Scottish National Adaptation Plan Annual Report 2025-2026

International Action (IA)

SNAP3 Outcome: Scotland’s international role supports climate justice and enhanced global action on climate adaptation.

Objectives

IA1 – Supporting vulnerable communities globally

Scotland's international programmes support communities vulnerable to the impacts of climate change to adapt and thrive.

The Scottish Government is committed to delivering climate justice for partners in the Global South. A climate justice approach recognises that those most affected by climate change are often least able to adapt and have done the least historically to contribute to global warming.

Scotland’s climate justice work aims to increase the capacity of our partner communities to prepare for and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

During the reporting period:

• Scotland’s international programmes have continued to support communities vulnerable to the impacts of climate change to adapt and thrive over 2025/2026, through our Climate Justice Fund (CJF).
• Climate Just Communities (CJC) programme: our £24 million, 3- year programme (2023-2026), has continued to build more inclusive, climate- resilient communities across Malawi, Rwanda and Zambia. CJC has continued to demonstrate strong benefits to climate- vulnerable communities, including by improving water security, food security and sustainable livelihoods.
• Non- Economic Loss and Damage programme: our £5 million, 3- year programme (2023- 2026) has continued to support communities across East Africa, the Pacific, the Bay of Bengal and the Andes to address impacts of the climate crisis which are not easily quantifiable in economic terms: including migration, loss of life, loss of indigenous knowledge and territory.
• Africa’s Next Green Leaders Accelerator (ANGLE): In 2025 Scotland funded £165,000 to the Green Generation Initiative (GGI) Youth Accelerator Programme, which identifies, upskills and mentors 25 emerging African climate leaders seeking to drive change and action in their local communities through a year-long fellowship programme.
• Regions4 Just Resilience: In 2025/ 2026, we funded £100,000 to Regions4 to support their establishment of a Just Resilience Action Platform (JRAP), supporting subnational governments in advancing people-centred climate resilience by connecting local climate and nature projects with finance, technical partners and networks.
• Loss and Damage Collaboration Advocacy: In 2025, we funded the Loss and Damage Collaboration £156,650 to produce a lessons learned report on Scotland’s initial £10 million of loss and damage funding.
• UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights: In 2025, we committed £150,000 to support the UN Special Rapporteur on Climate Change and Human Rights to carry out her mandate: which includes international research on the impact of the climate crisis on human rights.

IA2 – International advocacy

Scotland is a committed advocate in international fora for those most affected by climate change and with the smallest capacity to adapt, and for increased international ambition on adaptation and biodiversity loss.

The Scottish Government is committed to using its influence as an international actor to raise global ambition on addressing climate risks and biodiversity loss globally. We are a key voice in sub-national fora, such as the Regions4 Network and the Under2Coalition, and we use our unique position as a devolved national government to collaborate at multiple levels – with subnational, regional and national governments.

During the reporting period:

• The Scottish Government continued to advocate for those most affected by climate change, in key international climate fora – including the Bonn Intersessional, Climate Week NYC, the Local Leaders Forum, COP30 and closed door meetings of the Regions4 and Under2 Coalition – promoting positions (e.g. the LGMA COP30 statement: lgma-cop30-position-paper-1.pdf) in alignment with key global frameworks Such as the Paris Agreement, the Global Goal on Adaptation, and the Kunming–Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
• We championed adaptation, climate justice, and just resilience internationally, leveraging our leadership positions within Regions4 and Under2. Our contributions informed the Local Governments and Municipal Authorities (LGMA) constituency’s advocacy positions at COP30.The LGMA Constituency is the official channel through which cities and regions engage in the UNFCCC process
• We have used our leadership roles within the Regions4 Network and the Under2 Coalition to facilitate policy exchange, capacity building activities, and peer learning to strengthen global subnational climate ambition and capability.
• We have directly supported community-led and gender-responsive adaptation and resilience efforts globally through our Climate Justice Fund programme and as a founding partner of the Regions4 Just Resilience Action Platform.

IA3 – Knowledge advocacy

Scotland is a global knowledge hub for research and innovation on climate adaptation, loss and damage and climate justice and facilitates knowledge sharing between Global South/Global North.

During this reporting period the Scottish Government commissioned work to be completed by to begin developing a Climate Adaptation Expert Network for Scotland to connect researchers, policymakers and practitioners working on climate adaptation.

The project delivers a practical step towards SNAP3 commitment IA3 by establishing the foundations of a Scotland-based network and mapping links to UK and international expertise.

Led by ClimateXChange and the University of Edinburgh, the project created a structured database capturing 303 researchers and organisations, with 53% based in Scotland, spanning academia, NGOs and policy and aligned to SNAP3 outcomes.

The analysis highlighted concentrations of expertise in:

• Nature Connects (78 entries)
• Climate‑Resilient Places (32 entries)
• Marine and Blue Economy (17 entries)
• Emerging areas including climate and health (11) and hazard mitigation and resilience (17)

The work combined systematic mapping and stakeholder engagement, including a national workshop, to identify connections across Scotland, the UK and internationally.

It provides a first evidence-based SNAPshot of Scotland’s adaptation research landscape and supports knowledge exchange across Global North and Global South networks.

Overall, the project begins to position Scotland as a more connected and outward-facing hub for adaptation research and innovation, while setting out recommendations to scale and sustain the network as a long-term asset supporting climate justice, international collaboration, and evidence-based adaptation policy.