in con7unction with locally
generated renewable electricity.
The challenge for 'anchester is
therefore the same as for all
electricity-dependent conurbations3
to accept the aim of zero dependence
on fossil carbon for the generation of
its electricity, to work assiduously for
the attainment of this aim, and in the
meantime to press for and to achiee
continuing reductions in our use of
electricity.
It is not yet clear that the City
authorities hae fully accepted this
goal, in spite of being signed up
adherents to %genda H@, and in spite
of its seeming addiction to :iconic;
pro7ects, such as the talk at one time
of a few large wind turbines spread
oer the larger conurbation.
.ner%$ Choices
With its two large uniersities, or
three with -alford in the larger
conurbation, its wide range of
technological businesses and a
partially committed public, it should
be possible for the city to think its
way forward, out of the present
carbon morass into the entirely
renewable future. The time has
&0
passed when iconic or e1emplary
pro7ects sere any useful purpose3
iconics and e1emplifications hae
already been in place throughout
6urope, in 'erton and "ottingham in
the 2&, in Dreiburg in ,ermany, and
elsewhere.
They hae sered their purpose3 for
'anchester to build an isolated urban
turbine, or another low-carbon
demonstration house, can hae no
effect on the citizenry or on
adancing the zero-carbon agenda.
%ctiity of an altogether greater order
of magnitude is called for.
A"oidin% the Mistakes o the
Past
The 2rbis Centre, which is deoted to
the display of the glories of the
modern city, features a spectacular
whole-length sloping roof, which
would hae been ideal for the
mounting of solar capture deices R if
it did not face due north. The solar
sabotage is complete, and it should
simply hae neer been accepted as a
design within a city which wishes to
be at the forefront of sustainability.
The (eetham Tower, the tallest
habitable building in 'anchester,
features a generously wide flank
facing due south R ideal for solar
capture. %gain, no adantage of this
orientation has been taken so as to
generate clean electricity. If the city
is to be taken seriously in the future
as Jiconically< progressie, such
mistakes must not be repeated. =The
only large solar array in the city, a
CAA AAA pound photooltaic cladding
of the CI- building, was an initiatie
of the Co-operatie bank - a potential
senior partner in the council/s
strategies gien its ethical base and
secure financial model>.
2nfortunately, many such errors hae
been allowed, including the
construction during the late
=un>lamented building boom of ery
many apartment blocks featuring a
great area of windows and glass
walling. There is no single solid
element of any building which leaks
heat so copiously as glass. Why, it
may be asked, was there no political
or official oice, enironmentally
guided, to arrest this thermodynamic
disasterO
The Hni"ersities
Within 'anchester 2niersity,
'anchester 'etropolitan 2niersity
and -alford 2niersity there is a
great deal of e1pertise in all the
skills, science, technology and arts
which, in concert, could lead to a
partially or een one day a fully
sustainable city. The Jconcert< does
not yet e1ist, and the will, the
necessary sense of urgency, to bring
it into e1istence shows little sign of
burgeoning.
There is no doubt that a :climate
solution supremo;, such as has
e1isted in 'erton, well funded,
politically supported, with a
functioning secretariat, would be a
true boon for the city.
The skills which so badly need to be
co-ordinated between the Council
and the arious uniersity
departments include chemical
engineering =to research non-fossil
fuels>, building and architecture,
town planning, law, electrical
engineering, sociology =to research
the possible acceptance of a non-
fossil fuelled society by the citizens of
&1
'anchester>, all aspects of renewable
energy, both as electricity and as
storable non-carbon fuel, and climate
modelling for the "orth West.
If 'anchester is to become a
powerhouse of ideas to sole the
carbon conundrum =without it we
perish now, with it we perish later>, it
should take the lead in establishing
such an approach to climate change
solutions.
Practical action I
The :'emorandum of 2nderstanding;
between the Council and 2niersities
must be released as soon as possible,
and its implications e1plained to the
staff of all releant organisations.
The ener%$ suppl$ challen%e
-ince 'anchester citizens consume as
much energy per head per year as
other 2& citizens, with the richer
consuming more than the poor, it is
clear that such energy cannot be
sourced within the city boundaries.
The figures tell the story.
6ach 2& resident has access on
aerage to one kilowatt of
commercial electric power. This
re8uires the city of 'anchester to
hae about FAA megawatts of
electrical power at its disposal, the
e8uialent of a fairly large generating
unit, or FAA ery large wind turbines,
of which scarcely one could be sited
within city boundaries. It is therefore
clear, for electricity alone, that our
supply must be imported. 'oreoer,
the city does not hae enough roof
space for ery much solar electricity,
which in any case has to e1ist as an
ad7unct to the e1isting grid.
It is for this reason that the Call to
%ction needs e1tending on a bio-
regional basis, that is to the city
region and the surrounding
countryside within which larger
footprint there is potential for greater
self sufficiency not 7ust in energy but
in food too. % bio-regional focus
would bring into play larger scale
water and wind power, pumped
storage, solar and sustainable
biomass =from woodland>.
Within the city itself there is scope
for solar thermal, solar electric,
ground source heat bump, and
community wind power =for e1ample
along the 'ersey alley or in the
northern edge of the city>.
TD. CARE-C C-7-P
Car2on Co7op is creatin% a lar%e
scale3 2ulk 2u$in% co7operati"e
that will allow its mem2ers to
purchase low car2on
technolo%ies cheapl$ and easil$ 7
e"er$thin% rom ener%$ monitors
to solar panels. -ur model seeks
to o"ercome the catch 22
situation that consumer demand
or low car2on technolo%ies is
low due to hi%h retail prices 2ut
costs wont drop until demand
increases.
#e"eloped 2$ low winter sun and
HRE.# Co7op3 the Car2on Co7op
was shortlisted in the Ei% 9reen
Challen%e competition and won
throu%h to 8ocial 'nno"ation
Camp 200+. The proAect is 2ein%
piloted in 8outh Manchester and
will conduct urther market
research in 2009 with a "iew to
launchin% the proAect in 2009<10.
&2
,.2.2 7 Dousin%
% great deal of the carbon-based
energy used in 'anchester is used to
heat homes and water. %s the Ca0(
Consortium =partly staffed by
'anchester 2niersity, HAAE> states
:energy intensie behaiours are
becoming embedded within eeryday
domestic life;.
It is difficult and ery e1pensie, to
retrofit the traditional 'anchester
house so that its energy consumption
is haled R and yet haling is not
sufficient to arrest our contribution to
climate change.
%s a further e1ample, the :EAM
!ouse; proposed by the .1ford
6nironmental Change Institute as a
replacement for present-day standard
housing, as new build or as retrofit, is
an e1pensie item, and would cost
the Council unobtainable amounts of
money, een 7ust for its own estate.
Practical action I
The Council should commission
urgent scoping work to know the
specifics of the scale of the problem it
faces.
We do not yet hae a precise
description of 'anchester/s own
housing, sector by sector and type by
type. .nly with such data may it be
possible to plan for a low-energy,
zero-carbon future. Dor e1ample, how
many s8uare metres of uninsulated
e1terior solid walls do we hae within
city boundariesO Without such
calculations it is impossible to design
a future whose main aim is climate
protection.
The Council has a waiting list for
social housing which approaches
CA,AAA. This list does not include
couples liing with their parents or
friends, unable to afford to buy in a
market still out-of-reach and knowing
that signing on to a waiting list
without some special claim is
pointless. 'eanwhile, the recession
has left the city littered with empty
and half-finished building schemes
which hae been simply abandoned
by property deelopers.
There are no statistics aailable on
the number of these properties but
casual obseration suggests that
there are many such situations. %s
an e1ample, one of 'anchester
Council<s flagship programmes for
urban regeneration, the "ew
Islington scheme, now resembles the
-omme battlefield with little sign of
actiity. "earby seeral half-finished
blocks stand idle whilst blocks and
whole streets in %ncoats, emptied by
the Council for demolition or
Jrefurbishment< by the priate sector,
also stand empty and boarded up.
!oweer, this parlous situation also
contains opportunity. The
goernment announced in its $re-
(udget 0eport =$(0> that Q??F
million in funds for housing and
regeneration would be brought
forward into the current year<s
budget and made aailable to local
authorities precisely to buy up
unfinished pro7ects and complete
them to high energy efficiency
standards for social housing. This is
7ust what 'anchester Council needs
to do. The funds are aailable, the
work could start almost immediately
proiding 7obs for local construction
workers and the waiting lists for
social housing could begin to come
down.
&3
Practical action I
The Council should immediately
prepare inentories of potential
pro7ects and begin the process of
purchasing suitable properties. 6mpty
council property should be deeloped
immediately for family occupation. It
is a social as well as an economic
crime that housing should stand
empty or half-finished, whilst building
workers receie the dole and families
wait for years on housing lists.
,.2.3 7 Food and Climate
Chan%e
'anchester must both reduce its
greenhouse gas emissions and
increase its ability to cope with the
changes climate change will bring.
!ow we feed ourseles is a ital part
of this, something that did not
receie enough attention in the Call
to %ction.
!ow we grow, process, package,
transport, store, cook, eat and
dispose of our food has seere effects
on the climate. Changes in the
climate lead to changes in the way we
grow, transport and store our food,
as well as how much our food costs
and how this effects our economy and
the incidence of famine.
The City Council should start thinking
about the issue in terms of :food
security;.
Food Security "eans that ood is
availa%le at all ti"esB that all persons
have "eans o access to oodB that it
is nutritionally ade+uate in ter"s o
+uality, +uantity and varietyB and
that it is accepta%le )ithin the given
culture. .nly )hen all these
conditions are in place can a
population %e considered ood
Secure. - 2nited "ations Dood T
%griculture .rganisation
The World Wildlife Dund =WWD> found
that the aerage personal carbon
footprint in (ritain for food was
almost HCM of the total emissions
per person9 this is more that
transport or home energy. %griculture
alone produces almost IM of the
total ,!, emissions in the 2&.
6ffectiely we<re eating oil.

The emissions embodied in food can
be categorised in terms of3
Fertilisers and pesticides
Farm machiner$ or
culti"ation and arm7side
processin%
#istri2ution
8tora%e
Processin%
Preparation
Basta%e
6ach of these needs tackling in a
comprehensie climate change
strategy. !ere we focus on items @,
C, and ? to illustrate elements of a
comprehensie food security and
food emissions strategy.
Fertilisers and pesticides
The production of food on an
industrial scale has re8uired energy
subsidies in the form of inorganic
fertilisers and pesticides R the former
to boost yields and then deal with
conse8uent soil degradation, the
latter to deal with the conse8uences
of forced growth monoculture. This
is why organic food is an integral
element of the strategy. When we
use organic food we remoe the
harmful emissions associated with
the manufacture of synthetic
&&
fertilisers and pesticides.
Practical action 7
'anchester should strie to become
the 2&<s first .rganic city, using
realistic but ambitious year on year
targets for the proportion of the food
consumed in the city from organic
cultiation. There should be e1tended
cross sector and agency working,
bringing on board 'anchester schools
and the $CT amongst others, to
ensure that public sector
procurement of food is geared
towards organic.
The Council should work in
partnership with local organic food
producers such as ,lebeland in -outh
'anchester, Kest, the &indling Trust
and Dood Dutures to produce a +ocal
T .rganic Dood -trategy for
increasing the amount of organic food
'anchester can produce.
The Council should assist in setting
up Community Interest Companies
and -ocial 6nterprises to educate and
promote the organic moement to
business and local people, and ensure
local 7obs can be made in the organic
sector.
Food Transport
Dood miles increased by @FM in the
@A years to HAAH. The aerage
distance we now drie to shop for
food each year is 8I8 miles,
compared with ?E? miles a decade
ago. Dood transport accounts for
HFM of all the miles drien by heay
goods ehicles on our roads. The use
of !,Bs to transport food has
doubled since @I?E. @I'tC which
accounts for were emitted in HAAH in
the course of getting our food to us, a
@HM increase on @IIH. %irfreight, the
most polluting form of food transport
and is growing fastest.

'anchester, through the proposed
+ocal T .rganic Dood -trategy must
proide opportunities for local people
not only to grow their own organic
food, but increase the number of
opportunities to buy locally grown
organic food through the
establishment of a +ocal T .rganic
Dood 'arkets Initiatie.
This initiatie must be open in the
eening in all ma7or district centres
across the city to enable working
citizens the same opportunities to
buy locally grown organic food from
local retailers as those who hae
more fle1ible purchasing hours.
The Council and its partners should
work with City Co. to encourage
ma7or retailers and restaurants
operating across the city procure a
much higher proportion of their
commodities through a programme
e.g. 'anchester +ies .rganic
-cheme which could bulk-purchases
organic products at a reduced price,
ensuring cheaper organic food for all.
Food Baste
%ppro1imately one third of all food
bought in the 2& is thrown away
=W0%$> leading to @8'tCe 4 year
through the release of ,!,s through
decomposition in landfill or
incineration. Dor eery tonne of food
waste produced, E.F tonnes of C.He
is released.
% W0%$ report into waste arising
from schools in 6ngland found that
the proportion of food found in waste
from primary schools was more than
twice as high as the proportion of
&,
food waste found in waste from
households =EGM compared to HHM>.
The proportion of food waste found in
secondary schools was a third higher
than from households =C@M
compared to HHM>.

We welcome the fact that a food
waste collection serice will begin
shortly in some areas. !oweer, this
must be rolled out across eery
home, business and facility within the
city9 with the distribution of food
scraps caddies, arying in size and
8uantity depending on need. Dood
waste should be collected and sent to
either large organic matter facilities
to be turned into either high 8uality
compost or renewable energy.

%s part of the +ocal T .rganic Dood
-trategy the Council should produce
an information document e1plaining
how to reduce the amount of food
waste and food packaging waste our
homes and business produces.
(uilding on e1isting good practice in
the city there are two programmes
desere which desere special
interest.
Dood Dutures R this is the 'anchester
food strategy and has set out a
number of alues and aims one of
which is to protect the local and
global enironment.
www.oodutures.ino
'aking +ocal Dood Work R is a (ig
+ottery Dund programme aiming to
connect land T people through food
by a number of initiaties many of
which are beneficial to the
enironment.
www.makin%localoodwork.co.uk

!oweer, we also urge the adoption
of a bioregional food procurement
strategy to source the greater bulk of
the food eaten in the city from within
the ,reater 'anchester (ioregion R
the conurbation plus the ne1t HA
miles or so of rural surrounds. This
would be augmented with regional,
national and international products in
descending order of magnitude.

Dinally we propose a strategy to
reduce wasteful food trade
contraflowsU@V which has the
elegance of reducing emissions, fuel
use, and road congestion with no
reduction in the supply of foodstuffs.
U@V $roduct contraflows =our term> take at
least two forms.
$roducts =e.g. non-speciality cheese>
are produced in area % and sold in area (
while identical or e8uialent products are
produced in area ( and sold in area %.
% product =e.g. milk> is produced in
area %, processed in area ( and then taken
back to area % for sale and consumption.
Dor some shocking e1amples see the "6D
Interdependence 0eport at
http;<<tin$url.com<dkcm)s
,.2.& 7 Transition
"#anchester led the )orld in driving
social progress through innovation.
6ithin the =< and perhaps %eyond,
the ield is open to take a lead on
cli"ate change action and, )here it
"akes sense to do so, to pre-e"pt
and inluence rather than ollo) the
path o national legislation and policy
and "arket changes." - Call To %ction
pE
'anchester played a central role in
the Industrial 0eolution, the
innoations and technologies that
were deeloped here in this city
&(
changed the face of the world. The
city has been proud to remember and
put claim to these innoations and to
celebrate its bold and creatie history.
%s a child from a 'ancunian family,
the author of this section remembers
her mother saying with pride Jwhat
'anchester does today the world
does tomorrow<.
.ne hundred and eighty years later
and we are truly e1periencing the
conse8uences of the industrial
reolution. .ur global climate is now
heading towards a Jtipping point<,
estimated to be in HA@F, at which
point we will no longer be able to
preent mass e1tinction. The great
in7ustice is9 that the worst affected
are those who most probably hae
neither heard of the industrial
reolution nor e1perienced any
benefit from it.
We now hae the opportunity, the
creatie resources, and responsibility
to take a lead in a new reolution.
.ne that will ultimately determine
humans< continued e1istence. 5uite
simply we need to lie in harmony
with our surroundings. To do this we
need to turn inwards and look at what
resources the city has and outwards
to people who know how to lie
without destroying their enironment.
It is a time for humility and ingenuity.
Collectiely we must redesign the
systems that are not sustaining us
and we need to do it now.
"The task or #anchester is to %ring
local, grass-roots, co""unity-%ased
collective action together )ith the
inluence, capacity and resources o
organisations in govern"ent and
%usiness to sei@e the opportunity or
the city and to create a %roader
coalition or action dra)n ro" all
aspects o #anchester lie. This
"eans developing a ra"e)ork or
action that is )idely understood and
shared across the city, enco"passing
private, voluntary and pu%lic sectors.
It "eans "aking it clear )hat
#anchester residents and %usinesses
are %eing asked to do and ho) they
and their city can %eneit." - Call To
%ction pE
Bhat is TransitionN
A Transition 'nitiati"e is a
communit$ workin% to%ether to
look Peak -il and Climate Chan%e
sFuarel$ in the e$e and address
this E'9 Fuestion4
Por all those aspects o lie that
this communit$ needs in order to
sustain itsel and thri"e3 how do
we si%niicantl$ increase
resilience 5to miti%ate the eects
o Peak -il6 and drasticall$
reduce car2on emissions 5to
miti%ate the eects o Climate
Chan%e6NP
The dri"in% orce 2ehind
Transition has 2een a %rowin%
%rassroots realisation that the
issues o climate chan%e and
peak oil are real3 that we need to
act to%ether to address them
now3 and that i we do so
correctl$ we ha"e the
opportunit$ to create a uture
that is not onl$ lower in car2on
usa%e 2ut also more "i2rant and
enAo$a2le.
The past two $ears ha"e 2orne
witness to the phenomenal
worldwide %rowth o the
Transition mo"ement. From a
standin% start it has now %rown
to o"er 1,0 *oicial* Transition
&)
Communities worldwide. These
include rural locations such as
@ewes and the Forest o #ean3 as
well as cities includin% @i"erpool
and Eristol and ur2an areas such
as Eri:ton in @ondon.
'nternationall$ @os An%eles H8A3
FuAino 1apan and 8$dne$
Australia are Aust some o the
places that ha"e 2ecome *oicial*
Transition Communities. More
than +00 other communities
around the world includin%
Manchester are in the process o
settin% up initiati"es.
The Transition process;

Awareness raisin% around
peak oil3 climate chan%e and the
need to undertake a communit$
lead process to re2uild resilience
and reduce car2on emissions
Connectin% with e:istin%
%roups in the communit$
Euildin% 2rid%es to local
%o"ernment
Connectin% with other
transition initiati"es
Formin% %roups to look at
all the ke$ areas o lie 5ood3
ener%$3 transport3 health3 heart Q
soul3 economics Q li"elihoods3
etc6
8tartin% proAects aimed at
2uildin% peopleKs understandin%
o resilience and car2on issues
and communit$ en%a%ement
."entuall$ launchin% a
communit$ deined3 communit$
implemented /.ner%$ #escent
Action Plan0 o"er a 1, to 20 $ear
time7scale
This results in a coordinated
ran%e o proAects across all these
areas o lie that stri"es to re2uild
the resilience we ha"e lost as a
result o cheap oil and reduce the
communit$*s car2on emissions
drasticall$.
Transition proides a system for
public participation in enironmental
decision-making. Dor a community to
change its behaiour on the scale
that is re8uired the collectie
imagination needs to be tapped into
and harnessed.
(y starting with a ision of a positie
future of, say, what food and farming
will look like in HACA, we can then
/backcast/ or work backwards to
/remember/ how we got there, what
the key eents were, etc. This can be
done for different aspects of the
community such as energy, building
T housing, economy T lielihoods,
education, goernance, art T culture,
health T well-being, transport,
biodiersity, water, waste, community
issues, youth issues, etc.
Through the narraties that emerge
from the community, the 6nergy
)escent %ction $lan becomes the
story of how the community can
moe through this era. The 6)%$ is
therefore not at all a dry plan, but
instead a ibrant ision that entices
and compels people to a particular
future.
."ents
Throughout HAAI the City Council will
be running :$roud of 'anchester;,
focusing on life in 'anchester and
enabling residents to make the most
of the opportunities aailable to
them, including the opportunity to
improe the 8uality of their lies and
those of their friends, families and
their wider communities.
&+
We beliee that the answers and
solutions to climate change can be
found by asking the right 8uestions to
the right people and by inoling all
citizens in the great system rethink
and redesign. The Council can work
with the TC' to identify indiiduals
and groups who can help with this.
+ocal residents associations, charities,
campaign groups, research centres
and the 2niersities, to name but a
few.
TC' is planning a gathering of
representaties from all local
community groups, campaign
organisations and community leaders.
We will introduce TC', gather ideas
and deelop the network.
In order to harness the power of
collectie isioning TC' is
researching the feasibility of creating
a silent s8uare in the city centre. This
would be a way of proiding a
contemplatie place for citizens to
imagine how they would like the city
to be in @A and HA years time. $eople
will be asked to write down their
ideas and hang them on one of the
trees in the s8uare, thereby creating
a Jwishing tree.< This will help us to
start the energy descent action plan.
TC' will organize a series of
informatie eents about climate
change and $eak oil including lecture
series, film showings and workshops.
6ach eent will be tailored around the
targeted attendees.
TC' will organise a series of eents
with community groups to encourage
the e1change of knowledge between
enironmental e1perts4 social
psychologists etc. and local citizens.
To together plan what changes need
to be made in locations where people
currently feel no connection with
their surroundings.
Practical actions I
That all 'CC elected members and
employees attend a Climate Change
and $eak .il information session that
will not only keep employees
informed and up to date, but will
e1plore how an understanding of the
issues might inform their work.
%ll City Council building and those
with City council contracts to be
gien support to introduce grey water
flushing systems R that 'CC proides
information and adice for all large
buildings, offices and hotels etc. to
support the introduction of such
systems.
To implement a city Jswitch off<
campaign following in the footsteps
of -ydney, %ustralia. %ll shops and
offices that are not being used at
night to turn off their lights.
That 'CC proides up to date climate
change information that specifically
affects the city e.g. Dlooding
predictions and 'CC response plan.
To be published in the public domain.
That 'CC creates initially fie re-
skilling and ecology centres in each
area of 6ast, West, "orth, -outh and
inner city 'anchester. The centres
would comprise an eco show house,
ecological information for how we can
change our lifestyles to reduce
carbon emissions4 energy use and
proide classes and workshops. 'any
skills once passed generation to
generation hae been lost, the re-
skilling centres would proide an
opportunity to pass on such skills as
&9
horticulture, sewing, cooking etc. In
so doing they will both aid community
cohesion and will add to a personal
sense of well-being and confidence.
To initiate a four day working week.
The fifth day to become a community
action day. Dor the scale of change
re8uired oer the ne1t few years we
hae to fundamentally change our
alue system and this step change in
working practices would help to
achiee that. The "!- and
enironment agencies are e1tremely
dependent upon the oluntary sector,
statistics reeal that the sector is
increasing year by year and inoles
oer HA million people. Boluntary
work proides and e1cellent way to
increase a sense of well being and
community inolement.
www.time2ank.or%.uk<mediacent
re<research.php
To create an inentory of all aailable
empty plots for community groups to
grow food and to create a new
category of land planning designation
/for enironmentally sustainable
community use/. There are now many
emerging schemes across the country
and here in 'anchester who hae
begun to utilise land for growing
food.
www.channel&.com<landshare
www.incredi2le7edi2le7
todmorden.co.uk
http;<<a2undancemanchester.wo
rdpress.com
.er the ne1t HA years, e1isting and
new interentions will help to
transform the City Centre into an
een more accessible, pedestrian-
friendly, dynamic enironment and to
future-proof it against the impacts of
ineitable climate change.
The city centre needs to prioritize the
pedestrian and it needs to hae a
function other than as a centre for
shopping. To initiate this process of
change, TC' would like to promote a
traffic free day once a month
=e1cluding emergency ehicles>. The
day would then be used to promote
walking, cycling, roller blading etc. %
city 8uickly becomes animated under
the right conditions.
'anchester is already witnessing
innoatie public realm
deelopments. The city has some
leading designers in the field. e.g.
.ld 'ill -treet in "ew Islington is an
e1ample of implementing changing
alues into public spaces.
www.martinstockle$associates.c
o.uk<portolio>pa%es<portolio>0
&>01.html
,.3
Mutual Respect Q
8el7esteem
,.3.1 7 Dealth and social
care
We are delighted that the Call to
%ction recognises that lower-impact
liing will directly improe health as
well as reducing emissions. !oweer,
we are concerned that the document
is e1tremely ague on how the
Council will encourage these lifestyle
changes.
We also support the Call to %ction/s
points about self-respect instilled by
liing low-carbon lifestyles, and
would add that elderly people and
,0
people with disabilities - groups
occasionally oerlooked - should not
be e1cluded from this. There should
be inestment in infrastructure of
buildings used for social care - which
are often people/s homes - as well as
other housing. Contractors to the
council should be set high
enironmental standards and be
helped to achiee them. !igh
planning standards should be applied
to health care buildings, including
hospitals which are ma7or power
users and hence emitters.
We note with approal the recognition
of sustainable transport and food
systems as a key public health issues.
There are obious e1ercise benefits
from encouraging walking and cycling
as well as health benefits from
reducing pollution. These habits need
to be instilled at an early age, ideally
in schools. Transforming our
communities so that they are
friendlier to pedestrians than cars is
therefore essential. There is no point
lecturing children and parents about
the benefits of walking if they are too
scared to do it.
% further consideration is to mitigate
the now ineitable impacts of climate
change on the most ulnerable. This
includes robust plans for managing
the impacts of weather e1tremes
such as heat waes on the elderly
and also building up resilience in
systems for the most dependent
should the infrastructure of the city
be weakened through systemic
shocks =e.g. through oils price
impacts on food, transportation,
heating>. The Council<s e1cellent
emergency planning and business
continuity frameworks proide a firm
foundation for this necessary work.
,.3.2 7 Resilience
We welcome the fre8uent references
to :resilience; in the Call to %ction,
but are concerned that it is not
defined. Without a strict definition, it
will become a slippery ad7ectie,
applied to all sorts of pro7ects, and
thus dealued.
If :resilience; is not to go the same
way as /sustainable/, /green/, etc.,
then 'anchester City Council must
say what it means by resilience in the
conte1t of climate change, and
adhere to this definition.
Resilience is.../the a2ilit$ to
a2sor2 distur2ances3 to 2e
chan%ed and then to re7or%anise
and still ha"e the same identit$
5retain the same 2asic structure
and wa$s o unctionin%6. 't
includes the a2ilit$ to learn rom
the distur2ance. A resilient
s$stem is or%i"in% o e:ternal
shocks. As resilience declines the
ma%nitude o a shock rom which
it cannot reco"er %ets smaller
and smaller. Resilience shits
attention rom purel$ %rowth and
eicienc$ to needed reco"er$ and
le:i2ilit$. 9rowth and eicienc$
alone can oten lead ecolo%ical
s$stems3 2usinesses and
societies into ra%ile ri%idities3
e:posin% them to tur2ulent
transormation. @earnin%3
reco"er$ and le:i2ilit$ open e$es
to no"elt$ and new worlds o
opportunit$.0
www.resalliance.or%<,(&.php
We also recognise and applaud the
work that the Council has done with
psychological resilience and children,
for e1ample3
,1
the roll out o the #ental (ealth in
Schools )ork to ive high schools, the
i"ple"entation o =< Desilience in
nine high schools in Septe"%er
:11EF1> and continuing in the sa"e
schools in :11>F1; and the
continued ocus on e"%edding the
social and e"otional aspects o
learning "aterials 2SAAC4 in pri"ary,
secondary and special schools-
www.manchester.go.uk4downloads48
.AL6motionalL!ealthLandLWellbeing.
pdf
!oweer, so far it seems that most of
the thinking, planning and doing
around resilience in ,reater
'anchester is focussed on
maintaining :Critical "ational
Infrastructure.; =e.g. the City
Council/s 6mergency $lanning Team
are inoled in the ,reater
'anchester 0esilience Dorum, the
0esilience and )eelopment ,roup
and the 6mergency $lanning +iaison
,roup>.
While all these actions are ital, the
Council must begin working with
:ordinary people; to deelop plans for
how 'anchester will feed itself, grow
its own food and meet as many of its
needs as is practical and sensible in a
world where energy and carbon are
e1pensie, water and land is scarce,
and preiously reliable :ecological
serices; =pollination of crops, flood
protection etc> become scarce or
intermittent.
Practical actions 7
The Council commits to a simple,
measurable definition of resilience,
and undertakes only to use the
phrase where appropriate.
Desilience results ro" %eing a%le to
ace up to reality, i"provise in the
ace o una"iliar challenges, and at
the sa"e ti"e ind a source o
'"eaning' in the challenges that
encourages long-ter" thinking )hile
air"ing a sustaining sense o
purpose. - Coutu, HAAH, !arard
(usiness 0eiew
The Council commissions scoping
work oer how to create resilience in
indiiduals, communities, systems of
food and transport. The Council also
takes part in a series of public
debates around resilience, initing
groups such as the 'anchester
$ermaculture "etwork, &indling Trust
and 2nicorn ,rocery and the
0esilience %lliance to participate.
The Council publicises the
outcomes of both the scoping work
and the debates, and integrates
comments, and includes a
comprehensie section R written in
partnership with releant indiiduals
and groups- within the Climate
Change %ction plan to be launched
later this year.
The Council adopts the slogan of
:mitigate for H, adapt for E;. This
means the Council should continue to
reduce =mitigate> its carbon
emissions to a leel that would, if
adopted by the entire world, gie a
high likelihood of keeping below a
two degrees aboe pre-Industrial
,lobal %erage Temperature, while at
the same time acting to adapt to a E
degree aboe pre-Industrial aerage,
on the assumption that other
countries/ reduction efforts will not be
as successful as 'anchester/s.
The Council publicises the ery
,2
good work done by the 6co-cities
pro7ect and the :-ustainable Cities3
.ptions for 0esponding to Climate
Change Impacts and .utcomes;
=-C.0C!I.> group at 'anchester
2niersity.
The Council helps with the
establishment of a centre for self-
reliance that can then spread its
learning, along the lines of the
Institute for +ocal -elf-0eliance
=www.ilsr.or%>. :The Institute<s
mission is to proide innoatie
strategies, working models and timely
information to support
enironmentally sound and e8uitable
community deelopment. To this end,
I+-0 works with citizens, actiists,
policy-makers and entrepreneurs to
design systems, policies and
enterprises that meet local or
regional needs9 to ma1imize human,
material, natural and financial
resources9 and to ensure that the
benefits of these systems and
resources accrue to all local citizens.;
.cos$stem resilience is the
capacit$ o an ecos$stem to
tolerate distur2ance without
collapsin% into a Fualitati"el$
dierent state that is controlled
2$ a dierent set o processes. A
resilient ecos$stem can withstand
shocks and re2uild itsel when
necessar$. Resilience in social
s$stems has the added capacit$
o humans to anticipate and plan
or the uture. Dumans are part o
the natural world. Be depend on
ecolo%ical s$stems or our
sur"i"al and we continuousl$
impact the ecos$stems in which
we li"e rom the local to %lo2al
scale. Resilience is a propert$ o
these linked social7ecolo%ical
s$stems 58.86. PResilienceP as
applied to ecos$stems3 or to
inte%rated s$stems o people and
the natural en"ironment3 has
three deinin% characteristics;
The amount o chan%e the
s$stem can under%o and still
retain the same controls on
unction and structure
The de%ree to which the
s$stem is capa2le o sel7
or%ani=ation
The a2ilit$ to 2uild and
increase the capacit$ or learnin%
and adaptation
www.resalliance.or%<,)(.php
,3
(
Alternati"e catal$tic
actions I 5'n alpha2etical
order6
(.1 7 .conom$
The Council should fund a series of
public meetings and debates during
the course of HAAI, ensuring the
widest possible participation from
academia, business, the Trade
2nions, the :third sector; and
'anchester citizens. This process
should culminate in a report on
steady-state economics and its
meaning for ,reater 'anchester.
The Council create fie re-skilling and
ecology centres in each area of 6ast,
West, "orth, -outh and inner city
'anchester. The centres would
comprise an eco show house,
ecological information for how we can
change our lifestyles to reduce carbon
emissions4 energy use and proide
classes and workshops.
The Council e1plores the possibility of
tying any bonus payments made to
senior management aboe and
beyond basic salary to whether
rigorous carbon dio1ide reduction
targets hae been met. :+ess gas-
more cash.;
(.2 I .ner%$
The Council to start the truly radical
process of enisaging an N6nergy
)escentN programme.
The Council should institute monthly
:6arth !ours;, called 'anchester
!ours. The council can take a lead on
this, be ready for ne1t year. The first
'anchester !our could to coincide
with 'anchester International
Destial
Council ta1 rebate for those who
insulate their homes.
To implement a city Jswitch off<
campaign following in the footsteps
of -ydney, %ustralia. %ll shops and
offices that are not being used at
night to turn off their lights.
(.3 I .n%a%ement
The Council sponsors a ma7or
conference within the Community
-trategy, e1plicitly initing
community groups, trades unions,
enironmentalists and religious
groups. 2sing open space technology
and e1perienced facilitators to
e1plore the themes of food,
transport, energy efficiency, micro-
generation, participation and fuel
poerty.
$roduce a monthly update of Council
and community-led actiities and
publicise widely. 6.g. through the
'6" ,reenlife section.
6stablish a 'anchester Community
$rize. Dor the best community-led
actions on Climate change, as oted
by the population of 'anchester.
'anchester City Council could employ
a climate communications
consultancy to deise a set of simple
e1planations that use specifically
:'ancunian; analogies to put across
the basic science of climate change,
and the global and local implications.
,&
(.& 7 Food
'anchester should strie to become
the 2&<s first .rganic city, using
realistic but ambitious year on year
targets for the proportion of the food
consumed in the city from organic
cultiation.
The Council institutes :meat-free
'onday; in all its facilities, and
encourages its partner organisations
to do the same.
To create an inentory of all aailable
empty plots for community groups to
grow food and to create a new
category of land planning designation
/for enironmentally sustainable
community use/.
(., I 'nternational
'ake a public commitment to e1ceed
the Copenhagen agreement.
(.( I Plannin%
2se planning powers to ensure that
housing, shops and key serices are
always within walking =A.F miles> and
cycling =H miles> distance
(.) I Resilience
The Council adopts the slogan of
:mitigate for H, adapt for E;
The Council commissions scoping
work oer how to create resilience in
indiiduals, communities, systems of
food and transport. The Council also
takes part in a series of public
debates around resilience.
The Council helps with the
establishment of a centre for self-
reliance that can then spread its
learning, along the lines of the
Institute for +ocal -elf-0eliance
=www.ilsr.or%>.
(.+ I Transport
The Council makes a public
commitment that its members and
officers will where possible, aoid
flying, and take alternatie transport
such as the train.
%iation3 When you are in a hole,
stop digging. Dreeze the e1pansion
plans for %irport City.
Introduce a city region wide Trael
(ehaioural Change programme R
proen to hae the most effectie
cost benefit impacts for achieing
changes in transport behaiour.
Impose and enforce a HAmph blanket
speed limit city wide - CAmph on
some urban dual carriageways- with
only @F mph in residential streets.
(.9 I Bater
%ll City Council building and those
with City council contracts to be
gien support to introduce grey water
flushing systems R that 'CC proides
information and adice for all large
buildings, offices and hotels etc. to
support the introduction of such
systems.
The Council should play whateer
catalytic role it needs to in order to
green 'anchester/s rooftops.
,,
)
Communit$
.n%a%ement
"It is no longer suicient to develop
passive lists to 'inor"' citi@ens o
changes in our environ"ent.... to
adapt eectively to the challenges
that )ill co"e )ith cli"ate change,
including %iodiversity loss, )ater
stress and orced "igrations o
species, )e need to harness the
inor"ation availa%le and )ill to act
at the local level. - *ac8ueline
'c,lade, !ead of the 6uropean
6nironment %gency @?th Debruary
HAAI
We are delighted that the Council
recognises the importance of not
merely informing, but also engaging
and listening to people.
The task or #anchester is to %ring
local, grass-roots co""unity-%ased
collective action together )ith the
inluence, capacity and resources o
organisations in govern"ent and
%usiness to sei@e the opportunity or
the city and to create a %roader
coalition or action dra)n ro" all
aspects o #anchester lie. - page E,
Call to %ction
!oweer, we are concerned that the
council has not yet clearly said how it
will do this R it needs to put /flesh on
the bones/, so to speak. It can do this
by documenting 7ust what emerges
from the :$roud .f; campaign and
the +)D consultation. It should
produce a timely and easily readable
report that outlines 7ust what
8uestions and suggestions people
hae, what answers the council has
been proiding and what it intends to
do about the suggestions put
forward.
The council can and must play a ital
leadership role in helping 'anchester
respond to climate change.
It can do this in the following ways3
9ettin% its own house in
order
Eein% open and transparent
includin% usin% traditional and
*new* media
8upportin% others* eorts.
.ncoura%in% new ideas
). 1 7 9ettin% its -wn
Douse in -rder
Be su%%est the council 7
'akes a public commitment that
its members and officers will, if
traelling within CAA miles, aoid
flying, taking alternatie transport,
for e1ample, the train. We call upon
the council to publish monthly
records of what air trael it pays for
for its officers, members and
consultants.
61plores teleconferencing as an
alternatie to long-haul trael.
)iscourages the use of car trael
to and from work by its employees,
by creating an aboe-inflation charge
for its car parking, that ratchets
upwards. This money should be ring-
fenced and used to encourage more
enironmentally friendly means of
transport for employees.
Institutes a :meat-free 'onday; in
all its facilities, and encourages its
partner organisations to do the same.
'eat is a ma7or contributor to
,(
greenhouse gases. 0ecently, the head
of the "obel-$rize winning
Intergoernmental $anel on Climate
Change called for people to e1amine
their consumption of meat. The
Begetarian -ociety,
=www."e%soc.or%> based in ,reater
'anchester, could help here if
re8uired. The Council should also
e1periment with :Began food; days
for its facilities, at least 8uarterly in
HAAI-HA@A, leading into monthly in
HA@A-@@, and more fre8uently
beyond then.
).2 7 -pen and
Transparent in its
#ealin%s with the Pu2lic
Be su%%est the council 7
%ppoints a )irector of 6nironmental
-trategy as soon as possible, and
make this person aailable for a
regular monthly 8uestion and answer
session with interested parties.
$ublicises the work that it is already
doing. The Council should use its
website to gie monthly progress
reports on all of the Catalytic %ctions
it has listed in its Call to %ction, and
any other actions it is taking forward.
The Council should gie greater
prominence to it- and other
organisations/- climate change action
in the pages of 'anchester $eople
and also ward newsletters.
$ublishes all the minutes of the
6nironmental -trategy $erformance
(oard =6-$(>meetings, and creates a
dedicated website where the minutes,
any reports that are generated by or
for the (oard, can be hosted for free
download.
We welcome the decision to broaden
the 6-$( beyond Council employees
and the creation of the %disory
$anel.
We suggest that the %disory $anel
has a strong remit. %ny adisory
panel that is to be more than a
talking shop or a fig leaf must hae
the following powers-
to be gien timely access to all
releant documentation
to be gien the time and
authority to commission audits of the
council/s work
to be allowed the time and
authority to 8uestion the City
Council/s employees and elected
members on their work and progress
to be able to inite outside
e1perts =from the 2&> to gie
eidence of best practice and the
implications
to allow the public to attend
meetings of this panel, and to submit
8uestions in writing to the (oard and
to indiidual employees and
members. 0eplies must be gien
within a reasonable time =e.g. HA
days, as per Dreedom of Information
%ct>
2ses clear and simple 6nglish. The
Council should send all future reports
on climate change to the $lain
6nglish campaign for :etting;. The
Council should publicly commit to
aoiding the words on the :7argon;
list recently produced by the +ocal
,oernment %ssociation. We note
with dismay that the Call to %ction
contained C@H e1amples =in under FA
pages of te1t> of words that the +,%
considers needlessly comple1.
!osts a series of monthly debates
around climate change and
,)
'anchester. The model used by
'anchester Climate Dorum for
debates on %iation and Climate
Change ="oember HAA?>, +ocal
,oernment and Climate Change
=%pril HAA8> and the Transport
Innoation Dund and Climate Change
=*uly HAA8> is one possible model.
)ebates on themes such as food,
aiation, energy, resilience, housing,
engagement could take place in a
central location.
There should be in each case a small
panel with one representatie from
the priate sector, one from
'anchester City Council =either
member or official> and one from the
/third sector/. %ll efforts should be
made to aoid the usual depressing
spectacle of a panel made up entirely
of middle-aged, middle-class white
males. The debates should be well
facilitated, aimed at finding common
ground rather than staking out
intransigent positions.
These debates would gie the Council
the chance to e1plain what it has
been doing, what it is doing, what it
plans to do and what it can/t do
because of legal or financial
constraints. It will also allow other
actors to say what they are doing,
and how they would like the Council
to support their work. There should
be ample time for 8uestions R and
crucially, suggestions- from the floor.
These suggestions should be typed up
and taken forward by the releant
people.
To support these debates, the Council
should undertake to proide matching
funds to help local groups stage these
debates and also3
publicise the eents through
their own networks
e1plain within one month of
the debate what action it is going to
take on suggestion that arose during
the debate
2ses the -ustainable Communities
%ct to best effect. We note with
pleasure that the Council has opted
in to the -ustainable Communities
%ct. This has a deadline is %pril HEth,
and we would suggest that the
Council create a parallel process with
a further deadline of *une HEth,
allowing more good ideas to come
forward.
2ses traditional media to best effect.
% full page of the council/s well-
designed newspaper :'anchester
$eople; should be gien oer to not
7ust what the council is doing on
climate change, but what community
groups in 'anchester are doing, and
the contact details of these groups so
people can get more inoled
The Council could e1plore with
'anchester 6ening "ews and
Channel ', ((C "orthwest, ,ranada
and other media outlets, ways to
create
more awareness about climate
change and its implications for the
"orth West
more awareness about what the
Council and %,'% is doing
more awareness about what
other actors are doing R and,
crucially R how people can get
inoled in those actiities.
2ses new4 information technology
We note with dismay that both the
$rinciples )ocument =Deb HAA8> and
the Call to %ction =*an HAAI> are only
aailable as pdfs. $dfs are a ery
,+
/static/ form of documentation, and do
not allow for easy cutting and pasting
or commenting.
The Council should make a binding
commitment that all future
documents that the council produces
about climate change will be aailable
in printed format =including large
print>, as word documents and in a
blog format to allow for easy
commenting.
The Council must take much greater
adantage of :Web H.A; technology,
not 7ust to /get the message out/ but
also to hear what the recipients of
these messages hae to say and
suggest.
The Council has made a good start in
this process, with the :+eaders/ (log;.
It would be good to see other
members of the 61ecutie =especially
the 6nironment> blogging regularly
as well.
The Council should also inestigate
other means of communication, such
as twitter and facebook and
podcasting. There are local e1perts
who would be willing to help the
Council deelop social media
strategies. We note that &irklees
Council has been using twitter to
good effect oer the past months.
There is also an Nsocial media interest
group; on :Communities of $ractice;
for local goernment practitioners
=www.communities.idea.%o".uk>
with many e1amples of best practice.
Bideo-making is currently underused.
The Council could lead by e1ample by
producing ideos about climate
change, and also funding more
/community 7ournalism./
).3 7 Pro"ide Resources
or @ocal 9roups
The Council should properly fund the
6nironmental "etwork for
'anchester, the -ustainable
"eighbourhoods %ction ,roup
=formerly -" $ool> and the Transport
%ction ,roup =formally T $ool>. These
aluable groups should hae the
security of being funded for more
than a few months at a time. We call
upon the Council to find money to
proide these groups with three
years of secure funding.
!onsidering the potential or larger-
scale interventions or e'a"ple
through the redevelop"ent or reuse
o under-utilised %uildings to
enhance the physical and social
character o the area and release
additional value or co""unity uses
- page EH of Call to %ction
The Council should create a local
space for groups to meet at low cost
to plan and undertake climate action.
=:-ee also the :re-skilling; centres
proposal in the :Transition; section of
the Call to 0eal %ction.> %s the +ocal
,oernment %ssociation has recently
suggested :-hops that are currently
standing empty could be used as
training centres, libraries, bring-and-
buy sales or youth clubs.;
).& 7 .ncoura%e Cew
'deas
'anchester will be one of the largest
cities to embark on the Transition
process and if it is to be truly
successful it needs to work with and
,9
alongside 'anchester City Council.

The Council can support us in our
aims by helping to facilitate the
transition process, to listen, to
proide adice, contacts, funds,
meeting space and most importantly
to ensure that bureaucracy does not
get in the way of grass roots
initiaties. TC' can help 'CC by
helping to source e1pertise, share
ideas and gather support for common
goals.
If the council takes part in the
monthly debates =see aboe> and
uses :Web H.A; technology
effectiely, it will hae many good
ideas to choose from.
In addition to the 'anchester $rize
=Catalytic %ction number ?> the
Council should create a prize for the
best short =less than @A minutes>
ideo about 'anchester and Climate
Change and what people are
doing4should do about it. That should
start immediately, and be awarded in
"oember. There should be
categories for under @8, oer @8,
indiiduals and groups. Winning
entries and others of merit should be
showcased on Council/s website and
on other spaces.
In addition, the Council should enable
that CA second ideos, made by local
people, and designed to be shown
without sound, are shown on the
giant -creen in $iccadilly ,ardens
The Council should create an annual
essay contest for anyone liing,
working or studying in 'anchester, to
answer in less than @AAA words
:What is the best way for 'ancunians
to respond to climate change.;
(0
+
Conclusion
The Call to %ction concludes with the
following sentence
The !ity !ouncil )ill no) seek to
)ork )ith people ro" all )alks o
#anchester lie to ensure that the
proposals set out in this docu"ent-
and other good ones that )ill "erge
as that )ork %egins- are
i"ple"ented, and thus to ensure that
this !all to Action achieves the
response to )hich it aspires. - Call to
%ction page FA
We call upon the Council to3
'eet with the authors of Call to
0eal %ction before the 6nironmental
-trategy $erformance (oard meeting
on Driday %pril HEth, and respond in
writing to the points raised by this
document and that meeting by 'ay
HFth.
61plain how it will moe beyond
mere /engagement/ of the people of
'anchester towards inoling them
actiely, listening and learning and
whereer possible implementing their
ideas on the way to creating, with
them, a Climate Change %ction plan
to be released (6D.06 the )ecember
2"DCCC climate negotiations in
Copenhagen.
Thank Pou.
(1
(2