Manchester City Council assigns NO new resources for #Climate Emergency

Campaigners have revealed that Manchester City Council has assigned no additional resources to climate action after its ‘climate emergency’ declaration in July.  In response to a Freedom of Information Act request submitted in early September, the Council was forced to admit that “no additional staff have been seconded to work on this area since July 2019” and no resources from within the council reassigned. In response to a question about whether any external bids for funding had been made, the Council admitted  “No bids have been submitted since July 2019.”

foia 27 sept 2019“Declaring a climate emergency was a vital step but the task ahead is enormous,” says Rose Arnold of Rising Up! Manchester Families.
“Manchester missed last year’s target of 13% carbon reduction by 11%. We’re nowhere near. There’s no way the changes needed can be carried out without resources. At the very least a team is needed, which should include a member of the Executive Committee. We’re deeply worried that the declaration of emergency won’t translate into the action needed.”

Calum McFarlane of Climate Emergency Manchester said
“this is disappointing, but not surprising. We know that many councillors genuinely care, and want to see action. They, like us, are angry at the lack of any sense of urgency from the leadership of the council, both elected and unelected.   We will continue to work with people throughout Manchester to raise not just the level of ambition, but also action. We need deeds, not words.”

On Thursday10 October – the three month anniversary of the City Council’s declaration –  Climate Emergency Manchester will release its first quarterly progress report on the Council’s actions, based on a series of Freedom of Information Act requests. The report,  known as “Hung Drawn and Quarterly #01”, will be free to download from www.climateemergencymanchester.net

If you want to sign the petition calling on Manchester City Council to declare a climate emergency, you can do so here.  If you want to get involved in CEM’s work, email us on climateemergencymanchester@gmail.com