Climate change duties: statutory guidance for public bodies

1. Context

This section outlines the legal context, the purpose of this guidance, who should have regard to it and how it should be used.

1.1 The climate change duties – legal basis

This statutory guidance is issued by the Scottish Ministers to Scottish public bodies under the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (‘the 2009 Act’).

The 2009 Act places a legal responsibility on relevant public bodies in Scotland to meet the climate change duties. Section 44(2) defines a “public body” as a Scottish public authority within the meaning of section 3(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 13). Public bodies must check whether they fall within the definition and act accordingly.

The duties are set out in section 44(1) of the 2009 Act and require that a public body must, in exercising its functions, act –

a. in the way best calculated to contribute to the delivery of emissions reduction targets (i.e. mitigation)

b. in the way best calculated to help deliver the Scottish National Adaptation Plan

c. in a way that it considers most sustainable.

The purpose of this statutory guidance is to support public bodies in performing 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. It is important that the three duties are considered together in an integrated and holistic way, and that they are given equal weight or importance in decision making.

Section 45 of the 2009 Act requires Scottish Ministers to give guidance to public bodies in relation to the duties. When deciding how best to fulfil their duties, public bodies are required to take this statutory guidance into account – under the Act they must have regard to such guidance.

Statutory guidance for public bodies under section 45 was first published in 2011 (‘the 2011 guidance’). This guidance replaces and supersedes the 2011 guidance in full.

Interim, non-statutory guidance Public Sector Leadership on the Global Climate Emergency was published in 2021 (‘the 2021 interim guidance’). It was supplementary to the 2011 guidance, and aimed to provide more up-to-date advice for public bodies on certain key areas. This statutory guidance supersedes the 2021 interim guidance.

This guidance is intended to be useful to all public bodies, not just those legally subject to the duties. The guidance aims to be a potential source of information, tools and support for any public body aiming to contribute to Scotland’s national climate change targets and plans.

The climate change duties require public bodies to act in the way ‘best calculated’ to contribute to national mitigation and adaptation action. There is no statutory definition for the term ‘best calculated’.

In the absence of a statutory definition, bodies should consider the words take their ordinary dictionary meaning. ‘Calculated’ can be defined as ‘planned or intended to produce a particular effect’ or ‘done with full awareness of the likely consequences’. Bodies might interpret the phrase to mean ‘in the manner considered most likely to [produce the required outcomes]’. One interpretation could be that the matter has been thought through to sufficient depth, and that various options have been considered before selecting the route or option judged most likely to produce the desired result. Evidence of how this thinking has been conducted and the conclusions arrived at should be retained.

An alternative definition of calculated is ‘to use numbers to find out or work out’ a problem or come to a solution. In term of mitigation, GHG emissions are considered in numerical terms (kg or tonnes, often converted into tonnes CO₂e); targets and metrics are numerical; and monitoring typically assesses reductions in emissions against baseline figures. Another interpretation could therefore be that projects and planned actions are assessed in numerical terms, using either the mass of the individual GHG emissions or by converting to tonnes CO₂, with the aim of maximising GHG reductions.

This definition could also be applied to adaptation. Public bodies should identify and assess the risks that the impacts of climate change pose to their organisation’s operation and functions. Assessment of risk typically involves assigning numerical values to the impact of each risk and the likelihood of it occurring, and multiplying the two to obtain an overall risk score: the higher the number, the greater the potential risk. Controls are put in place and actions taken to reduce the impacts or to reduce the likelihood of occurrence, resulting in lower overall risk scores. One interpretation of ‘in the way best calculated’ in relation to adaptation could therefore be to manage risks to achieve the greatest reduction in risk scores, while aligning with the priorities as laid out in the Scottish National Adaptation Plan.

1.2 Proportionality

What is required in compliance with the climate change duties will vary between bodies, depending upon various factors including the size of body, its functions, budget and wider influence. It is considered appropriate that actions taken by individual bodies are proportionate to that body’s nature and function.

Actions taken by a small public body with limited influence on emissions, and a small estate or staff numbers and budget should reflect their resources and the nature of what they do. Equally, there are a number of public bodies that Scottish Ministers consider to be ‘major players’ as they have a larger influence or impact on climate change than others, for example local authorities, NHS health boards, colleges and universities, transport partnerships and executive agencies. The major players are expected to show leadership in climate action.

The major players are listed in Schedule 1 of The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Order 2015.

1.3 Development of the guidance

This guidance has been co-developed in discussion with the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) Steering Group, and through a series of stakeholder engagement workshops and events held to inform the preparation of the guidance and supporting resources. Content has been contributed by bodies from across the public sector.

Draft guidance was issued for public consultation in February 2025 for a 12 week period, seeking views to inform development of the final guidance. A copy of the consultation document is available on the Scottish Government website. An independent analysis of the responses was undertaken, and the consultation analysis report is also publicly available.

1.4 How the guidance should be used

This guidance should be used by public bodies to assist them in fulfilling their duties under section 44 of the 2009 Act. Public bodies are reminded that it is an advisory document only, and that responsibility for compliance with the climate change duties rests with public bodies themselves.

The main chapters of this document lay out the guidance by theme and by duty. Supporting information, including templates and sector specific guidance, are provided in the annexes.

Following this guidance will assist public bodies in considering how they mainstream climate action into their strategic and corporate processes. It does not constitute legal advice to public bodies on compliance, nor does it absolve them of the duties placed upon them in legislation. In all matters of interpretation of the duties set out in the 2009 Act, public bodies must satisfy themselves that they are compliant, seeking their own legal advice if required.

Public bodies operate in a complex landscape of policy, legislation and statutory obligations, often dependent upon the sector in which they function. In following this guidance, bodies must ensure that they take the wider context into account, as appropriate to their role and sector. It is the responsibility of the public body itself to ensure that it follows all current and relevant legislation and regulation as it develops its corporate policies and plans to fulfil its climate change duties.

The Scottish Government strategies, policies, plans and guidance referred to in this guidance will change over time – many of them require to be updated at five-yearly intervals, for example. Bodies should be aware of this and ensure that they refer to the current versions, which may supersede those referenced by name in this document.