Climate Change Project Manager Judi Kilgallon writes about the vital role of local government in helping Scotland meet its Net Zero targets.
We can only achieve Net Zero and unlock the benefits it could bring by working in partnership. Through our journey to embed climate change across our organisation we have worked with existing partners and made new connections and networks to help improve our support for those working in local government.
Scottish local authorities are central to delivering the ambitions of the UK and Scottish Governments to reach Net Zero and more importantly, unlock benefits for communities and businesses along the way. As in the recent analysis by the Sustainable Scotland Network and research by Audit Scotland, local authorities are already taking decisive action with the majority setting operational targets and many also focusing on area wide emissions with some deadlines as early as 2025.
As the Improvement Service we recognise the connection between this complex agenda and our role in driving change and transformation. We are working to support a radical rethink of a local authority’s shape, role and relationships. Climate change is a challenge that will shape the future of local authorities by necessity and provides an opportunity to bring together priorities and sectors and improve lives and the environment. The just transition to Net Zero is both a process of delivering the target and an important ambition and priority in its own right. Over the next few months we will be working on behalf of Scottish Government to support engagement with the public sector on the new Just Transition Plans.
In our work we focus on the ‘how’ of delivering a just transition to Net Zero, to understand existing assets, networks and approaches and embed and mainstream across our programmes and with our partners. We know that there is a need for new skills and ways of working and supported Scottish Government to research training resources and approaches. Knowledge sharing and collaboration is key, across the UK and beyond so we wanted to celebrate some of the work being supported and driven by local authorities and their communities across Scotland.
Climate Ready Aberdeenshire is a cross-sector initiative to create a climate change adaptation and mitigation strategy for Aberdeenshire, bringing together the views and expertise of a range of diverse stakeholders. Communities alongside public, private and third sector organisations are working collaboratively to meet the challenges of a changing climate within Aberdeenshire.
The objectives of Climate Ready Aberdeenshire are:
- Increasing understanding and awareness of climate change risks and opportunities within Aberdeenshire.
- Working with communities to discover their priorities and how they can be supported to mitigate and adapt to climate change.
- Supporting decision-makers to make climate friendly and climate ready decisions which support the delivery of local and national commitments.
- Providing knowledge, advice and support to groups and individuals to help them mitigate and adapt to climate change.
Co-sponsored by the City of Edinburgh Council and the Edinburgh Climate Change Institute, the Edinburgh Climate Commission is an independent group working together to accelerate climate action and impact in Edinburgh.
The Commission was launched in February 2020 and aims to:
- Identify and address the challenges critical to Edinburgh meeting its climate targets
- Provide independent, expert and authoritative advice to support the city's transition to net zero emissions by 2030
- Catalyse action, challenge the city's decision makers and convene stakeholders
- Act as a forum where organisations can exchange ideas, research findings, information and best practice on carbon reduction and climate resilience
The Islands Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ) is an innovation centre that will support Orkney, Shetland and the Outer Hebrides to become leaders in energy transition as part of Scotland’s Net Zerp ambitions. Developed by an Islands based consortium led by the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) with partners Heriot Watt University, Aquatera, Community Energy Scotland and the three Island Councils: Orkney, Shetland and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar.
The islands are set to become major renewable energy hubs for onshore and offshore energy and have the potential to provide over 10% of the UK’s energy generation from wind, wave and tidal energy.
The purpose of ICNZ is to coordinate efforts to deliver the following:
- Acceleration of a just decarbonisation across the three island groups
- Green job creation and transition in the islands
- Development of internationally recognised islands transition expertise and capabilities, transferable beyond Orkney, Shetland, and Outer Hebrides.
Dundee is the first local authority in Scotland to use the ClimateOS platform, digitising its climate data in a bid to speed up climate action and reach its goal of Net Zero emissions by 2045. The Dundee Climate Action Plan is integrated into this software to help the council calculate how far their actions will take us to Net Zero. The tool is based on the idea of transition targets - for example, transition from higher carbon activities, such as driving fossil fuel cars, to lower carbon activities such as cycling.
The council intends to use the tool to:
- Calculate and model decarbonisation scenarios that align with Net Zero commitments
- Engage and co-create new actions with partners
- Communicate progress through clear data visualisation to the public and decision-makers
- Monitor the impact of climate policies
The Sustainable Glasgow Partnership aims to position Glasgow as a leading city in the development of the green and wider circular economy. The council-led initiative was formed in 2010 to make Glasgow a world-leading centre for sustainable policy, innovation and action, and helped the city achieve its 2020 target of reducing CO2 emissions by 30%. The partnership now works to support the city's ambition of becoming Net-Zero Carbon by 2030 and its broad range of projects are improving quality of life in the city, boosting the economy and protecting the environment.
Sustainable Glasgow is supported by four thematic hubs designed to produce innovative solutions to key city challenges:
- Greening the City Hub
- Green Infrastructure and Transport Hub
- Private Sector and Green Economy Hub
- Housing and Heating Hub
North Ayrshire Council has launched a £350,000 fund to help local groups play their part in tackling climate change.
The funding is to assist community organisations who are interested in making a contribution to North Ayrshire’s target to be net zero by 2030 by installing renewable energy technology on buildings they are responsible for.
The Community Renewable Energy Generation Funding Scheme (CREGFS) will support community groups to reduce carbon emissions, as well as generating new income and/or reducing property running costs.
Action Together on Climate initiative (ACT Now) was established in 2019 by North Lanarkshire Partnership and supports action to tackle the climate emergency in North Lanarkshire with a commitment to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 – 15 years earlier than the national target deadline of 2045.
ACT Now’s objectives are:
- Improve understanding of the climate emergency and what must be done to achieve net-zero amongst North Lanarkshire’s citizens and workforce in all sectors
- Support North Lanarkshire’s community and voluntary sector and business sector to become “green champions” committed to transitioning to net-zero
- Review and share progress regarding North Lanarkshire Partnership’s statutory partners’ delivery of their inclusive, green recovery and net-zero commitments
- Provide collective leadership and accountability on climate and net-zero action in North Lanarkshire through North Lanarkshire Partnership.