Scotland's Climate Change Plan: 2026–2040

Adaptation: Delivering a Climate-Resilient Future

Past emissions, together with today’s still-rising global emissions, mean climate disruption is already being felt here in Scotland and will intensify in the coming decades. To return to a stable climate we must achieve net zero emissions globally, and Scotland must continue to play its part. But this means that alongside our mitigation efforts, climate adaptation is essential so Scottish communities, public services, businesses and our natural environment are resilient in the face of a changing climate.

Climate adaptation is a vital investment in our future, as the costs of taking preventative action now are significantly lower than trying to recover from climate-related impacts later, especially those caused by severe weather events affecting communities.

The Scottish Government is already implementing its five-year Scottish National Adaptation Plan (SNAP3) that runs from 2024 to 2029. SNAP3 is built around five strategic long-term outcomes, which reflect the overarching goals for a climate-resilient Scotland:

1. Connecting our natural environment to increase resilience,
2. Preparing our communities to be more resilient to climate impacts,
3. Supporting our economy, businesses and industry to be responsive to both the risks and opportunities of a changing climate,
4. Delivering climate resilient public services and infrastructure, and
5. Ensuring Scotland is taking action at the international level on climate adaptation.

To deliver these outcomes, SNAP3 sets out 23 delivery objectives for the next five years, each linked to specific areas of policy and practice – ranging from infrastructure and public health to biodiversity and land use. Across Scotland, green and nature rich spaces are being expanded to absorb stormwater, provide cooling during hot weather and create enjoyable places for people throughout the year. We are now tracking coastal vulnerability to help target action where rising seas and erosion pressures are most acute. Severe weather and flood alerts are being made available on all phones, while homes and businesses are being supported to prepare for greater climate instability.

Work is progressing to set up a National Flood Advisory Service to help manage and reduce flood impacts across Scotland. Simple steps are being promoted to reduce the risk of wildfires in spring and summer and encourage year round water efficiency. Community resilience is being strengthened by encouraging people to look out for vulnerable friends, neighbours and family members during storms, floods and heatwaves. Councils are being supported to work with each other and public bodies to identify and deliver priority climate resilience projects that cut across boundaries at the regional level.

Each SNAP3 objective is assigned to lead Scottish Government Directorates or public bodies and they are supported by 38 indicators that form the basis of a new monitoring and evaluation framework, allowing progress to be tracked annually.

SNAP3 emphasizes collaboration across sectors, and integrates place-based fairness and inclusion, ensuring that adaptation efforts consider social justice and the needs of vulnerable populations.

Many SNAP3 policies deliver co-benefits for adaptation and emissions reduction. For example, restoring degraded peatlands not only improves water retention and reduces flood risk for communities, agriculture and other land owners, but also it prevents the release of stored carbon. In the marine environment, resilient, nature-positive coastal habitats do not just improve coastal infrastructure and communities from storms or rising sea level, but can also act as powerful carbon sinks.

Similarly, woodland creation can help stabilise soils, reducing risks of floods or landslides, or cooling urban areas, while also sequestering carbon and supporting biodiversity. Retrofitting buildings to improve energy efficiency is another example of a dual-benefit policy: it reduces emissions from heating and cooling while also providing an opportunity to build climate resilience in our buildings, and protect vulnerable populations from extreme weather like storms, floods or heatwaves. Finally, the transition to a decarbonised energy grid will require significant investment in infrastructure to ensure resilience to existing and future climate impacts.

The Scottish Government recognises these dual benefits across climate mitigation and adaptation, and this is reflected in the design, delivery and monitoring of the Scottish National Adaptation Plan and this CCP.