Climate Change Plan: third report on proposals and policies - written statement

Consultation

Environment, Climate Change and Land Reform Committee

1. The Committee recommended that the final Plan should include further detail on how the Climate Conversations held in advance of the publication of the draft Plan have contributed directly to policy development. (87)

• The findings emerging from the first phase of Climate Conversations have informed the development of policies and proposals in the Plan as part of wider evidence base available at the time. The Climate Conversations did not cover all the sectors in the Plan and most discussion was generated around local energy and transport scenarios. The summary of all findings from the first phase has now been published.^[9]

2. The Committee recommended that the Scottish Government reflects upon the challenges posed to Parliamentary scrutiny of running a consultation on the future of sectors within the draft Plan in tandem with Parliamentary consideration of the draft Plan. In so far as the electoral cycle permits, consultations should be timetabled to inform the draft plans, avoiding parallel consultation and facilitating better alignment between these and parliamentary scrutiny of reports on policies and proposals. (107)

• The Scottish Government would be pleased to provide background information relevant to future Plans in advance on parliamentary scrutiny of the document.

3. The Committee recommended that the Scottish Government consider how it can best secure deeper, more meaningful and comprehensive involvement of stakeholders and the public in future reports on policies and proposals, including through utilisation of the tools and evaluation around the Climate Conversations. (86)

• The Scottish Government believes that stakeholder engagement is essential to the development of both current and future Plans. During the development of the current Plan we set up an Advisory Group to act as a critical friend and sounding board. This group includes representatives from such organisations as Transform Scotland, COSLA, the Energy Saving Trust, and Stop Climate Chaos Scotland. We have engaged with business, public sector, civil society and community representatives to gain a fuller understanding of their perspectives. The results from the Climate Conversations can be useful in informing policy, however, their main purpose is to encourage discussion about climate change among people who do not generally talk about it.