Climate Campaign Update – Manchester: A Certain Future

You’ll probably already be aware of Manchester: A Certain Future (M: ACF). This is Manchester’s climate change Action Plan, to which Manchester FoE made a substantial contribution. The plan was launched on behalf of the city at our public meeting with Ed Miliband in December 2009.

The plan is made up of a host of actions, supporting the two key aims: a 41% emissions reduction by 2020 and changing our culture in Manchester so that we can achieve the much bigger and harder emissions cuts we need by 2050.

Since the launch, individuals and organisations across the city have been taking action, and a whole series of new networks and groups of households, businesses and organisations have been set up and are doing their bit.

In fact one of the challenges is that it’s not obvious just how much action is taking place! Our climate campaign group is continuing to work on our lobbying in support of the Energy Bill and later in the year we are planning some specific work on energy efficiency in the rented sector, but in the meantime we think that one of the best uses of our time is making sure that other groups and individuals find out more about M: ACF and how much is going on.

As a result we’ve agreed a series of actions that we will take to spread the word about the plan, what’s in it and what each and all of us can do to ‘do our bit’. Some of this includes:

• Promoting it via our quarterly newsletter (quarterly articles, regular updates)
• Promoting it via our website (article and hopefully in due course some kind of logo)
• Promoting it via our public stalls – approximately 30 this year – encouraging people to get their employers involved in endorsing the plan via the website and making them aware of the Environmental Business Pledge, and hopefully distributing M: ACF leaflets and resources when available;
• Linking M: ACF into our existing campaigns, and referencing M: ACF in our press releases and media and public facing work; and
• Using our existing business contacts to talk and engage organisations in M: ACF: membership scheme sponsors; Real Food Guide; Ethical Shopping Guide; Love Your Bike; Newsletter advertisers; Meat Free Monday restaurants; and by direct contact – calling into businesses when distributing our newsletters and flyers.

In the medium term we hope to engage other green groups in promoting M: ACF and talk about links to M: ACF when doing Meat Free Monday work in schools. We’ll write more in future about how we (and the rest of the city) are doing. And a bit more about what you can do to help too…