Greater Manchester remains on course to meet its 2038 carbon neutral target, despite the scale of the challenge, Mayor Andy Burnham said at the eighth annual Green Summit at Co-op Live.
The summit comes just over a year after the launch of the city region’s Five-Year Environment Plan 2025–30, with leaders outlining progress across transport, retrofit and waste reduction.
Burnham said: “At our last Green Summit we launched our ambitious Five-Year Environment Plan, charting a course to becoming carbon neutral by 2038 while capturing the benefits and the opportunities of green growth.
“Today we can say that goal is challenging, but still achievable – and we are taking bold steps to get there.
“We brought our buses back under public control through the Bee Network and now, thanks to our investment-led approach to improving air quality, I’m confident that we are on track to meet our clean air targets by the end of this year.”
Since buses began returning to public control in 2023, the number of areas exceeding legal nitrogen oxide limits has fallen by 41%, contributing to a 71% drop over five years. By 2025, the Bee Network had introduced 389 zero-emission buses – nearly a third of the fleet – cutting an estimated 23,000 tonnes of CO2 each year. Plans are in place for 1,300 electric buses by 2030.
A new ‘Feel the Benefit’ Retrofit Portal was also launched at the summit, designed to provide residents with tailored advice and access to grants to improve home energy efficiency, alongside a £30m Warm Homes Local Grant scheme.
In waste and recycling, Greater Manchester now recycles more than 50% of household waste, above the national average, with less than 0.5% sent to landfill. Since 2021, the Renew Hub has diverted more than 470,000 items from disposal and raised over £2m for community groups, with a fourth Renew Shop set to open in Newton Heath later this year.
Cllr Tom Ross, Leader of Trafford Council and Greater Manchester Lead for Green City Region and Waste, said: “Greater Manchester is laser focused on meeting our goal of carbon neutrality by 2038 – and doing so in a way that delivers new opportunities and good growth right across our 10 districts.
“With our new one-stop retrofit portal we’re making it easier than ever for residents to get practical information about how they can make their homes warmer and healthier while cutting emissions and making them cheaper to run.”
Now in its eighth year, the Green Summit continues to bring together community groups, businesses and policymakers as the city region works towards its 2038 target.
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