Insights
Japan 2025: Greater Manchester sets out plans to boost trade, investment, and cultural connections
Distributed on behalf of the Greater Manchester Japan Steering Group
Greater Manchester is getting ready to take its partnership with Japan to the next level in 2025, as the city-region prepares for a host of major events, activities, and visits to celebrate its historic ties with the country and boost trade, investment, and tourism.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, Leader of Manchester City Council, Bev Craig, and Jo Ahmed, Honorary Consul of Japan in Greater Manchester, are announcing today (Tuesday 16 July) plans to make Japan a key focus for broadening and deepening diplomatic, business, cultural, and civic links throughout 2025.
The announcement follows the landmark Greater Manchester mission to Japan in December 2023, which saw the signing of a new partnership with the city of Osaka, and a return visit last month to the city-region by a senior delegation from the Japanese city of Osaka, including Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama.
As part of that deal signed last year, Greater Manchester will appear at EXPO 2025 Osaka. The city-region will partner with the Department for Business and Trade and the UK Pavilion, as well as with Osaka City, to deliver in a week-long series of events in June 2025 to engage with political leaders, trade officials, and Japanese business – putting Greater Manchester centre-stage at the biggest international event of the decade.
Then in September 2025, Manchester will host Japan Week, an international cultural festival featuring hundreds of Japanese performers showcasing traditional Japanese culture. Organised by the International Friendship Foundation, Japan Week 2025 will be a special 50th anniversary of the event, which has been held in major world cities including Boston, Seville, and Athens.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “2025 will be the year that Greater Manchester and Japan take our partnership to the next level. Our city-region has a special connection to Japan that dates back centuries but is always forward-looking – focused on cooperation, innovation, and growth that benefits our people and places.
“We are ready to put Greater Manchester at the heart of the biggest international event in the world in Osaka next year, seizing new opportunities to boost trade, investment, and tourism – and we are excited to welcome the hundreds of performers and creators who make up Japan Week to our city-region.”
Cllr Bev Craig, Leader of Manchester City Council, added: “Manchester is a diverse and welcoming city enriched by our international communities. We’re proud of our historic connections with Japan and look forward to continuing to develop new and renewed partnerships throughout 2025 at EXPO and Japan Week. Culture is a great way to foster mutual understanding between cities and countries, and I am looking forward to seeing that exchange play out both in Japan and here in Manchester.”
Mayor of Osaka, Hideyuki Yokoyama, added: “The recent delegation visit to Greater Manchester was incredibly meaningful. It bestowed a substantial occasion for both city-regions to further promote exchanges. I am also delighted that Greater Manchester delegates will be visiting Osaka in June 2025 for EXPO, and we sincerely look forward to welcoming them. Finally, I offer my heartfelt congratulations to Manchester on being the host for the prestigious Japan Week. From Osaka, we wish for the utmost success of your events throughout 2025.”
Jo Ahmed, Honorary Consul of Japan in Greater Manchester, added: “As Honorary Consul of Japan and Chair of the Manchester Japan Steering group, it is fantastic to see the strength of partnership that has developed between Greater Manchester and Japan across several areas including business and innovation links as well as through culture and sport. I am so pleased that Greater Manchester will be taking part in EXPO 2025 and hosting the 50th Japan Week here in Manchester, and look forward to seeing the untold benefits these events will bring.”
Greater Manchester has a longstanding relationship with Japan, and specifically Osaka, dating back to the 19th century when a group of students from the Satsuma region travelled to the city-region to learn about the revolutionary industrial technology that was being used in the local cotton industry. This collaboration boosted the industrial revolution taking place in the East, and helped Osaka become known as the “Manchester of the East”.
More recently, the city-region’s engagement with Osaka has included a partnership signed in December 2023 which committed both parties to closer collaboration and cooperation at an inter-city level, seeking to strengthen exchanges on environmental policy areas and the delivery of net zero objectives; to promote economic opportunities and develop robust collaborative ties; and to boost innovation and educational links between the universities in both city-regions.
Japan is one of Greater Manchester’s most important economic partners. Greater Manchester exported £99m worth of goods to Japan in 2022, and in 2021 service exports from the city-region to Japan were valued at £151m – putting Japan in Greater Manchester’s top 10 service export markets.
Japan is also a major market for foreign direct investment (FDI) into the UK, consistently ranking among the top 15 source countries for FDI over the past three years. Japanese companies already established in Greater Manchester include Nippon Electric Glass, Kansai Electric Power Company, Hitachi Astemo, Daikin and Shimadzu.
Final dates, venues, and the full programme for Greater Manchester’s presence at EXPO 2025 and for Japan Week 2025 will be announced in the coming months.
Any Greater Manchester business or organisation that would like to be involved in either event is encouraged to contact international@greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk
Business 2050: Greater Manchester Business Board Chair Lou Cordwell joins discussions on the future of tech in business
Entrepreneurs, innovators and business leaders gathered at Alliance Manchester Business School at The University of Manchester on Thursday 27 June 2024 for Business 2050 as part of the University’s Festival of Business.
The event explored how in a rapidly changing world, businesses can thrive and adapt to new technologies, changing attitudes to work and the threat of climate change. As the Original Modern City, Manchester pioneered new ways of working and employment rights and led innovation. The event asked participants to jump forward to 2050, and image what Manchester and the world will look like. Discussions covered how businesses can navigate new challenges, how work cultures be fostered in a world of remote or hybrid working and how to work alongside advances in technology to ensure productivity.
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Panellists included leading entrepreneurs and business professionals from a range of sectors; from retail to agricultural tech, alongside representatives from The University of Manchester.
Chair of The Greater Manchester Business Board Lou Cordwell joined the panel session “The role of technology and innovation in business” with Patrick Vizzone, co-Founder and CFO of Vertical Oceans and Mohammad El Hajj, co-founder ad CEO of Bright Biotech a startup specialising in plant-based production of high-quality and affordable proteins.
The panel discussed the opportunities and challenges facing business through the rapid advances of technology including the adoption of AI , lack of regulation and issues around personal data. The session explored the technology landscape and how organisations can prepare for the future.
Lou Cordwell opened the session with a keynote speech. She said “Many of the challenges we face in our society and our economy can be fixed in theory, by incredible technologies that are hitting different gears. Innovation science and technology is absolutely integral to the future prosperity of our country.
“The Manchester stars are without doubt aligning, if you spend any time in the city you’ll feel the excitement. We are outperforming the UK in terms of economic growth and productivity. Right at the heart of our growth agenda is science and technology. “
On opportunities and threats to business Lou Cordwell said “The opportunity is to move to a more agile way of thinking about your business plan. You’re going to be asking your team to pivot together and change in ways you couldn’t envision at the beginning of the year. You don’t need to worry too much about being prescriptive about the changes in technology that are coming. You have to be clear on your ambition and build that agility into your systems to build on those opportunities as they arise. You need to think different it about what being strategic in business is.”
When asked about how the relationship between policy making and innovation could be improved, Lou Cordwell said “Politicians often have never worked in a business environment so how they collaborate with business leaders to create those policies needs to change. In the UK we’re seeing the need for that to happen in a place-based way
“Manchester has benefitted hugely from its leadership and stability, that allows us to long term plan. Sometimes you have to think of that 20, 30, 40 year view and politicians don’t always think like that. Politics bends policy our of shape so the more we can get political stability and get politicians to work with businesses the better. The challenge is, you can’t stop progress.”
The event also provided opportunities for networking and connecting with Alliance Business School team members to learn more about the opportunities available to them.
The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst (IBIC) is fuelling the region’s Industrial Biotechnology Revolution
Last month saw the launch of The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst (IBIC) in Manchester, which is set to position Greater Manchester and The North West of England as a global hub for Industrial Biotechnology Innovation.
Industrial Biotechnology is predicted to be worth £2.78tr by 2030 and therefore can have a significant impact on our region’s economic potential. By harnessing the region’s already strong scientific and research expertise to accelerate knowledge exchange and innovation in this space, the catalyst can help supercharge Greater Manchester’s growth in this sector.
Following the launch event, we met with Prof Aline Miller, Principal Investigator, Professor of Biomolecular Engineering and Associate Dean for Business Engagement and Innovation to discuss the aims of the IBIC, how it can support our region and why now was the time to open such an ambitious and innovative research collaboration in the city.
Firstly, can you tell us more about The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst (IBIC) and what its main aims are.
The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst (IBIC) is all about generating impact from academic research by helping businesses transfer to sustainable manufacturing processes. By looking at using biological resources within the manufacturing process to make the production of everyday items like food, fuels and medicines more sustainable. The confluence of consumer demand, carbon emission targets, and technological advancements requires new approaches to manufacturing, especially using methods that are divested of petrochemical feedstocks, and industrial biotechnology offers the solutions.
The Catalyst is a consortium of academia led by The University of Manchester and cocreated by the Universities of Liverpool, Manchester Metropolitan, Bolton and Salford, it’s also linked in with the civic University of Manchester. It’s working across the North West; Greater Manchester, Liverpool and Cheshire.
The aim is to build on the strong foundation knowledge and capability that we have across these universities and translate it into businesses, to support them as they transition into a more eco-friendly and efficient way of working.
Why did now feel like the right time to launch?
The real driver is the net zero agenda, trying to move away from fossil fuels as the supply chain material. With fossil fuels, the supply chain is running out, it’s not good for the environment and we’re limited in terms of what can we do with streams currently generated in the UK. We now need to look at the full circularity of products from the early stage supply chain to the product and how you recycle the product. This launch is timely in terms of the foundational science starting to emerge and the good capability available.
How will The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst (IBIC) support the growth of business within Greater Manchester?
Our remit focuses more on the researchers and commercialisation side, helping them to think a little bit more with a business focus and develop entrepreneurial skills. We help researchers do customer discovery to build a value proposition and business proposal to generate funding, supporting the commercialisation of ideas. We then help these researchers and early-stage businesses to work within the wider GM and North West business ecosystem with support networks the GM Business Growth Hub and ID Manchester.
We do, however, have a couple of initiatives that can support existing businesses, as two-thirds of our funding pot is being used to help us create and strengthen relationships across the region.
How will Industrial Biotechnology support Greater Manchester’s economic growth?
Industrial Biotechnology has been recognised as a strong industry base within GM and the North West more broadly, it covers chemicals manufacturing materials and pharmaceuticals. Within that there’s also the food manufacturing and microbrewery industry, it all loops together. Even though it’s not badged as biotech these manufacturers can use biotech within their processes to become more sustainable.
The opportunity that biotechnology offers is to update manufacturing processes by using more efficient feedstock, using less organic solvents, and potentially looking at bioenergy sources and how you create the energy to run your plants that can come from more sustainable biotech routes.
We’re taking this industrial revolution one step forward to become the industrial biotechnology revolution.
Why did you choose to be based in Greater Manchester as the base for this project?
Manchester has strong research assets like the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology (MIB) which has been the flagship institute of The University of Manchester since 2004. It’s home to more than 40 research groups leading pioneering projects to advance our knowledge and use of biotechnology. The Institute won the Queens Anniversary Prize back in 2019 – a prestigious accolade that rewards an outstanding contribution made to the UK by an academic institution – for biotechnology research.
With assets like MIB, Greater Manchester has built up a really strong knowledge base and a strong track record of delivery.
Plus, with the creation of innovation districts ID Manchester, this felt like the right time in GM to accelerate our research and connect with existing businesses, emerging spinouts and scale-ups that are new to Manchester’s manufacturing zones like Atom Valley and MIX MANCHESTER.
What was the draw of ID Manchester as an innovation district when choosing a location?
Once complete, ID Manchester will have a real ecosystem opportunity for companies that want to spin out in this space. We’ve got support mechanisms available and the catalyst will offer support and training. With ID opening the Reynolds incubation hub in September this year it’s very good timing. We’re aiming to create that network of connections to help businesses incorporate scale-up opportunities and encourage knowledge-sharing and collaboration.
Having innovation ecosystems like ID Manchester, Atom Valley, MIX MANCHESTER, Manchester Science Park and The Oxford Road Corridor on our doorstep alongside the knowledge base coming out of the universities, if we marry the two together it will allow great innovation from the university to come out and grow. However, it will also allow that innovation to stay in the Greater Manchester region. We’ve got the people, the businesses and the skills in the region. We’re also looking to develop the skills in line with the research so we’ve got the workforce to take this forward into the future and keep talent within the North West. This will drive investment and if we’ve got this investment in the North-West we can keep it in the region and within the UK.
Learn more about the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst (IBIC) here.
Manchester Leaders discuss Manchester’s past and future growth at Urban Futures Event
On Wednesday 22 November 2023, Chair of the GM Business Board Lou Cordwell joined in discussions at Avison Young’s breakfast event ‘Urban Futures: What’s next for Manchester’ covering the growth within the city and how to best leverage infrastructure and investment opportunities to fuel further, inclusive growth.
Barry Crichton, Managing Director of Avison Young Manchester opened the session by discussing Avison Young’s perception of Manchester’s growth story and why it has proven so successful. He discussed the role of partnerships and collaboration, infrastructure, skills and how Manchester compares against other leading cities across the UK.
He said, “Manchester is continually held as an exemplar of local authority, it continues to punch above its weight against the rest of the UK”.
Then, Barry Crichton hosted an ‘in conversation with’ session with Becca Heron Strategic Director of Growth & Development at Manchester City Council as she celebrates 2-years in post. Throughout the conversation, they discussed how Manchester has changed, the successes and the challenges Becca faced throughout her career as well as some of the projects she’s currently working on and opportunities for Manchester.
She mentioned the ongoing redevelopment of Strangeways which will be one of the city’s most complex regeneration projects to date and the plans for the redevelopment of Holt Town and Wythenshawe, with emphasis on the importance of understanding the role of each of the neighbourhoods and what it means to the community.
Becca Heron said, “I think Manchester has proven more resilient than a lot of places. I’m not saying it’s easy and getting schemes to stack up is really challenging but we have seen demand maintained and growing in Manchester, and a lot of developers are seeking Manchester as an alternative to London.
“Manchester’s resilience is a testament to its partnerships. It comes back to being clear about what your ambition is for an area. What has really stood Manchester in good stead is that we’ve got a really good track record of looking at what drives an area, what the challenges are and what we want to achieve to make a strategic vision. Then, you can find partners that share your vision.”
When discussing the future ambitions of Manchester and the wider city-region, alongside plans for a refreshed economic strategy, Becca Heron spoke of the need for improved skills provisions, retaining talent, investing in infrastructure, improving connectivity and working towards a more sustainable, net zero future. However, she made it clear that the most important factor within Manchester is driving that growth to benefit the city’s growing population and the region’s business community must play a role in supporting this.
Becca Heron said, “Manchester is still very much about growth, we know we need to see more of it. Your approach will always have to evolve, but Manchester is still about growth, our new economic strategy will show that. Not all of our residents feel connected to the growth in the city centre so it’s about how can we do more of the upskilling and plugging businesses into the agenda?”
Next, it was time for a panel session where Becca Heron was joined by Lou Cordwell, Chief Creative Officer of Magnetic North and Chair of Greater Manchester Business Board (LEP), Andrew McIntosh, Director of Place at Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Tom Wilmot, Managing Director of Capital&Centric. The panel was chaired by Nicola Rigby Principal at Avison Young.
In the panel session, Lou Cordwell discussed the city’s attractiveness to international businesses and investors, the potential of the city in terms of talent, ambition and understanding of a total ecosystem as well as the value in strategic partnerships, like the one Greater Manchester has just established with Cambridge to create the first cross-UK Innovation ecosystem.
On the importance of tech to Greater Manchester’s future, Lou Cordwell said “Digital tech is phenomenally important to the Greater Manchester economy. Tech vertical as a sector that now employs thousands of people is now seen as a really central part of our economy. 15 years ago our leaders decided that there was not a sector that wouldn’t be touched by tech, whether that’s health innovation, property
“The success we’re seeing as the fastest-growing tech city in Europe is a testament to our foresight and long-term planning. It shows risk-taking and long-term bets does pay off.
“If you think of globally significant places, they’re significant because of their output. What’s useful over the past 2-3 years is that the backdrop in the UK is very focused on tech. There are not many places, I’d argue it is only Manchester, that can deliver on that UK vision.”
When asked about the impact of the decision to pull HS2, Lou Cordwell said “It’s a huge blow, you go back to things like our tech ambition, and a huge part of our proposition was that you could an international investor could drop half of its team in London, half in Manchester and have two talent bases within an hour of each other
Fortunately, we will always be pragmatic and we’ll always find a way, we have enough momentum that it won’t block our ambition.”
Andrew McIntosh Director of Place at Greater Manchester Combined Authority discussed Manchester’s devolution deal, what it means for growth and local communities as well as the challenges that come with it, particularly with funding.
He said “By thinking about a longer-term approach to regeneration and place-based development will start to close the gap and bring forward development for growth. Long-term plans that involve the local community.
“The potential is definitely there, collectively the more we can be successful in driving strategic plans the more successful we can be as a city region. Local Authority boundaries don’t mean much because normal people don’t realise they’re there half of the time. Greater Manchester is more of an economic region.”
Tom Wilmot Managing Director of Capital&Centric discussed why developers like him are choosing Manchester to partner with and how working with the local authority can help overcome challenges like rising costs, rising insurance policies and more.
He said “Transformational regeneration really excites us, not just Transforming for this generation but for generations to come which is why we are involved in Farnworth Green in Bolton, Wier Mill in Stockport and Piccadilly East in Manchester. We like to locate ourselves in an area with a strong local authority and a clear vision so we can work closely with public sector partners.
“There are clearly viability challenges in the sector at the moment, we are in an environment where we all need to pull together and be a bit more creative to unlock things. The projects of most strategic relevance should be the projects that get public sector support.”
Becca Heron then discussed the role of planning and collaboration, mentioning masterplans like the councils plans for Holt Town but also Greater Manchester’s Growth Locations and Places for Everyone schemes, she emphasised that places should not be competing but focusing on strengths to work together to create a stronger ecosystem.
She said “Trying to forecast changes is really difficult, we want to grow, we want to spread the benefits of that growth more widely so that people can grow throughout their lives within the city.
“Places for everyone is fundamental and is a testament to the close working and partnership across Greater Manchester. It’s about looking at how those places relate to each other, it’s a long-term vision. Turning that into investable propositions will be the trick.
“It’s not helpful that areas are putted against each other. When there are funding rounds we’ll be in competition with Leeds and Liverpool but what we need to do is work with those cities and improve that connectivity to benefit us all. There are different roles for each of those places. We should be trying to work with instead of compete and create an ecosystem.”
Manchester leaders call on businesses to enhance the city’s liveability credentials
Manchester was recently named the most liveable city in the UK and The Global Liveability Index ranks the city as the 28th most liveable city in the world, with London coming in 33rd.
The cities in the index are ranked according to their political stability, infrastructure, healthcare and access to green spaces. In some of these criteria, Manchester was outranked by European counterparts like Vienna, Copenhagen and Zurich.
At a breakfast event on Tuesday 10 October, Insider Media brought together decision-makers, placemakers and drivers for change across Manchester to discuss Manchester’s standing as a liveable city. Conversations covered what Manchester can learn from other global cities, and how it can become a more attractive place for people to live, work and invest. Panellists also explored how the city can adapt to be suitable for future generations, how it can retain talent and how it can take its leisure and culture offer forward.
Joining the discussions were Joanne Roney chief executive of Manchester City Council, Randel Bryan executive director of Factory International, Dan Hyde development director of MEPC, Stephen Hodder founding director of Hodder + Partners, Stuart Sayer North West strategic lead at Turner & Townsend, Marcus Dixon director of UK residential research, JLL and Professor Andy Dainty pro-vice-chancellor for education at Manchester Metropolitan University.
The panels debated at length Manchester’s growth journey and why it is an extremely liveable city, discussing a neighbourhood-led approach to development and the importance of creating new, free public spaces.
As the event was held in NOMA’s new building, 4 Angel Square, it felt apt to discuss the work MEPC have done to create a new sustainable mixed-use neighbourhood with the community at its heart. NOMA prides itself on nurturing communities, building relationships with local businesses and creating spaces the residents need. NOMA is an example of Manchester’s neighbourhood approach, creating a modern space for people to live, work, create and innovate that has people at the heart.
The panellists discussed how development partners and businesses should prioritise community spaces and the public realm when developing, one of the biggest challenges developers in high-density areas face is creating green, public spaces that work for the communities they serve.
Dan Hyde, Development Director of MEPC said “To give something longevity you need to have diversity and vibrancy. What we’re doing here at NOMA is creating something for everybody based on the green spaces and public realm we’re creating.
It’s important that these neighbourhoods have their own identity, there’s a lot of history and heritage assets around here that give a place an identity. What’s really important as Manchester evolves is connectivity, making sure those neighbourhoods are outward-looking and don’t become an island.”
Stephen Hodder founding director of Hodder + Partners said “Access to communal facilities is absolutely integral to the notion of liveability. St Michael’s will encapsulate everything about liveability. For me, what’s not being talked about in St Michael’s is the new public space we are creating in the middle, that public open space is key to liveability in the city. Wherever possible there is a responsibility to create public realm and green spaces.”
Joanne Roney, Chief Executive of Manchester City Council and Professor Andy Dainty pro-vice-chancellor for education, at Manchester Metropolitan University both called upon Manchester’s business community to support the liveability of the city, by helping to provide new opportunities and pathways for talent. Joanne Roney suggested businesses join the Greater Manchester Good Employment Charter but also support the region’s skills agenda by working with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority to influence the future of integrated and industry-led technical education across the region.
Joanne Roney said “The key to closing the inequality gap is skills and wages. We have an opportunity under the devolution deal to really think about the post-16 skills programme, we really need businesses to work with us. I’m concerned about young people in this city thinking that the city is the place for them, businesses have a role in that by working with schools, supporting t levels and providing apprenticeships.”
Speaking for the University students, Professor Andy Dainty discussed the large volume of students and international students attending Greater Manchester’s universities and the roles that businesses can play in retaining this talent in the region.
Professor Andy Dainty said “We have almost 200,000 students across the city region and that’s a really good success story, we must be doing something right. As someone who has worked at a lot of universities and studied at them, I think that this is the best student city in the UK.
“We retain about 30% of students who come to us from outside of Greater Manchester. One of the ways we can improve this is for businesses to provide work opportunities at any level. There are also all sorts of opportunities for business and the uni to work together and support the innovation ecosystem.”
Stuart Sayer North West strategic lead at Turner and Townsend discussed the need for affordable housing to retain talent and create a truly liveable city that appeals to graduates. As Manchester city-centre grows, it’s vital that young talent can afford to live within it. This also means investing in green spaces and amenities that create a place people want to live in.
Stuart Sayer said “We have a city centre from an early careers point of view which is a really good place to live. Greener spaces, education and healthcare are things we can bring in. I think we’re at a very exciting point in the journey, going from a point where we’re attractive to graduates and that demographic to becoming a truly liveable city.”
Randel Bryan, executive director of Factory International discussed how businesses within Manchester’s growing creative sector are creating more opportunities for local people, helping to retain talent and ensuring that Manchester remains a vibrant, truly exciting place to live.
Randel Bryan said “When you look at Aviva Studios, it’s that brilliant example of the need for commercial infrastructure to be underpinned by a cultural offer. We always need to appreciate that audiences will congregate around great cultural moments and Manchester building and curating these moments lifts the bar of what’s happening in the city.
“The arts are becoming more dynamic career pathways. In terms of making Manchester a more liveable city, people need to have the best years of their life here, they need to want to stay here and raise a family here. But the sector doesn’t work unless you get the talent here and out of London. The idea that you can wake up in Oldham or Moss Side and have some of the world’s leading cultural programmes being made on your doorstep is inspiring and should drive more talent into the sector.”
As Greater Manchester strives to become a greener, fairer, more prosperous city region our leaders, development partners and businesses must work to ensure the city remains liveable. This means creating places that cater to communities and provide much-needed amenities without losing sight of affordability and culture. Businesses and leaders also need to create better opportunities for residents by collaborating on skills pathways, providing access to new industries and opening up routes to work.
A truly liveable city is one in which everyone can succeed and feel like they can live a great quality of life.
As Joanne Roney said “It’s great that we’re growing but let’s not forget the attributes of the city. If we can tackle the challenges, we’ve mentioned today we can be number one. This is without doubt the best city in the world.”
GM Green Summit 2023: Greater Manchester will not deflect on net zero
Monday 2nd October marked the 6th annual GM Green Summit, an event which aims to accelerate climate action across the region. By bringing people from all walks of life across Greater Manchester who are determined to drive change and help the city-region meet its ambitious goals for the environment, the event hopes to find solutions to the biggest challenge facing our generation.
Local authority leaders, businesses, community groups, schools and individuals came together at The Lowry Theatre in Salford Quays. The day included panel sessions, workshops and exhibitions from local businesses and initiatives, aiming to raise awareness for net zero and low carbon solutions. This included a push for The Bee Network, Green Economy and the support available from Electricity North West, The Growth Company and other Greater Manchester organisations and initiatives.
The conference made it clear that Greater Manchester’s outlook on climate action remains positive, despite a turbulent climate and negative news around climate change. The region is putting lots of measures in place to support the transition to net zero and to meet its goal of being zero carbon by 2038.
To open the summit Cllr Tom Ross Leader of Trafford Council and Green City-Region Portfolio Lead at Greater Manchester Combined Authority said “It is clear that there is far more to do but in Greater Manchester, we’re making good progress across the board. The next step is to increase the speed and scale of delivery. To achieve our 2038 target we will need coordinated partnerships between local and national government, universities, communities and more.
To work together to address these issues is something we can all do and together, we can make a difference. By working together we are making a cleaner, greener, fairer city region.”
Throughout the day, Andy Burnham made the region’s stance on climate change clear. He said, “It’s our job to set the strategic direction for the city region as well as putting in schemes to deliver that. I want to make something really clear, we’re not changing our stance on net zero. We are sticking to our path to becoming a 2038 net zero city region. It represents the best opportunity for our region to reindustrialise.”
The Mayor also discussed the colossal challenge that lies ahead of the region in fixing the green skills gap, praising technical education reform across the way as one of the biggest opportunities our region faces. It’s important that Greater Manchester is ahead of the game on green skills but also in driving innovation and behaviour change around green jobs and upskilling.
He also discussed the Bee Network and the region’s dedication to creating an affordable, integrated public transport system that will benefit everyone.
Later that afternoon Sir Alok Sharma, Conservative MP and former President of COP 26 gave a keynote address to the summit.
He said, “You’re doing exactly what needs to happen, bringing together businesses, civic society and local government as well. It is the right approach because we all have a role to play in reaching a net zero society. Summits like this are a great opportunity to bring people together to drive action.
“It is human activity that is causing global warming and that’s why it is up to us to deal with this. If we do nothing at all about climate change it could end up costing up to 20% of global GDP a year.
“The future belongs to the next generation and I think it’s vitally important that civil society groups pressure local, regional and national politicians to act. When you make decisions and decide where to invest your money, please think of the voices of young people in civil society ringing in your ear.”
Net Zero for Businesses
The role of businesses in the region’s transition to net zero was front and centre at this year’s GM Green Summit. The Bee Net Zero partnership held a workshop which aimed to help Greater Manchester’s business community to better understand their journey to net zero and the support available to them. In a hands-on workshop the parentship aimed to discover from business leaders what further support would be useful on the journey to net zero so it could inform action going forward.
Then, representatives from the Greater Manchester Business Board (LEP) took to the stage to discuss the role businesses can play in reaching net zero including a wider introduction to the Bee Net Zero partnership.
Steve Connor Green Lead for the Greater Manchester Business Board said “This transition for businesses is really critical. We started the industrial revolution, if we can pull off the green revolution nowhere can say it’s too difficult. Getting to net zero will give a 6.4% boost to GDP for the nation. Net zero is not a cost, that’s a lie that’s being spread at the moment, it’s an opportunity.
“The Bee Net Zero partnership is going from strength to strength, we’re about to launch a commitment so we can track businesses across Greater Manchester and where they are on their net zero journey as well as work on sector-specific support.”
Lou Cordwell, Chair of the GM Business Board said “Business has got a really important part to play in Greater Manchester’s transition to net zero. One thing I think is really apparent is something that we see on a weekly basis, internationally significant businesses that want to help us. We’re surrounded by people inspired by our purpose. We remain really passionate about the role of business and business working hand in hand with government, academic institutions and civic society.”
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham joined a Q&A with some of the summit’s key sponsors Untied Utilities, SSE Energy Solutions, British Gas, Autotrader UK, Deikin and Electricity North West to uncover what these organisations were doing to reach net zero targets.
It also provided an opportunity to shine a light on carbon literacy training and what it means for organisations, awarding two Greater Manchester professionals Carbon Literacy Catalyst Awards for their progressive work in training their organisation.
The rest of the summit gave a voice to other groups including young people, faith groups and community groups. Workshops covered topics like food waste, water management, nature recovery, sustainable electric cars and more to help local people take steps towards net zero.
A core part of this year’s GM Green Summit however, aimed to provide a first look region’s next five-year environment plan for 2024 – 2029 covering natural environment, transport, low carbon, sustainable consumption and adaptation to climate change. The chairs of the current green challenge groups, created to accelerate action against different areas of the Greater Manchester Environment Plan took to the stage to discuss achievements so far.
To learn more about the Greater Manchester green summit, visit the GM Green City website.
Learn more about how Bee Net Zero can support your business on the journey to net zero, here
