Sustainability projects within the Scottish Government: EIR release

Information requested

• How many sustainability projects exist to improve environmental performance within the Scottish Government?
• The types of activities that each Scottish Government sustainability project covers.
• How many staff members work within sustainability projects within the Scottish Government?
• How much funding is allocated to sustainability projects within the Scottish Government?

You clarified the request on 6 March to ask:-

A high-level, broad overview is absolutely fine. I’m looking for a list of all the sustainability projects that exist within Scottish Government, and which projects they are incorporated into it and/or any stand alone projects, how many staff are in your team directly that focus specifically on sustainability, and if there are any recorded volunteers or ‘sustainability champions’ in other departments, and if there are any clear funding streams to support sustainability and the value of this.

Response

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. Therefore we are refusing part of your request under the exception at regulation 10(4)(a) of the EIRs. The reason why that exception applies is sustainability covers a wide range of topics and is embedded in many projects across the Scottish Government. We do not hold a central register of all projects that include sustainability elements or the funding allocated to them.

There are 4 members of staff in the Environmental Management team who oversee the collection of carbon data, and mandatory reporting of the Scottish Governments carbon footprint.

There are currently 94 Environmental Champions. The Environmental Champions are staff volunteers who raise awareness of environmental issues. They influence their colleagues to help reduce negative impact on the environment.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.