Manchester receives top score for climate leadership and action for fourth consecutive year
- Thursday, January 8, 2026
- Posted By The Growth Company
Manchester has made the prestigious CDP Cities A list for the fourth year running maintaining our position as a city that is demonstrating a globally recognised commitment to climate leadership and transparent, data informed action to build resilience, manage climate impacts, and create a better future.
A total of 738 cities were scored in 2025, with 120 cities receiving an A.
The city is one of just 120 cities globally to receive the top score from CDP, positioning Greater Manchester amongst other cities like Stockholm, London, Sydney and New York.
What is the CDP Cities A list?
CDP is a leading international non-profit that tracks climate data from cities, companies and governments, as the world’s only independent environmental disclosure system.
The CDP Cities A List, published each year, recognises cities across the world that are demonstrating leadership by publicly disclosing environmental data and committing to ambitious steps to manage climate risks and reduce emissions.
Manchester Climate Ready submits information to CDP on behalf of the city, helping to maintain transparency for Manchester’s plans, actions, impacts, and progress.
What does a city need to do to achieve A list status?
To achieve an A score, a city must meet a series of robust leadership criteria. This includes publicly disclosing environmental data through the CDP-ICLEI Track platform, maintaining a comprehensive city-wide emissions inventory, and publishing a credible climate action plan. Cities must also complete a full climate risk and vulnerability assessment and set a clear climate adaptation goal that outlines how they will address current and future climate hazards.
Bee Net Zero partner Manchester Climate Ready supports Manchester to meet these requirements, holding responsibility for publishing:
Our adaptation objectives include; minimising the impacts of climate change on the wellbeing of communities, increasing the resilience of new and existing infrastructure and buildings, maximising the economic benefit of climate resilience investments while minimising disruption costs.
With climate hazards such as flooding, heatwaves and drought becoming more severe and frequent, the demand for reliable, data-driven decision-making has never been greater.
By disclosing through the CDP-ICLEI Track system, Greater Manchester is helping to drive collaboration between public bodies and businesses, while unlocking new opportunities for climate finance and innovation.
Publishing environmental data helps local authorities better understand risks, build climate resilience, and support sustainable economic growth. The CDP platform also gives cities the tools they need to align with private sector expectations, improve access to funding, and attract investment into green projects.
Manchester joins cities from every continent in taking action to shape an Earth-positive future through open, transparent reporting and evidence-based planning.
CDP recognises that Manchester is a leading city when it comes to climate leadership, setting robust plans, targets and tracking.
Manchester’s CDP scores:
2025 - A
2024 - A
2023 - A
2022 - A
2021 - B
2020 - C
2019 - C