Interim Mayor Tony Lloyd and Councillor Sue Derbyshire, chair of Greater Manchester’s Low Carbon Hub, have signed Europe’s new Integrated Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, making clear that Greater Manchester will play a leading role in reducing carbon emissions.
It follows the COP21 climate summit in Paris earlier this month where Greater Manchester showcased innovations in tackling this global issue, such as the Greater Manchester Carbon Literacy Project which is aiming to educate residents to be carbon literate and take small steps to change.
Tony Lloyd, a keen supporter of environmental sustainability, said: “To tackle the challenge of climate change the world has to act together – across political boundaries and global organisations but also between local businesses, communities and individuals.
“Greater Manchester needs to play its part and this covenant is merely the first step. By signing we commit to making climate change central to all of our policies, plans and strategies. It also commits us to direct action – to developing ways to actively tackle climate change alongside the people who live in our city-region. Greater Manchester has played such a central role in the development of industry and technology and I have great faith that by working together we can come up with innovative solutions to tackle this global issue.”
Councillor Sue Derbyshire added: “We have recently conducted consultation on the Greater Manchester Climate Change and Low Emissions Implementation plan for the next five years. This asks the region’s business leaders and individuals to pledge their support and take direct action to achieving our 48% reduction in emissions up to 2020. The recent UNFCC agreement at COP is momentous, but it is our responsibility as authorities, organisations and individuals to take action and to look after our planet and not assume that world leaders have taken care of the matter.”
Since 2009, more than 6,500 local authorities have already committed to the Covenant of Mayor’s 2020 CO2 reduction objective. As part of the Integrated Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, signatory cities pledge action to support implementation of the new 2030 EU targets, a joint approach to tackling mitigation and adaptation to climate change, and the extension of the initiative to a more global scope.
The Covenant of Mayors and Mayors Adapt, the Covenant of Mayors’ initiative on climate change adaptation, are now merged into the new and integrated Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy.
By signing up to the Integrated Covenant of Mayors, the region will be part of Europe’s largest urban climate and energy initiative. The Covenant of Mayors encourages the use of a system of multi-level governance to tackle climate change, from the bottom up. It is a European success story that has helped influence world leaders to agree to the momentous climate change agreement that took place last weekend at COP21 in Paris.
From flooding, heat stress and extreme weather events to the added burden on our health and emergency services, the new pledge by city leaders will make the changing climate a standing item on the city’s agenda, one that cannot be ignored or placed ‘on hold’. Signing up for Integrated Covenant of Mayors brings with it a requirement for climate change adaptation to be integrated into all relevant plans. Progress will be shared with the other signatory cities and, every second year, a progress report will be filed by all participating cities.
