GREATER MANCHESTER JOINS ROSTER OF EU CITIES ADAPTING TO CLIMATE CHANGE

Greater Manchester will join more than 60 other European cities adapting to climate change, including Antwerp, Bologna, Hanover, San Sebastián and Barcelona, while other cities are in the process of signing up to ‘Mayors Adapt’ including Copenhagen, Frankfurt and Glasgow.

The ‘Mayors Adapt’ commitment was officially signed on Thursday 16 October and places cities at the heart of adapting to the unavoidable climate challenge, recognising that while national and international programmes are being introduced to make local communities and economies more resilient to changes in climate, cities are uniquely able to accelerate adaptation, particularly by making sure that adapting to the future climate is increasingly seen as part of everyday, mainstream business.

“Change is inevitable and adaptation is critical”, is the message being delivered by Sir Richard Leese, leader of Manchester City Council, as he signs up Greater Manchester’s Combined Authority (GMCA) to a European compact of cities and local authorities that are integrating climate change resilience into their strategic plans and programmes.

Sir Richard Leese, former chair of Greater Manchester’s Low Carbon Hub continued: 

 “We know that even if we hit our targets to reduce carbon emissions, there’s still enough carbon already out there in the atmosphere to lead to really challenging conditions within our own lifetimes and certainly those of our children.”  

From flooding, heat stress and extreme weather events to the added burden on our health, critical infrastructure 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.

Richard Leese:

“That’s why we’re taking this so seriously and making adaptation a core priority for our city. We’ve drafted a climate change strategy for Greater Manchester that has adaptation running through it, we’ve joined a UN resilient cities programme and we’ve had some pioneering research done by the EcoCities project.”

“Now the challenge is to take action and that means making adaptation part of the way we do business, every day and in every walk of life,” Mr Leese concluded.

Recent research into the impact that climate change could be expected to have on the city, carried out at the University of Manchester for the Bruntwood-sponsored EcoCities project, revealed a stormier future for the city and an urgent need to adapt. According to the researchers, by the 2050s, assuming that greenhouse gas emissions continue to rise:

Annual temperatures could rise by up to 3.6ºC;
In summer, the average daily temperature could increase by up to 5.6ºC;
Winters could see rainfall rise by over 30%; and
In summer rainfall could be reduced by up to 36%.

Such dramatic shifts in weather could see an increase in heat stroke, greater risk of flooding, impacts on biodiversity and economic impacts across a range of sectors including food, chemicals, transport, construction and insurance. Research also shows that the most vulnerable sections of society are expected to be hit the hardest.

Signing up for Mayors Adapt 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.

Greater Manchester’s work on climate change is being led by the ‘Greater Manchester Low Carbon Hub’ that is leading on the city region’s climate change strategy and carrying out a GM-wide appraisal of all climate change adaptation activity. The city region has also signed up to take part in Defra’s National Adaptation Programme (NAP), carrying out a risk assessment of the extent to which GM is climate resilient and areas where gaps exist.

More details on the impacts of climate change on Greater Manchester can be found at the EcoCities project website: http://www.adaptingmanchester.co.uk more about the GM Low Carbon Hub’s work can be found at http://gmlch.ontheplatform.org.uk.