We got none of that. The Council simply did more of the same drivel. It’s just thrown 50 thousand more pounds at consultants to do work its own bureaucrats had promised to do years previously.In September, the latest carbon emissions figures will come out. The target is a 13% reduction, but even with the COVID lockdown, the city will be nowhere near that. 

IN her letter (Viewpoints, 31st May) Margaret Brown asks exactly the right questions about life after lockdown, when she advises that we “to look at the wider picture we should think about what matters and what does not. Is a return to ‘normal’ desirable?”

Since 2018, when it announced its goal “city to be zero carbon by 2038” Manchester City Council has by and large continued with business-as-usual. It has hidden behind weasel words like “partnership” as an excuse for continuing to avoid leadership.  Last July it had to admit that a quarter of the carbon budget for the rest of the 21st century had been blown in just two years.

Real leadership would have involved emergency meetings about this, and then lots of real action.

In any case, as Ms Brown points out, there will be a bounce back in high-carbon activity, with the following year probably showing an increase in emissions.Without regular, detailed, relentless pressure from councillors and citizens, the dreadful failures of the last decade(s) will continue. Future generations will curse us.