Get Serious was Friends of the Earth’s campaign focusing on local authority climate targets. Local authorities have a major role to play in reducing carbon emissions, arising from their control over heating and lighting public buildings and coordinating public transport. Friends of the Earth asked all local authorities to commit to cutting their emissions by 40% by 2020. In order to do this, they would need to draw up an action plan and set local carbon budgets to control emissions.

Manchester City Council agreed with our campaign, committing to a 41% cut by 2020, and subsequently set up the city’s climate change action plan, Manchester: A Certain Future, before handing over supervision of the plan to the Steering Group.