The SSN conference will host a pre-consultation session on Scotland's Climate Change Bill. This session will revolve around three questions. Question two focusses on corporate emissions reductions:

What measures can your local authority introduce to reduce its own corporate greenhouse gas emissions or adapt its own corporate infrastructure to Climate Change? What will these measures achieve (i.e. their potential)? Are there any legal changes required to enable these measures to be taken forward?

Examples of legal changes needed to take action are: duties, current legal barriers, statutory targets, statutory guidance.

Group9; Facilitator: Richard Whitecross.
What measures can local authorities take and what legalities need to be put in place?

Measures:
• Merge planning and building standards
• Create an internal carbon market
• Set incentives – staff scheme.
• Create better linkages with SEA?
• Place an obligation on the LA Buying Consortium to incorporate sustainable development/carbon management measures into the procurement process.
• Take carbon management and accounting into all LA procurement processes including capital [investment].
• Sustainability and carbon management training for all employees.
• EPBD – Asset Registers – created requirement to categorise each building in terms of energy. Scottish Building Standards Agency used wrong criterion so confusion – needs clarification and enforcement?
• Improved fleet management – develop and publish Green Fleet Policies
• Travel plans.
• Develop local technical capacity/expertise to tackle energy efficiency.
• Improve awareness throughout organisation.
• Councils to introduce spend to save/life cycle costings for all financial budgets (revenue and capital).
• Scottish Government to use “stricter” enforcement of existing legislation e.g HECA.
• Review carbon reduction commitment.
• Street dimming.
• Waste collection and treatment.
• Car parking – universal charging.
• Practical measures to safe energy in buildings (e.g night watch man system for computers).
• There should not be devolved energy budgets for schools and local authorities should have control over these since the energy used would still be treated as part of the LA’s carbon footprint.

There should be:
• A statutory requirement to report on green house gases in a consistent, uniform manner.
• The report should be public and submitted centrally.
• Carbon mitigation action plans should be public.
• Should be legally required to build in Carbon Management measures in all policies, processes etc. [similar to Equality and Diversity Impact Assessments].
• Require regular carbon reporting from managers to senior management meetings.
• Any legal changes should be consistent with the wider remit of environmental legislation.

The group wondered if there was a need for more incentives from central government, and whether there needed to be more carrots v sticks. However, there was also a view that enforcement, stringently and consistently applied was probably needed.

The group emphasised better reporting and auditing (though they raised doubts about Audit Scotland and stressed the need for a consistent approach to audit). They also noted that for example CSR is supposed to be a requirement but is unevenly applied or audited.

SSN: Climate Change Bill Workshop
Group 12[/b][/b]

Question 2: What measures can your local authority introduce to reduce its own corporate greenhouse gas emissions or adapt its own corporate infrastructure to Climate Change?

NB: This group did not address question as it wasn’t felt possible to describe the actual emissions reductions resulting from these suggestions. Similarly, it wasn’t felt possible to describe the cost of possible adaptation measures. The comments below are as recorded during the workshop and include possible legislative changes that could be included in the Bill Consultation document.

Mitigation
§ Existing buildings are often inefficient and it might be better to build fit for purpose buildings.
§ National Performance Indicator for CO2/m2. Producing a benchmark to allow comparison should support this. Would also need to be a rolling benchmark and could be adapted from existing English benchmarks and would require inspection and enforcement.
§ Improve existing buildings.
§ Increase funds available for energy efficiency buildings especially schools.
§ Set national carbon reduction targets for individual local authorities, these should be specific to individual local authorities in order to reflect the differences in their size and priorities. Financial savings should be able to be carried over. Future grants should not be reduced if LAs have been successful in making reductions.
§ Development of CEEF: a) increase funds, b) change pay pack time, c) CO2 accounting.
§ Establish a public authority CRC equivalent for Scotland.
§ Ensure CC Bill captures SD benefits, i.e the added value of ensuring integrated policies that deliver for a healthy Scotland while also reducing emissions.
§ Seek clarification of accounting for climate change in PFI contracts.
§ Advice/help/support for local authorities writing tenders e.g. for renewable energy projects.
§ Duty on an organisation to issue guidance on changing technologies – e.g. transport and energy.
§ Provide a national view on biofuels and cross ref to requirement on travel plans.
§ The Bill should do what it can to engender the necessary cultural shift.
§ Statutory duty to impose a climate change equivalent to B.A.T (best available technology). E.g. only purchase top 20% efficiency products – the duty would work as a means of Choice Editing. This should include requirements for on site generating.
§ Set carbon budgets for local authorities and clear enforcement penalties that are felt by ‘current administration’ i.e. the polluter.
§ Recognise the important role that the National Park Authorities has to play.
§ Scale up requirement in SSP6 from 15% to 20% and continue to increase this on a rolling programme.
§ Review implications of right to buy in terms of climate change.



Adaptation
§ Place a duty on LAs to create a scheme to audit LAs adaptation action.
§ Produce statutory guidance that is updated on a rolling programme, this should take account of full life costs.
§ Establish new mechanisms/terms of engagement for joint working on adaptation that encourages cross boundary working. There is a need to work at a geographical scale rather than a political one and support should be in place to encourage this.
§ There should be an emphasis on engaging front line/operational staff in mitigation (+ adaptation).

The group didn’t focus on the ‘potential effects’ for each, but all were aimed at reducing carbon emissions rather than adapting to climate change.


Measure 1: Introduce transport management initiatives for LA staff such as sustainable transport credits or different car mileage rates for different sizes of car to incentivise smaller cars, walking, cycling, use of season tickets for public transport etc.
Legal changes required- Statutory requirement & guidance to embed carbon reduction within service plans.
- Create carbon management standards (stretching, but not unobtainable) and reward best practice in a meaningful way, with the intention of improving standards, perhaps through recognition awards for ‘zero carbon’ LAs.
- Use a robust target setting process to create ambitious, obligatory targets for each LA. Ensure clarity on carbon targets. Relative (%s) or absolute (tonnes CO2e) or both? Use a common, standard measurement.
- Create LA carbon management league tables to encourage competition between LAs.
- Auditing carbon performance. Scrutinise at target setting and interm and final performance stages (i.e. not just audited by laypersons/auditors at the end).
- Enforce carbon reduction regulations within the planning system.
Measure 2
Turn off street lights when not needed. Legal changes as above.

Measure 3
Other carbon management actions related to LA functions such as buildings management, waste management. Legal changes as above.

Measure 4
Improve communications between all LA services / policy agendas (e.g. health and financial inclusion) with respect to carbon management to raise its profile and drive down carbon emissions. Carbon management to be a requirement within annual review process for public sector agencies.
Measure 5
Increase carbon management capacity within LAs. Raise awareness of carbon management within LA staff and provide training & education. Create a ‘Zero carbon’ web portal to draw together new and existing guidance & information resources on zero carbon best practice.
Measure 6
Funding. LAs should accrue efficiency savings resulting from good carbon management and invest same to achieve further carbon reductions (e.g. retro-fitting existing buildings such as schools).

Legal measures required- Introduce longer funding cycles (e.g. 3 years) and put pressure on LAs to spend more efficiently and strategically to achieve savings over longer payback periods.
- Introduce sanctions / fines for under-performing LAs.
- Use either ring fenced funding (eg. ‘climate change fund’) or funding measures linked to mandatory regulations for carbon reduction (ie. single outcome agreements - for LAs to decide how to meet).

Measure 7: Procurement. Incorporate low/zero carbon into PPP process, especially for schools. Statutory instrument to incentivise carbon management within PPP contracts.

Measure 8: Political.
Introduce statutory cross party working on climate change. Incentivise confidence and political courage with respect to decisions re carbon.

Measure 9: Establish best practice strategic fora (eg. local, regional, sectoral) areas. Develop buy-in from grass roots (eg. NGOs and other existing activists).
Measure 10: More rigorous targets within National Priorities for Education.

Group Number: 10 (Facilitator: Vikki Milne)

A) Possible measure Potential effect? C) Any legal changes required?

Establish a baseline of emission levels (understand what emission and where they are the highest).
Breakdown emissions by department using an agreed method (enabling comparison) which is readily understandable.

Delegate lead responsibility for each department.
Identify key department with potential for most impact on emissions:
Ø Transport
Ø Energy and Buildings
Ø Procurement
Ø Waste
Awareness of emission levels and areas of impact may help reduce them.

Audit Scotland requirement that local Authorities gather/know this data

For each department set indicators and targets.
Targets need to be meaningful, achievable and relevant.
Effect will depend on the priority and strength of the targets in the climate Change Bill. Set national targets, requirement from the Climate Change Bill for all public organisations
Linked to development of local Authority Outcome Agreements

Carbon accounting by department for all departments.
Link to financial accounting

More central guidance than legislation on what to count and how to count it.

Education and awareness raising
• stimulate ownership and buy in. Communicate what doing and why, what achieved.
• Carbon rep in each department /Champion
• Proper training for all measures.
• Sharing ideas/experience across departments and local authorities on best practice


Transport:
• Travel planning support
• For Staff: to and form work, at work, car sharing, home working, staff card to have facility to collect points and spend on facilities, services
• Route planning of service vehicles – frequency of journeys.

• Alternative fuels – analyse what fuels are being used

• Identify sustainable modes of transport; availability of facilities to encourage bike use (showers, lockers bike stands) need change in corporate culture (images/dress code)

• Remove car parking (or charge) / remove essential car user status.
• Effects will carry depending on current efficiency, geography ect.
• Overall reduce vehicle emissions


Energy and Buildings
• Support Thermo-efficiency
• Address inefficient heating systems (in schools)
• Audit of buildings
• Investigate impact of PFI on emissions
• Retro-fitting renewables
• Sustainable construction for all new buildings.
• Retraining planning staff and building trade on emissions
• In England have the ‘Merton rule’, Scotland has SPP6- is this adequate? Possible implications for Climate Change Bill in planning new buildings, retrofitting old buildings.
• Changes in building regulations, PFI, planning applications
• Agreements to include environmental energy factors.

Procurement
• Sourcing
• Carbon foot printing
• Attention to barriers and opportunities needed

Waste
• Attention required to each aspect of waste:
• Reduce:
• Double sided printing
• Attention to packaging (procurement)
• Recycle:
• In the office move rubbish bins to recycling points (kitchens)
• Introduce biowaste facilities (worm farms)
• Reducing sue of raw materials, composting more recycling, less overall waste to landfill


General points raised:

Need combination of carrot and stick measures.

Need for guidance from Local Authorities on how emission should be tackled within each department

Impact on resources: need for professional support, enables permission to assist departments to bring in new measures

Crucial to get ownership – mainstreaming climate change and attention to emission to every local authority employee.

Need to take a long term view – invest heavily upfront to save in the long term.