John Denham MP thinks Manchester is a leader on action on climate change. What?

I'm delighted to hear that the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, John Denham MP, thinks strong leadership, clear vision and ambition from councils could deliver reductions in carbon emissions of millions of tonnes annually. My feelings exactly, which is why I'm writing a book about how communities and councils can promote a low carbon future.

In a speech at the Local Action on Climate Change Summit last week, Mr Denham outlined his vision for radically enhancing the role of councils with greater autonomy and powers to drive low carbon living - changing the expectations of what local government is and what it does for people. He said: "The challenge of tackling climate change presents local authorities with an opportunity to take centre stage and lead the way in not only finding solutions for their own local area and delivering for their local residents but in helping the nation meet its commitments to driving down carbon emissions."

"Councils already play a crucial part in making the shift to a low carbon economy," he added, "but there is capacity for them to go further than their current responsibilities. Getting this right will require local government to think differently, be ambitious and embrace innovation. In return central government will need to provide support, make sure unnecessary barriers to action are swept away, and be ready to give local authorities which are ready to go further and faster, and have a plan for doing so, the tools to do the job."

But then he completely blew it by praising Manchester for leading the way. MANCHESTER? They have just announced that they are planning to cut their emissions by more than 40% by 2020 which is great, but they haven't actually done anything yet. I can't think of one thing Manchester has done on the climate change and depletion of natural resources agenda. By contrast councils like Kirklees, Woking, Islington, Sutton, Oxford, Richmond, Milton Keynes, Eastleigh and Birmingham are so far ahead that they're off the map.

Come on, John - you're right that councils can play a huge role, but let's praise the right people for taking action not the ones that are simply talking about it.