Text of July 10 #Climate Emergency motion to #Manchester City Council

This below, in italics, is the text the motion which will be debated at full Council on Wednesday 10th July. The meeting, held in the Town Hall extension (enter at the entrance on Mount St), is open to the public, no need to book, and begins at 10am.

ifullysupportPLEASE PLEASE PLEASE lobby your councilors to support this motion, and then let us know what they say.  More details, including how to find out who your councillors are, their emails and when they meet constitutents, are to be found here.. For example, we would love councillors to be asked to hold up a sheet of paper and have a photo taken with the above text in the image…

Climate Emergency Manchester is going to spend the coming months and years (yes, you read that right) making sure that promises made are kept and that new commitments are made as the situation (which at a global level is deteriorating rapidly) demands.  This is not glamorous work, but we can promise you that we will find ways for you to use your time, talents and passion well. It won”t always be high adrenaline, or high status, but it WILL be local, beyond-greenwash and meaningful.  If you’re interested, contact us via our get involved form.

The text of the motion is in bold, below the message which Councillor Annette Wright (Hulme) posted, which we have put in italics.

On 10th July I will be putting the motion below, on climate change, to a meeting of Manchester City Council, seconded by Eve Francis Holt. Eve had been working on a motion like this for months, but the way the system works, councillors are randomly chosen to move motions and my name was picked. Thanks very much to Eve for working with me on this. Its been a pleasure. Thanks also to all the people, more knowledgeable than me on this subject, who helped me.

I could have done a motion about anything, but residents in Hulme regularly raise environmental issues with me and I decided that there is no bigger or more important, issue at the moment. The council needs to consider climate change in everything it does and it has to have the structures in place to make sure that happens. The Labour Party nationally has been outlining its plans over the last few weeks and a socialist Labour government can do much to change the way these issues are looked at and set an example in the world.

I have worked with anyone and everyone I can on this, in the very short time I had to pull it together, and I hope it will be carried.

Here’s the motion, it’s been carefully considered but it’s not perfect. Please discuss!

“This Council notes:

The serious risks to Manchester’s people, of climate change/global heating affecting economic, social and environmental well-being, supply chains – including food security, financial systems and local weather, among many others.

That in 2008 the ‘Principles of Tackling Climate Change in Manchester’ were agreed as a call to action to engage people from all walks of life in climate change action and, build support for a new way of thinking about climate change.

That Manchester leads the way , with an agreed Paris compliant carbon budget set in December 2018 and an acceleration of the target for becoming a zero-carbon city by 12 years, setting 2038 as the new target for the city, based on research from the word-renowned Tyndall Centre for Climate Change.

The recent and welcome upsurge of action by the young people of Manchester, exemplifying the radical traditions of which Manchester is proud.

This Council agrees to:

Declare a Climate Emergency.

Continue working with partners across Manchester and GMCA to deliver the 2038 target, and determine if an earlier target can be possible, through a transparent and open review. Become carbon neutral by the earliest possible date.

Encourage involvement in all wards by April 2020 through meetings as part of the Our Manchester strategy, to identify residents and partners who want to be actively involved in achieving the target, with provision for those who cannot attend. Ensure ward plans contain specific, measurable, achievable steps.

Review all policies, processes and procedures to ensure the council can become carbon neutral. Present an action plan by March 2020 detailing how the city can stay within its carbon budget. Report back regularly to the NESC. Review the corporate plan.

Work with the Tyndall Centre to review the actual emissions from aviation. Investigate the best way to include aviation in our overall carbon reduction programme in the long term.

Make climate breakdown and the environment, an integral part of activity throughout the Council, including all decision making, ensuring key decisions take into account the impact on achieving the zero-carbon target and including an environmental impact assessment in all relevant committee reports.

Ensure that everyone in the council receives carbon literacy training by the end of 2020. Make attendance easier by varying times and length of sessions.

Encourage all staff on council business to use the lowest carbon, appropriate, travel.

Investigate measures to ensure future procurement is carbon neutral. Increase the percentage of social value with an additional environmental element.

Work with suppliers to green their supply chains, and support local production
Work with training providers to ensure Manchester residents can take on green jobs
Investigate and introduce measures to help reach domestic zero carbon levels including addressing fuel poverty and retrofitting existing homes.

Investigate ways to ensure that future local plans place a mandatory requirement for all new development to be net zero carbon by the earliest possible date.

Push GMCA to decarbonise public transport, heat and energy as early as possible.

Through our role on GMPF, encourage divestment in fossil fuels as early as possible

Call on the government to:

Provide powers and resources to make the zero-carbon target possible including funding for big capital projects.

Accelerate the reduction of carbon emissions from aviation.

Accelerate the decarbonisation of the electricity grid, funding low carbon energy generation.

Ensure that the UK prosperity fund focuses on enabling the transition to a low carbon economy.”