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

The climate change duties are laid upon public bodies by section 44 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. Public bodies must, in exercising their functions, act –

1. in the way best calculated to contribute to national emissions reduction targets (i.e. mitigation)
2. in the way best calculated to help deliver the Scottish National Adaptation Programme
3. in the way that they consider to be most sustainable.

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Section 4.5 of the draft guidance provides information on embedding climate considerations into decision-making processes through the use of appropriate impact assessments and other tools.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

You may find it useful to refer to the consultation paper while responding to these questions.