Most of Britain's major cities pledge to run on green energy by 2050

Most of Britain’s major cities will be run entirely on green energy by 2050, after the leaders of more than 50 Labour-run councils made pledges to eradicate carbon emissions in their areas.

In a highly significant move, council leaders in Edinburgh, Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds, Nottingham, Glasgow and many others signed up to the promise ahead of the crucial international climate talks that will take place next month in Paris. Labour said this would cut the UK’s carbon footprint by 10%.

The pledge, coordinated by Lisa Nandy, the shadow energy and climate change secretary, will mean green transport, an end to gas heating and a programme of mass insulation of homes in cities across the UK.

The move will also pile pressure on the London mayoral candidates to make a similar pledge for the capital, with some Labour-led London boroughs, including Southwark, Lambeth and Greenwich, having already signed the promise.

Ahead of the crucial Paris talks, similar pledges have been made by the leaders of other towns and cities around the world, including Copenhagen, New York, Sydney, Malmö and Munich.

Hillary Clinton, the US Democratic presidential candidate, has also backed 100% clean energy as a goal, saying: “We should do nothing that interferes with or undermines efforts to reach that goal as soon as it is possible.”

Nandy said the move showed the impact that Labour could have locally when it comes to green energy, at a time when the government has slashed subsidies for renewable energy sources such as solar and onshore wind.

“Where Labour is in power we will push for a clean energy boom even if the government will not,” she said. “Ministers say they support devolution to our towns and cities so they should back these council leaders by ending their attack on the schemes that can help to make this safer, cleaner future a reality.”

Sir Richard Leese, the leader of Manchester city council, said the transition would happen “through acts of leadership by the many, not the few”.

“We are taking action to show a completely clean energy future is both viable and within reach within the course of a generation,” he said.

The pledge says: “We have the ambition of making all our towns and cities across the UK 100% clean before 2050, in line with the commitments made nationally and internationally at the Paris summit.

“We hope other towns and cities across the globe will join us to demonstrate that this transition will happen through acts of leadership by the many, not the few, and that a transition to a clean energy future is both viable and already beginning to happen in many towns and cities today. Our UK towns and cities are committed to making a better future for all.”

It comes after Ed Miliband, the former Labour leader, called on the UK to become the first country in the world to enshrine in law a target of reducing carbon emissions to zero.

Miliband, who was energy secretary under Gordon Brown, said Britain should show leadership and send a clear signal to businesses by building on its existing target of cutting emissions by 80% by 2050 under the Climate Change Act.