Due to the high number of apologies, the Greater Manchester Environment Commission has cancelled its December meeting and rescheduled it for…. February 2012.

As we head towards the end of 2011, there will be swathes of people looking back over past year and make general and sweeping observations. Who am I to fight that urge. Looking over the past 12 months in Manchester, it’s clear that the issue of climate change has lost all sense of urgency for many people. The decision to cancel the Environment Commission’s December meeting and then reschedule it for February 2012 is another, small, symptom of this problem.

The Environment Commission was set up back in 2009 to work on improving region-wide environmental issues such as water, green infrastructure, energy and transport. Headed by Dave Goddard (Leader of Stockport Council), the commission has also produced a new climate change strategy which aims to reduce carbon emissions by almost 50 percent by 2020 from a 1990 baseline. The commission has also been working on measuring the total carbon footprint of Greater Manchester residents and businesses.

Policy and programme manager Phil Woods confirmed the meeting had been cancelled due to a high number of apologies and told me that meeting is now being rescheduled for February 2012. He added that plans to sign off Greater Manchester’s Climate Change Delivery Plan in March 2012 would probably remain unchanged although he wasn’t sure quite yet. An informal meeting with the commission and the Planning Commissioners scheduled for January was unaffected by the cancellation.

Arwa Aburawa
mcmonthly@gmail.com