Climate change duties - draft statutory guidance for public bodies: consultation

Public Consultation Summary

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 ('the 2009 Act') places duties on relevant public bodies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, contribute to delivery of the Scottish National Adaptation Plan, and to act in the most sustainable way. These duties are known as the climate change duties, or the public bodies climate change duties.

Under the 2009 Act, Scottish Ministers are required to provide the public bodies with guidance, to support them in putting their climate change duties into practice. Statutory guidance was originally published in 2011 and now requires to be updated. This consultation seeks your views on new draft statutory guidance which has been developed for this purpose, and which will replace the 2011 guidance. By law, public bodies subject to the climate change duties are required to have regard to the statutory guidance. The new guidance will only be effective if it is informed by, and tailored to, the needs of public bodies.

During the public consultation period on this draft statutory guidance a formal public consultation will be opened on the Scottish Government's 'Citizen Space'.

In this Public Consultation Summary, you will find details on:

• general questions on the proposed content of the guidance
• questions about specific sections of the guidance including the Carbon Management Plan template (Annex A) and the Climate Change Plan template for local authorities (Annex B)
• responding to this consultation and post-consultation next steps.

You will find questions in two formats, either open ended questions asking for general opinions or specific questions asking you to share if, and how much, you agree with the relevant question.

To respond to these questions please go to the Scottish Government's Citizen Space here - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space – and search for 'climate change duties'.

Finally, in addition to this Public Consultation Summary, you will also find a full copy of the draft guidance. The draft guidance includes a number of annexes that contain important supplementary information: Annex A – Carbon Management Plan template and Annex B – Climate Change Plan template for local authorities. These form part of the guidance and will be published in the final version.

Proposed content of the guidance

The public sector plays a vital role in enabling Scotland's just transition to net zero and climate resilience. Public bodies are required to meet the climate change duties as they 'exercise their functions'. These functions could be corporate operational functions, policy making functions or influence, and the overall delivery function (i.e. the purpose of the body).

All public bodies will be responsible for some direct greenhouse gas emissions, for example through their day-to-day operations, estate and fleet. However, many public bodies will, through their varied functions, have a wide and significant influence on climate change action and sustainable development far beyond their organisational boundaries.

For example, for a local authority, corporate operational functions may include procurement, estate management and finance. Policy making functions might include public transport and active travel planning, impacting on greenhouse gas emissions from transport in a particular local area, and on wider linked issues including resilience of infrastructure. Influence might include direct influence, for example over suppliers; and wider influence through Local Development Plans and engagement with local businesses. The delivery function or purpose would be to deliver local government services within that authority area.

The guidance aims to take a holistic approach that includes these broader functions and secures wider linked benefits including to health and wellbeing, biodiversity and equalities.

The proposed content of the guidance includes:

• the background to the guidance and an explanation of the relevant legislation
• the broader context, wider related legislation and policy, and impact assessments
• climate change and inequalities
• how public bodies should approach putting the climate change duties into practice, including the importance of leadership and governance, mainstreaming and how to take climate change into account in decision making
• dedicated chapters on each of the three climate change duties: reducing emissions, adaptation, and acting in the most sustainable way
• reporting on climate action and progress towards targets and outcomes
• a Carbon Management Plan template (Annex A) aimed at smaller and less complex public bodies that may have limited capacity to measure, monitor and report on their carbon emissions
• a Climate Change Plan template for local authorities (Annex B) intended to help them demonstrate their compliance with the three climate change duties, across their corporate and area wide boundaries.

Public consultation questions

Climate change and equalities

Chapter 3 of the guidance focuses on climate change and equalities, and aims to make it clear how effective climate action can help achieve wider outcomes including reduced inequalities and improved health and wellbeing outcomes. Section 2.2 outlines the most common impact assessments.

1. With respect to the protected characteristics, could the content of the statutory guidance be changed or added to, to strengthen any positive impacts or lessen any negative impacts as it is implemented by public bodies?

2. With respect to inequality caused by socio-economic disadvantage, could the content of the statutory guidance be changed or added to, to strengthen any positive impacts or lessen any negative impacts as it is implemented by public bodies?

Taking climate change into account in decision making

For public bodies to demonstrate compliance with the climate change duties, in particular to show how they have met the requirement to best calculate the impact of their actions in terms of mitigation and adaptation, climate change considerations should be embedded in decision-making processes, with a robust and auditable record.

Section 4.5 of the draft guidance provides information on embedding climate considerations into decision-making processes through the use of appropriate impact assessments and other tools. Chapter 5 and chapter 6 provide specific guidance around implementing duty (a) to contribute to mitigation targets and duty (b) to help deliver the National Adaptation Programme.

3. Does the guidance make it clear how public bodies can fulfil the requirement to 'best calculate' the climate impact of their actions?

4. Does the guidance make it clear how public bodies should take future climate scenarios into account when making plans and investment decisions?

The first duty - reducing emissions (climate change mitigation)

Chapter 5, Implementing the first duty: reducing emissions, lays out the overarching principles and actions which all public bodies would be expected to undertake, in a manner proportionate to their size and nature, to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, i.e. to develop and implement appropriate emissions reduction policies, strategies, route maps, plans and supporting action plans.

Annex A contains a template Carbon Management Plan and associated guidance. This is aimed at smaller and less complex public bodies, who may lack the capacity, skills or resource to develop their own carbon management plan. It is intended as a starting point, with bodies adapting it to suit their own organisation and circumstances.

Annex B contains a template Climate Change Plan for local authorities. It is intended to help local authorities demonstrate their compliance with the three climate change duties, across their corporate and area wide boundaries.

5. Do you have any comments about the guidance provided in this chapter on complying with the first duty?

6. Do you think the Carbon Management Plan template is suitable for its intended purpose? (Annex A - template Carbon Management Plan: 'baseline' plan aimed at smaller public bodies)

7. Do you think the Climate Change Plan template for local authorities is suitable for its intended purpose? (Annex B – template Climate Change Plan for local authorities)

The second duty – adaptation

Chapter 6, Implementing the second duty: adaptation lays out the overarching principles and actions which all public bodies would be expected to undertake, in a manner proportionate to their size and nature, to adapt and become resilient to the changing climate. Core to this is undertaking appropriate climate risk assessments and developing an adaptation plan or equivalent.

8. The guidance lays out an approach whereby public bodies should review the Scottish National Adaptation Plan (SNAP); identify the objectives relevant to them; contribute towards those objectives; and, where relevant, report annually on progress in their public bodies' climate change duties report. To what extent do you agree with this proposed approach?

9. Do you have any other comments about the guidance provided in this chapter about complying with the second duty?

The third duty - acting in the most sustainable way

Chapter 7, Implementing the third duty: acting in the most sustainable way, lays out the overarching principles and actions which all public bodies would be expected to undertake, in a manner proportionate to their size and nature, to implement the third duty. Key to this is to mainstream sustainable development into the functioning of Scottish public bodies, i.e. work must be carried out in a way that supports sustainable development.

The guidance notes that, due to the individual nature of each public body and the unique nature of the decisions that they make, it is not possible to take a prescriptive approach to this duty. Public bodies are required to consider their actions carefully and apply an awareness of wider impacts to their approach.

10. Having considered the content of the chapter, is it clear how public bodies should implement the third duty, to act in the most sustainable way?

11. Do you have any other comments about this chapter?

Reporting of scope 3 emissions

Chapter 8, Reporting, provides an overview of reporting, with a particular focus on the mandatory reporting required under The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Order 2015, as amended (the public bodies climate change duties reporting).

Previously issued guidance mandated reporting of relevant scope 1 and 2 emissions, while reporting of scope 3 emissions was recommended on a voluntary basis. This new guidance proposes a reporting baseline for selected scope 3 emissions, which all public bodies would be expected to include in their inventory (see section 8.3.5), the emissions associated with: consumption of mains water; waste and waste water treatment; business travel; staff commuting and homeworking; student travel (for colleges and universities); and fuel and energy-related activities not included in scopes 1 and 2.

12. To what extent do you agree with the proposed baseline reporting of the scope 3 emission categories as outlined?

13. Do you think that any other categories of scope 3 emissions should be included in the recommended baseline for reporting, where these are relevant and applicable?

Please indicate which other categories of scope 3 emissions you think should be included, and provide an explanation.

Overall reflections

The purpose of the Statutory Guidance is to support public bodies in meeting their climate change duties. It aims to help public bodies to minimise their operational emissions, adapt and become resilient to the current and future impacts of the changing climate, live within environmental limits, and ensure a strong, healthy and just society.

14. Do you think that the guidance fulfils its stated purpose of providing support to public bodies in putting the climate change duties into practice?

15. Do you have any further comments about the guidance?

Responding to this consultation

We are inviting responses to this consultation by Friday 23 May 2025.

Please respond to this consultation using the Scottish Government's consultation hub, Citizen Space, to access and respond to this consultation online. You can save and return to your responses while the consultation is still open. Please ensure that responses are submitted before the closing date of Friday 23 May 2025.

If you are unable to respond using our consultation hub, please email your response together with a completed Respondent Information Form to: climate.change@gov.scot.

Alternatively, your response and a completed Respondent Information Form can be posted to:

Net Zero Public Sector Team

Scottish Government

Area 3F - South

Victoria Quay

Edinburgh

EH6 6QQ

If you have any questions please email: climate.change@gov.scot

Handling your response

If you respond using the consultation hub, you will be directed to the About You page before submitting your response. Please indicate how you wish your response to be handled and, in particular, whether you are content for your response to published. If you ask for your response not to be published, we will regard it as confidential, and we will treat it accordingly.

All respondents should be aware that the Scottish Government is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004, and would therefore have to consider any request made to it under the Act or Regulations for information relating to responses made to this consultation exercise.

If you are unable to respond via Citizen Space, please complete and return the Respondent Information Form along with your response and post to the address noted above.

To find out how we handle your personal data, please see our privacy policy: https://www.gov.scot/privacy/

Next steps

Where respondents have given permission for their response to be made public, and after we have checked that they contain no potentially defamatory material, responses will be made available to the public at http://consult.gov.scot. If you use the consultation hub to respond, you will receive a copy of your response via email.

Following the closing date, all responses will be analysed and considered along with any other available evidence to help us. Whether you answer all of the questions, or only some, your views will be carefully considered by the Scottish Government when we are finalising the statutory guidance.

An analysis report will also be made available.

Comments and complaints

If you have any comments about how this consultation exercise has been conducted, please send them to the contact address above or email to climate.change@gov.scot.

Scottish Government consultation process

Consultation is an essential part of the policymaking process. It gives us the opportunity to consider your opinion and expertise on a proposed area of work.

You can find all our consultations online: http://consult.gov.scot. Each consultation details the issues under consideration, as well as a way for you to give us your views, either online, by email or by post.

Responses will be analysed and used as part of the decision making process, along with a range of other available information and evidence. We will publish a report of this analysis for every consultation. Depending on the nature of the consultation exercise the responses received may:

• indicate the need for policy development or review
• inform the development of a particular policy
• help decisions to be made between alternative policy proposals
• be used to finalise legislation before it is implemented

While details of particular circumstances described in a response to a consultation exercise may usefully inform the policy process, consultation exercises cannot address individual concerns and comments, which should be directed to the relevant public body.