Local elections 2018…. is the environment winning?
With one day of campaigning to go before the local elections in Greater Manchester on Thursday 3rd May, Manchester Friends of the Earth welcomes the high-level of cross-party support from candidates for urgent action on key environmental issues facing us locally, nationally and worldwide. (1)
Each candidates responses are available for people to view online (2) and so far, 337 (31%) of the 1088 local candidates have replied. Of the candidates who have responded:
* 97% supported the proposal from Andy Burnham, GM Mayor, that Greater Manchester should adopt the Tyndall Centre’s science-based carbon budgets, set targets to halve the region’s emissions in the next five years and become carbon neutral by 2038.
* 99% agreed that their local authority should phase-out of single-use plastics by 2020.
* 96% supported their local council allocating funding to implement the walking and cycling (active travel) measures contained in Chris Boardman’s ‘Made to Move’ report.
* 96% supported a ban on the use of neonicotinoid pesticides in their local council area and to work to phase out the use of other pollinator-harming pesticides.
* 88% supported the introduction of a GM-wide building standard for all new developments to be zero-carbon and climate resilient.
* 87% agreed that the Greater Manchester Pension Fund should fully divest from fossil fuels in the next five years.
* 81% would call on their local council to introduce ‘parking exclusion zones’ around local schools at peak times.
* 67% supported the introduction of a cap on emissions from flights to and from Manchester Airport. (3)
Catherine Thomson, Manchester Friends of the Earth co-ordinator said: “We wouldn’t dream of telling people which way to vote but we think voters have the right to know where candidates stand on key environmental issues that will affect all our lives, such as climate change and air pollution.”
“It is clear that there is widespread support across Greater Manchester and across political parties for the Mayor and local councils to take urgent action to reduce plastic pollution, enable people to walk and cycle more often, to tackle air pollution and drastically reduce climate change emissions.”
“We would like to thank the candidates who took the time to respond and let voters know their views on these important issues.”
Across Greater Manchester response rates for candidates from each political party ranged from: Green Party 60%, Labour Party 40%, Liberal Democrats 36%, “others” 30%, UKIP 7% and Conservative Party 6%. (3)
Response rates for each local council area ranged from Stockport (40.4%) to Wigan (17%). (4)
On Thursday 3rd May, people in Greater Manchester have the opportunity to vote for the local councillors to represent them. The local councillors elected will have to implement solutions to meet the many social and environmental challenges facing us over the next 5 years and beyond. These include rising transport & energy costs, traffic congestion, ill health and rising obesity levels, poor air quality and the need to drastically reduce CO2 emissions
ENDS
Contact for comments: Pete Abel, Manchester Friends of the Earth, Mobile: 07951 642858
Notes for Editors
(1) See http://www.manchesterfoe.org.u
2) See http://www.manchesterfoe.org.u
3) Between 12th April and 1st May, 70% of local election candidates were directly contacted three times by a combination of email, Twitter or Facebook asking them to respond to the environment survey. In addition, where contact details were available, local political parties were contacted three times by email, Twitter or Facebook asking them to circulate details of the environment survey to their candidates.
4) Response rates by Greater Manchester local area are available at: http://www.manchesterfoe.org.u
5) Manchester Friends of the Earth is an award-winning environmental campaign group, raising awareness and lobbying for policy changes at a local, regional, national and international level. The group consists entirely of volunteers, and its campaigns are funded by membership fees and individual donations. Up-to-date information is available on the group’s website: www.manchesterfoe.org.uk. Manchester Friends of the Earth is a Licensed Local Group of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. www.foe.co.uk