Climate Change - Net Zero Nation: draft public engagement strategy - consultation

Introduction

Transforming Scotland into a net zero nation by 2045 presents an opportunity to re-imagine the nation we live in. Whilst there is no denying the significant challenge we face in addressing the global climate emergency, it brings with it a chance to create a better, fairer, and more inclusive society for everyone: a society in which individuals and communities across Scotland are actively involved in making the decisions that affect them. 

This widespread participation and engagement is essential if we are to successfully limit the effects of climate change, prepare for the impacts that are already locked in, and harness the opportunities to innovate and adapt to a changing climate. We must also include the twin challenge of biodiversity loss and how this interlinks with our work on mitigating and adapting to climate change.

In this strategy, we set out our framework for engaging the people of Scotland in this challenge. By putting our people at the heart of everything we do, we aim to enable and empower everyone in Scotland to be a part of shaping our transition in a just and fair way, building a social mandate for the societal transformation needed to become a net zero nation.

It has been seven years since our previous strategy, Low Carbon Scotland: A Behaviours Framework, was published. In that time much has changed, most recently due to the effect of COVID-19, which has altered all of our lives in many ways. 

It is essential that individuals and communities are involved in ensuring a green recovery from COVID-19, and the objectives and principles set out in this strategy apply to our approach to engagement on a green recovery as well as to wider engagement on climate change, including our just transition to a net zero society. 

It is also an exceptional time for our international engagement on climate action ahead of the UN Climate Summit – COP26 – taking place in Glasgow in 2021. This strategy will support us to make the most of this opportunity for engagement and to ensure COP26 places people at its heart.

Our intended audience for this strategy is primarily communicators of climate change. We recognise that government are not, and cannot, be the only ones who engage with the public on this matter. Addressing climate change will be a truly national endeavour. We wish to work collaboratively and consistently alongside trusted messengers to ensure that the public are put at the heart of our national approach. 

In this document, we set out a framework for engaging the public and encouraging action over the next 3-5 years, including the actions which the Scottish Government are taking to help encourage this.

Climate Change Plan Update

This draft strategy accompanies our update to the 2018 Climate Change Plan (CCPu), which accounts for the new targets set out within the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (as amended by the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019), including our commitment to reaching net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. 

The Act also enshrined our commitment to a Just Transition into law, ensuring everyone can access the opportunities of the transition and no one is left behind. The Climate Change Plan update was due to be laid in Parliament on 30 April 2020, but was necessarily postponed as a result of the coronavirus pandemic; we have used this additional time to reframe the Plan update as an essential strategic document ensuring a green recovery from COVID-19. 

The Plan update sets out our strategic direction, containing the policies and proposals that will put us on a pathway to meet our emissions reduction targets. Collectively these policies will require transformational societal changes, impacting how we travel, heat our homes, and how we consume goods and services. 

These changes must be delivered in a way that does not disadvantage those that can afford it the least, which is why we are committed to a just transition. Open, transparent, and participatory approaches with people, places, and business are at the heart of the Just Transition. The Draft Public Engagement Strategy is an essential part of the Scottish Government's approach to delivering upon the ambition of the Climate Change Plan update. 

A broad public engagement approach will be required to include people and communities in the national effort required to reach our climate change goals. On developing the Plan update, a representative sample of the population (circa 1000 respondents) were invited to give their views on climate priorities, which in turn fed in to policy making. The results of this are published alongside the Plan update. 

The Plan update outlines the roles that private and public sectors and the UK Government will have to take to enable us to achieve our climate ambitions. It also outlines the role of individuals in our transition to a net zero nation, a summary of which is highlighted in Annex A. Public support and engagement will be vital in delivering on our target of net zero by 2045. The next full Climate Change Plan will be completed by early 2025.