Climate change duties - draft statutory guidance for public bodies: consultation
Overview
The Scottish Government is gathering views to help inform new Statutory Guidance for public bodies, to support them in putting the climate change duties into practice.
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 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. Public bodies subject to the climate change duties are legally required to have regard to the statutory guidance. The guidance is technical in nature and the intended users are those bodies subject to the climate change duties.
The public sector plays a vital role in enabling Scotland’s just transition to net zero and climate resilience. 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.
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.
Read the consultation paper. The consultation paper contains a full draft of the proposed Statutory Guidance. The questions in this consultation are intended to gather your feedback on the content of the guidance. Please read or refer to the guidance while responding.
Useful information about responding to this consultation
As you complete your response, each page will provide the option to 'Save and come back later' at the bottom. This means you can save your progress and return to the consultation at any time before it closes. If you don't use this feature and leave the consultation midway through, your response will be lost.
Once you have submitted your response, you can enter your email address to get a pdf copy of your answers sent to you.
On the 'About You' page at the end of this consultation, organisations will have the opportunity to tell us more about their work and/or how their response was informed.
After the consultation has closed there will be a few months delay before any responses are published. This is because we must check any responses to be published abide by our Terms of Use.
An analysis report will usually be published some months after the consultation has closed. This report will summarise the findings based on all responses submitted. It will be published on the Scottish Government website and you may be notified about it if you choose to share your email address with us. You can also join our consultation mailing list where we regularly list newly published analysis reports (as well as new consultations).
Why your views matter
This consultation will help us develop robust guidance that will support public bodies to meet their climate change duties. The guidance 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.
Your views will help us shape the final Statutory Guidance. The guidance will guide the work that public bodies in Scotland will do to embed climate change and sustainable development in everything that they do. Therefore, it is important that we collaborate to develop Statutory Guidance that will improve not just climate-related outcomes, but also ensure wider linked benefits, such as enhanced biodiversity, improved public health and wellbeing outcomes and reduced inequalities, are achieved.
What happens next
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.
Interests
- Environment and Climate Change
- Main hub
- Public Sector
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