Five-Year Environment Plan

Like the rest of the country, Greater Manchester faces major environmental challenges that threaten the health and prosperity of our city-region.

Urgent action is needed to tackle carbon emissions and reverse the decline of the natural environment across the city-region. To have a significant impact on our carbon emissions, we must change the way we heat our homes and modify the way that we move people, goods and services across the city-region. We also need to support nature recovery and encourage sustainable lifestyle and business changes.

Our new Five-Year Environment Plan, launched in December 2024 at our annual Greater Manchester Green Summit, outlines how meeting our long-term environmental vision – to be carbon neutral by 2038 – is still achievable, but will take collaborative action from organisations, groups and individuals across the city-region. No one individual or group can solve the problem of climate change alone - everyone has a role to play in making Greater Manchester a greener place for all. 

Our plan not only covers how we can reduce carbon emissions from our buildings, energy and transport infrastructure, but also outlines measures to increase economic growth whilst reducing our waste, improving air and water quality and increasing our resilience to future climate impacts.

It builds on successes and learnings from our first Five-Year Environment Plan (2019-2024), and is the result of over 12-months' consultation and collaboration with all parts of the Greater Manchester family, key stakeholders and individual experts.

Five-Year Environment Plan 2025-2030 (PDF, 2.72MB)

The Global Covenant of Mayors
for Climate and Energy

The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy requires Greater Manchester to set targets aligned with or exceeding an 80% emissions reduction by 2050, and to achieve a 40% reduction between 2005 and 2030. The commitment also requires comprehensive action planning, monitoring and reporting using their specific methodologies. 

The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy (external website, opens in a new tab)