Climate change - national adaptation plan 2024 to 2029: consultation

Annex B: Cross-cutting Policy Proposals

Adaptation links with other areas

The impacts of climate change are pervasive and the associated risks cascade across a wide range of policy areas. Effective and inclusive adaptation action requires coordination, with delivery against a large number of complementary policy areas. This means that, wherever possible, adaptation action reinforces steps being taken to reduce emissions, deliver a just transition, rebuild biodiversity, support agriculture, deliver effective planning and improve public health.

This section highlights the most critical areas where adaptation action plays into other headline Scottish Government plans and strategies.

Climate Change Plan

The Adaptation Plan sits closely alongside Scotland’s updated Climate Change Plan which sets out the policies and proposals required in order to drive delivery in our journey towards net zero. It sets out a detailed and ambitious package of which adaptation and resilience are key components. Both the Adaptation Plan and the updated Climate Change Plan share common nature-based solutions which help to achieve the outcomes desired in both climate change mitigation and adaptation plans.

The next Climate Change Plan, which is due to be published in its final format in 2025, will seek to further strengthen and reinforce the co-benefits and interdependencies integral to this partnership.

Just Transition Plans

Scotland’s Just Transition Planning Framework sets out our long-term vision to deliver a fairer, greener future for all by 2045 across sectors on Scotland’s journey to a net zero and climate resilient economy. Identifying key risks from climate change and setting out actions to build resilience to these risks is one of the Scottish Government’s fundamental National Just Transition Outcomes. This recognises that a transition to net zero cannot be truly just if those most vulnerable in society are still experiencing the adverse effects of climate change. In particular, the Scottish Government’s just transition policy will need to address a fair distribution of the costs and benefits associated with climate resilience measures. Those least able to pay will need to be supported to make necessary changes. As lower-income households are more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, it is imperative to reduce these inequalities in addressing both climate resilience and mitigation measures. This also reads across to the Scottish Government’s commitments to tackle child poverty through its consideration of the drivers of child poverty.

Through our individual sector Plans, aimed at high-emitting industries (Land Use and Agriculture, Transport, and the Built Environment and Construction), we will ensure the just transition actions and principles are aligned with the Adaptation Plan. The independent Just Transition Commission is advising and scrutinising the Scottish Government on its Just Transition Plans, and has also committed to reviewing the SNAP as part of the work to incorporate climate resilience into Scottish Government’s focus on just transition.

The Scottish Government has also committed to regional Just Transition Plans, and we will develop our approach in 2024. We will initially be working with key partners, including the Just Transition Commission, existing regional partnerships and Local Authorities, including the Regional Adaptation Partnerships, to explore options that can best enhance relevant ongoing collaboration.

National Planning Framework 4

National Planning Framework 4 (NPF4) sets out the Scottish Ministers’ policies and proposals for the development and use of land. It details a long-term plan looking to 2045 that guides spatial development, sets out national planning policies, designates national developments and highlights regional spatial priorities.

NPF4 and the relevant Local Development Plan(s) (LDP) form the statutory development plan for any given area of Scotland. Along with Regional Spatial Strategies (RSSs) and Local Place Plans (LPPs) this creates a spatial framework for decision making that will support the delivery of a wide range of strategic priorities. NPF4 gives priority to the climate emergency and nature crisis, whilst establishing six spatial principles to apply in planning our places to support the delivery of: sustainable places, where we reduce emissions, restore and better connect biodiversity; liveable places, where we can all live better, healthier lives; and productive places, where we have a greener, fairer and more inclusive wellbeing economy. The planning system in Scotland is plan-led and decisions on planning applications must be made in accordance with the development plan, unless material considerations indicate otherwise.

Flood Resilience Strategy

Our new National Flood Resilience Strategy will form an integral part of shaping a climate resilient Scotland. The Strategy will initiate transformational change bringing in a collaborative, place-based approach to building community flood resilience. It will engage a wide range of partners enabling a broader range of flood management actions and flood resilient design contributions to be delivered. It will also consider how we use land across catchments and call for more use of blue and green infrastructure to help reduce flood impacts. This strategy, scheduled for finalisation by the end of 2024, will be followed by delivery plans to translate our ambition into actions as we prepare Scotland for increased exposure to flooding.

Biodiversity Strategy

One of the biggest opportunities Scotland has to adapt to climate change is through regenerating and restoring nature. Our Scottish Biodiversity Strategy sets out a clear goal to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 and a strategic vision to 2045 in which our natural environment, our habitats, ecosystems and species, will be diverse, thriving, resilient and adapting to climate change. The Strategy’s outcomes capture how our land and seascapes will need to evolve and contribute to creating a resilient natural environment. Dynamic, rolling delivery plans will outline the actions needed to deliver our vision.

Delivery of our Strategic outcomes will be further supported by a framework for statutory nature restoration targets which will be set out in a new Natural Environment Bill. These statutory targets will be binding on the Scottish Government, forming a key element of accountability for delivering the biodiversity framework and ensuring our natural environment is resilient for the future. While nature-based solutions are embedded throughout all our overarching outcomes, the link between biodiversity and adaptation is explored in most detail in Outcome 1: Nature connects our land, settlements, coasts and seas.

Transport Scotland

The Approach to Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience by Transport Scotland sets out an ambitious vision for a well-adapted transport system in Scotland which is safe, reliable and resilient in relation to the current and future impacts of climate change. The approach outlines an Adaptation and Resilience Framework including high level Strategic Outcomes for Trunk Roads, Rail, Aviation and Maritime transport networks.

Scotland’s transport infrastructure and networks provide critical connections between people and places, and are vital in providing access to essential services, such as healthcare. Read more about how our transport system is increasing their resilience and adapting to the impacts of climate change in Outcome 3: Public Services and Infrastructure.

Climate, health, and equity

The World Health Organisation defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” Health is a basic human right. Health inequalities are unfair and avoidable differences in health outcomes between groups of people. They are caused by the unequal distribution of income, power and wealth which influence access to the building blocks of health and wellbeing, leading to poverty and marginalisation. The building blocks of health and wellbeing include affordable quality housing; accessible and affordable transport; biodiversity and high-quality blue, green and civic spaces; affordable, sustainably produced healthy food; education and fair work; health and social care services; and connected and empowered communities.

Climate impacts, such as increased temperatures, flooding, coastal change, damage to buildings and infrastructure, and changes to our natural environment and habitats, will have wide-ranging effects on population health and wellbeing, even if greenhouse gas emissions are rapidly reduced now. Health effects of climate change may be direct, for example an increase in injuries due to flooding or excess deaths from stroke, heart, or lung disease due to high temperatures. They may be indirect, for example undermining access to the building blocks of health and wellbeing in local places.

Some people and communities will be more likely to be exposed to and less able to prepare for, respond to and recover from climate impacts. In Scotland, this may include children, older people, people with health conditions or disabilities and people experiencing social and economic disadvantage. For people and communities who experience multiple disadvantages, these factors act as risk multipliers, increasing their risk of health impacts from climate change, and widening inequalities.

Climate actions are opportunities to deliver ‘triple wins’ for climate, population health and wellbeing, and inequalities. Through the just transition and our adaptation responses, we can redefine our physical, social, and economic environment, delivering population health, wellbeing, and equity co-benefits toward a healthier, fairer, greener Scotland.

Public Health Scotland

As Scotland’s national public health agency, Public Health Scotland (PHS) has a dual role in ensuring health and equity are embedded in climate change action while also embedding climate and sustainability into our work to address Scotland’s population health challenges. This requires implementation of a rights-based, public health approach as outlined in PHS’ Climate Change and Sustainability Strategic Approach 2023-2026. This will contribute to building climate-resilient, healthy and equitable places.

PHS will fulfil its role in achieving climate-resilient, healthy and equitable places through:

Leadership: PHS has a lead role to play in shaping the narrative on the risks and opportunities that climate change, and our collective response to it brings, in generating health benefits, minimising health harms and addressing health inequalities. For example, PHS is developing an Adverse Weather Health Protection Response Plan.

Collaboration: A whole system approach is required to tackle climate change impacts and simultaneously build climate-resilient, healthy and equitable communities. PHS will work closely with a range of intersectoral partners and stakeholders to achieve this.

Insights: PHS’ role includes describing the direct and indirect impacts of climate change and adaptation actions on population health, wellbeing and equity. PHS will provide timely, accurate and actionable public health knowledge, intelligence and evidence to underpin adaptation planning and decision-making. This will in turn provide a platform for future monitoring and evaluation of actions.

Skills: PHS support building capacity and capability in the use of public health tools and approaches. This includes using health impact assessments to understand who will benefit from, and who might be disadvantaged by, actions and integrating health into all policies, to ensure national and local adaptation programmes include outcomes related to health and equity.

NHS Scotland climate emergency and sustainability strategy: 2022-2026 and Social Care delivery

Climate change has consequences for both the healthcare estate and for the delivery of clinical services. A dedicated programme of work (the NHS Scotland Sustainability Action Programme) has been established to support the NHS Scotland to become a net zero and climate resilient organisation by 2040. The programme is underpinned by the NHS Scotland climate emergency and sustainability strategy: 2022-2026. The initial focus for adaptation is to support the development by Health Boards of Climate Change Risk Assessments and Adaptation Plans. As with many elements of the strategy, successful implementation of adaptation measures will require working with partners such as local authorities.

Local Authorities are responsible for delivering social work and social care services and play a critical role in responding to the climate emergency. The Scottish Government recognises the need to work with local government to support the social care sector – whether in house or commissioned services - to play its part in tackling climate change as well as on climate change adaptation. Public Health Scotland will work with Scottish Government and COSLA to understand how they can support the social care sector to respond to the climate emergency. Going forward, the introduction of the National Care Service will provide further opportunities to build climate change considerations into the way that social care services are planned, commissioned and delivered.

Vision for Agriculture

Scotland has made a commitment to transform the way we look at farming and food production in Scotland through our Vision for Agriculture which features climate change adaptation and mitigation a key outcome. The Agriculture and Rural Communities Bill aims to provide Scotland with a future framework that will support farmers and crofters to meet more of our food needs sustainably and to farm and croft with nature, and will assist in efforts to meet our climate change targets and adapt to climate change.

Land management in Scotland will change as we tackle the twin climate and biodiversity crises which will present challenges and opportunities for farmers and crofters, building on their traditional leadership role in land management and stewardship. We will also aim to ensure our farmers, crofters and land managers have access to the benefits, both economic and social, that the changing climate will bring.

Land Use Strategy

Scotland’s third Land Use Strategy sets out our long-term vision for sustainable land use in Scotland, our objectives and key policies for delivery. As part of strengthening our climate resilience, we need to change the way we use, manage and live on our land. For example, adapting our landscape to the impacts of climate change through nature-based solutions such as afforestation and peatland restoration.

National Strategy for Economic Transformation

Our National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) sets out our priorities for Scotland’s economy (including those referenced in our Climate-Smart Skills section) as well as the actions needed to maximise the opportunities of the next decade to achieve our vision of a wellbeing economy such as nature-based solutions to adaptation. NSET aims to establish a new measure of economy resilience and identify climate adaptation actions required to future-proof the productivity of Scotland’s economy over the long term.

NSET also sets out our priorities for Scotland’s economy (including those referenced in our Climate-Smart Skills enabler section) as well as the actions needed to maximise the opportunities of the next decade to achieve our vision of a wellbeing economy such as nature-based solutions to adaptation. The nature-based sector is already expanding rapidly and there is strong potential for future growth in areas such as sustainable land and marine management. Rebuilding Scotland’s natural capital is key to the long-term productivity of the many sectors of our economy which rely on the resources and services nature provides. NSET includes a plan to establish a new measure of economy resilience and identifying climate adaptation actions required to future-proof the productivity of Scotland’s economy over the long term.

Within our Programme for Government we have outlined our intention to develop a Green Industrial Strategy that will set out how the Scottish Government will help businesses and investors realise the enormous economic opportunities of the global transition to net zero and create good, well-paid jobs across Scotland in sectors such as offshore wind and hydrogen. This delivers on a commitment made in NSET and supports the development of sectoral Just Transition Plans.

Understanding and Enabling Adaptation Behaviour

‘Behaviour’ refers to the millions of actions we all take, every day. These are measurable and have an impact on the world around us, for example choosing to cycle to work or turn the thermostat down, and they are also influenced by our environment and personal values.

The Scottish Government has established a cross-sectoral programme of work applying insights from behavioural science to climate policymaking with the aim of sparking climate action and leveraging its co-benefits, focussing on creating an environment that enables and encourages climate-positive choices. We know that behaviour change across society by individuals, households, communities and businesses is critical for reducing around 60% of our greenhouse gas emissions to lessen further impacts on the global climate. Equally, Scotland is already feeling the effects of a changing climate, so individual and community behaviour (alongside large-scale action by national and local governments) sits at the core of our collective ability to adapt to those unavoidable impacts.

Adaptation is fundamentally about changing how we act now to avoid costly damages later, for example most people accept that more extreme weather is a result of climate change and agree that we need prepare our homes and communities.

People are constantly adapting to changing environments and social norms. However, there is an urgent need for us all - communities and individuals, businesses, public and third sector - to learn more about climate change risks, how to prepare for them; and to adopt behaviours which will enable us, individually and collectively, to build resilience at pace. The UK’s independent Climate Committee Change has highlighted behavioural change as a crucial category of adaptation action and CCRA3 highlights the potential co-benefits of responding to key risks through behaviour change.

The Scottish Government is therefore committed to supporting everyone by utilising all policy levers available to create and shape the conditions necessary for climate-resilient behaviours to flourish. It is both effective and fair to focus on creating enabling environments for change. The principles, insights and tools of behaviour change as a practice are ideally equipped to ensuring a people-centred approach to adaptation. They will allow us to capture people's lived experiences, a core feature of this Adaptation Plan, as a basis for understanding the influence of human behavioural factors on climate change risks affecting people (e.g. flooding, water scarcity, hot weather), and the ways to enable more climate-resilient behaviours. As part of this consultation, and through our research partnerships, we will ensure that behavioural insights from communities, individuals and households, inform policies in the next Adaptation Plan for Scotland.

Workforce and Skills

The transition to a climate-smart Scotland requires a fundamental transformation of our workforce and of the sectors that facilitate the supply of skills needed for this transition. The transition to net zero and the adaptation of our economy, environment and public services requires the education and skills system to become adaptable and flexible in order to provide the skills that individuals and employers need. The labour market is already shifting in response to the Climate Emergency with variations in the demand of current skills as well as the creation of ‘new and emerging’ green jobs. It is critical that the right people with the right skills are in the right place at the right time to ensure our vision for a climate resilient Scotland is met. This enabling chapter will cover the wider skills policy context, the occupations most likely to be impacted by the changing climate and the climate-smart jobs needed to achieve the overarching vision and outcomes within this programme.

Understanding current and future skills for a changing climate

Our upcoming Green Industrial Strategy will set out our plans to help businesses and investors to realise the enormous economic opportunities of the global transition to net zero and create good, well-paid jobs across Scotland. In connection, our National Strategy for Economic Transformation (NSET) sets out our desire to ensure people have the skills they need to meet the demands of the ever-changing economy and society and that employers invest in the skills they need to grow their business. The sectoral Just Transition Plans (JTPs) enhance these strategies by focusing in on high-emitting industries: energy, transport, built environment and construction, and land use and agriculture. By aligning these overarching strategies and commitments, Scotland will move towards a skills economy that offers equal opportunities to all while maximising our international competitive advantage.

This strategy further advances the policies laid out in the Scottish Government’s Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP), published in December 2020, which sets out a clear direction for the reorientation of our skills systems to aid the just transition to a net zero economy. This plan largely focused on the skills that will assist Scotland in meeting its ambitious climate charge targets and recognises the need for skills to adapt to the effects of climate change.

In 2020, the Green Jobs Taskforce was launched by the UK Government to set the direction for the future green job market. Climate adaptation was amongst the prioritised sectors examined in their research, including: flood defences; retrofitting of buildings to be resilient to extreme weather; nature-based solutions to reduce climate impacts; and civil and mechanical engineering for infrastructure adaptation. The taskforce found that the climate resilience market is rapidly growing, with sectors such as housing and construction, water, infrastructure, local government, and nature conservation, among others, requiring adaptation skills. This is an important opportunity for the Scottish Government to capture the economic opportunities of adaptation as well as allowing us to be at the global forefront of climate resilience. The ongoing coordination and commitment from the Scottish Government and its agencies, stakeholders and employers will be critical in ensuring the successful delivery of climate-smart skills. Everyone from investors to charities has a stake and a role to play in developing a workforce that is tailored to the future. The transition to a climate smart workforce will involve considerable investment from the private sector, and government and its agencies to establish the skills opportunities needed to handle the climate emergency.

Our Adaptation Scotland programme provides support to organisations on their adaptation journey in the context of their local needs and priorities. This includes designing tools and resources to enable the public sector, businesses and communities to build their ‘adaptive capacity’ by incorporating the range of skills needed to implement adaptation actions.

Scotland’s people and their unique skills, talents and abilities underpin every part of what makes Scotland a successful nation and enables us to play our full role as a good global citizen; where workers face insecure work due to climate change, reskilling individuals to sectors where there is employment growth is an important tactic to protect against income losses^[1]. To support this, we need a lifelong education, research and skills system that fosters curiosity, nurtures talent, encourages ambition and enables everyone to fulfil their potential. Scotland’s post-school education and skills system (a range of bodies involved in skills planning and provision) plays a key role to play in supporting individual learners and employers, in all communities, to adapt their skillset to the changing climate.

Impacted occupations

The impacts of climate change will have implications for occupations across Scotland’s economy. As employers adjust their models of operation to the changing climate, their resourcing strategy will need to be altered, from recruitment of a climate smart workforce to internal training subject matter. These impacts may be more direct, for example through training staff on how to handle extreme weather events in outdoor industries, or indirect, through increased workloads for certain sectors such as home insurance and construction.

Most sectors will require specific upskilling or retraining to ensure their market offering remains viable in cases of potential damage to business assets, transport and industrial infrastructure. All jobs will likely require higher levels of climate resilience awareness within their Health and Safety training, as well as due consideration of adjustments to working practices, personal protective equipment and physical workspaces, in light of potential local climate risks such as loss of working hours due to heat stress.

Some of the upskilling needed to become a climate-smart workforce is already taking place. For example, businesses have adapted their business models throughout the pandemic to improve their wider resilience include promoting working from home where possible and the uptake of flexible working arrangements. A recent ONS survey (2023) found that roughly half of individuals in work based in Scotland were able to homework or hybrid work in the week preceding. These practices will enable continued productivity when extreme weather conditions prevent or delay commuters from reaching their scheduled place of work. However, these practices have required an increase in the quantity and quality of digital skills previously available on the job market. The Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations estimates that nearly 1 in 5 adults in Scotland do not have the skills to make full use of digital technology at home or at work, while 1 in 10, particularly older people, have no digital skills at all.

The Scottish Government is working to close this digital skills gaps to ensure our economy is resilient to worker displacement in the event of weather disruption where possible. The Digital Participation Charter has been signed by 712 organisations, each of which has committed to supporting their employees and people across Scotland to develop essential digital skills. Connecting Scotland, a collaboration between Scottish Government, local government and the third sector, developed in response to the pandemic, also aims to provide everyone in Scotland with the opportunity to confidently access devices, connectivity, skills and support.

Case Study: Soil Regeneration Skills

Agricultural crops will face a higher incidence of heavy precipitation and and/or extreme heat that will result in damage to agricultural crops if not correctly mitigated. The farmer-led soil regenerative agriculture network, supported by Farming for a Better Climate, enables farmers to work together to show how best to support, enhance and protect their farm soils. The group has trialled novel approaches to allow them to improve production whilst building soil resilience amongst wider benefits.

Climate-Smart Jobs

To ensure that everyone is able to engage with the transition to a climate resilient economy, it is important that we are able to define what we mean by a ‘climate-smart’ job; this will allow us to articulate the skills that will underpin those jobs. Our Climate Smart jobs refers to those specific jobs that actively contribute to achieving the overarching vision and outcomes within this programme. As part of aligning the Adaptation Plan with our Just Transition Plan, the climate-smart jobs follow the same categorisation as the green jobs identified in the Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan.

Higher Demand of Existing Jobs

Many of the jobs and skills that will directly enable our transition to a climate resilient Scotland already exist; however, demand for these jobs is expected to increase significantly. Certain industries that feature adaptation skills heavily, such as STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, will likely face an increase in the employment demand. It is critical that we anticipate resource gaps in these areas and protect and increase the training opportunities available in these sectors. These industries should also recognise that adaptation plans usually require employment in a wide range of expertise and competencies, for example general labourers for the retrofitting trade to complement the skilled staff.

Jobs Affected by the Just Transition to Net Zero and Climate Resilience

A significant number of jobs will retain the same core purpose however require significant change to the work and worker requirements. This will therefore result in changes to the knowledge, skills and associated qualifications in order to adjust to the transition to a resilient Scotland. For example, town planners strengthening their natural flood resilience knowledge when designing local development plans. This type of upskilling will ensure an increase in their communities' effective resilience to the current and future impacts of climate change.

New and Emerging Jobs

New and emerging occupations that relate directly to climate adaptation are likely to continue being created as new risks and opportunities resulting from climate change emerge. By ensuring Scotland’s workforce is flexible and adaptable to meet the climate resilience sector’s needs and timelines, we can ensure Scotland’s businesses are at the growing forefront of the climate smart market. For example, as the benefits of riparian woodlands are increasingly recognised in regulating critical water temperatures and mitigating extreme events like flooding, the demand for new occupations highly skilled in riparian woodland design and management will also increase.

Case Study: Peatland Restoration Skills

Scotland’s first National Peatland Plan provides a framework for assembling the skills needed to improve the condition of damaged or degraded peatlands. A range of specialist and technical jobs will be needed to carry out peatland restoration including hydrologists, satellite data analysts, surveyors, ornithologists, ecologists and project managers. However, there is still a shortage of people with skills in peatland restoration on the ground level with the fast-growing sector requiring an additional 1500 skilled people by 2025 to meet Scotland’s ambitious climate targets.

In 2022, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), in partnership with NatureScot Peatland ACTION, launched a new short course designed to address this shortage by teaching an overview of peatland ecology and hydrology and an understanding of the causes of peatland degradation. The Peatland Assessment and Restoration course will allow participants to develop their skills in mapping and surveying peatland before designing effective interventions for the restoration of the site. Participants will cover all stages of planning, funding and delivering a restoration scheme during the short course.

Climate smart work-force

Impacted Occupations

Primary exposure through extreme weather events will be felt most by outdoor workers whose livelihoods and workloads may be weather dependent – e.g. agriculture, tourism, and emergency response workers.

Secondary exposure through the casual sequence will be felt in industries connected to those in the primary exposure who may face increased workloads responding to the consequences of extreme weather events e.g. insurance claim handlers and mental health professionals.

Workers across the country will feel a shift in their ways of working as the changing climates begin to impact every individual and organisation in different forms.

Climate-Smart Jobs

Existing jobs that may be needed in greater numbers as the result of adaptation efforts e.g. conservation scientists, natural flood management practitioners, and heating and ventilation engineers.

New and emerging jobs that relate directly to climate adaptation e.g. peatland restoration practitioners, disaster risk managers and Riparian woodland designers.

Jobs affected by the transition to a resilient Scotland e.g. architects, business continuity specialists, and town planners.

Supporting Roles

Stakeholders

• Private Sector e.g. investors, producers, retailers, building sector, insurances, financing institutions
• Third sector e.g. NGOs, community organisations, academia, volunteers
• Public sector e.g. Scottish Government, UK Government, local authority

Organisational Resources

• Adaptation Finance Guide
• Climate Hazards & Resilience in the Workplace
• Organisational Culture and Resources capability webinar

Learning & Development

• Work-based Learning
• Upskilling & Reskilling
• Further & Higher Education
• Research & Innovation

Culture as a resource for tackling climate change

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) describes culture as the “ultimate renewable resource to tackle climate change”, a key resource for climate mitigation and adaptation. Through it’s natural World Heritage sites, 190 million tons of CO₂ is absorbed each year by forests in 257 sites, and its non-natural sites are a valuable resource in learning about the past and protecting the future.

UNESCO also states: “Cultural heritage throughout the world is increasingly affected by emergency situations, including conflicts and disasters caused by natural and human-induced hazards (‘natural disasters’). These situations include threats to the transmission and viability of intangible cultural heritage, which provide a foundation for the identity and well-being of communities […] The safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage has a dual role to play in the context of emergencies: on the one hand, intangible cultural heritage can be directly threatened by emergencies, and on the other hand, it can effectively help communities to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies.”

What we often term ‘culture’ in a narrower sense – the arts, museums, film, TV, design, rap, cartoons, street dance and more – are the ways in which we consciously and unconsciously express that wider culture and an important way our lived experience is shaped, disseminated and changed. Therefore, not only does this narrower culture have huge potential to support the transformations and transitions in society that are needed to live well in a different climate, it is essential that it is empowered to do so.

Crucially, the cultural sector in Scotland also has a unique ability to imagine and experiment with alternative futures, question the status quo, see the world differently and explore the future with audiences and participants.

Case Study: “Historic Environment Scotland: We asked students to imagine ways in which Scotland might build structures to cope with extreme flooding. Wynne McLeish suggested attaching a series of floating piers to the Forth Rail Bridge. In her futuristic design, energy would be supplied through wind and wave generators to enable a small population living in the piers to thrive in an inhospitable climate.”

Private Investment for Adaptation

Climate change poses profound risks to our economy and financial stability. The costs to both the global and the Scottish economy from climate risks are no longer hypothetical.

The Climate Change Committee suggests climate change impacts cost the UK economy billions of pounds every year. Globally, sea-level rising, flooding and lower crop-yields are among the main drivers of the economic impacts and long-term GDP losses. In Scotland, of all the climate risks impacting the economy, flooding damage to property is highest, at an estimated £200m to £250m per year. In a future where global warming exceeds 2oC, the economic damage across all climate risks would be far more severe, increasing interconnected domestic and international economic risks in areas such as supply chain resilience.

We know Scotland’s climate will continue to change. While we must take collective, global action to reduce emissions and stop further irreversible damage, investing in adaptation action is the only way we can reduce the economic damage that will result from the changes that are already locked in to our climate over the immediate decades.

The Adaptation Plan set out how we will continue building a thriving, climate resilient and globally competitive Scottish economy. There is a lot to do – government, industry, business and communities must work together, be ambitious, and drive the change necessary to achieve climate resilience. Responsible private investment in adaptation action is key to this pursuit.

Adaptation investment needs

The economic case for early adaptation action is clear. From flooding to infrastructure resilience, it costs far more to respond to – rather than prepare for - the impacts of climate change. The return on investment for climate adaptation action is high. For example, with regards to flooding it is estimated that for every £1 spent on protecting communities from flooding, around £9 in property damages and wider impacts can be avoided (UK National Audit Office, 2019).

While there are high benefits, taking action to build resilience to climate change in Scotland will demand significant, upfront investment.

The Climate Change Committee anticipate that the UK needs to spend between an additional £5bn and £10bn per year on adapting to climate change, across both the public and private sector.

In Scotland, flood protection, water systems, nature and infrastructure will demand large-scale investment over the forthcoming decades to support our resilience to both the increasing frequency of extreme-weather events, and to the long-term changes in climate patterns. New infrastructure will need to protect communities most vulnerable from more frequent and intense rainfall and sea level-rise, while our transport, water and energy systems may require upgrades to ensure our society can remain productive under future, extreme climate.

This is no small feat. Early estimates from the Climate Emergency Response Group suggest an adaptation financing need of £1.8bn by 2030 in Scotland (CERG, 2023). The extent to which future costs grow will be determined by our response now and collective, global efforts to limit further global warming beyond 1.5oC.

The scale of the challenge to finance adaptation goes beyond Scotland. Globally, the current finance flowing into adaptation, from public and private sources, is 90% lower than is required to prepare for climate impacts – representing a critical, global adaptation finance gap (see Figure below). On the advice of the United Nations public and private finance for adaptation must be stepped up urgently in order to respond to both current and oncoming climate risks.

Source: Climate Policy Initiative, The Global Landscape of Climate Finance, November 2023

Economic opportunities and climate adaptation

The transition to a more climate resilient Scotland is, however, not only a necessity, but can also be seen as a growth opportunity. In 2016/17 the value of the Adaptation and Resilience to Climate Change sector for Scotland was £604m (kMatrix, 2019). We want our businesses to thrive and for their success to benefit all of society – its central to our vision for a wellbeing economy. As part of this, there are growing opportunities to be captured by our businesses and private sector to develop new, innovative products and services, in areas such as insurance, architecture and engineering, and for new market growth in sectors such as battery storage and agriculture. Overall, like society, the implications of our changing climate impact all businesses; those which are well-informed and have adapted well, are likely to experience less disruption and increase their competitiveness as a result. Collectively these opportunities are a part of preparing for, and build resilience to, the impacts of climate change.

In Scotland, there are examples of businesses delivering innovative adaptation solutions – from civil engineering firms now delivering sustainable drainage solutions, to those developing battery storage to support the resilience of low-carbon energy sources, to those developing plant-varieties which will be needed to deliver nature-based solutions. The private sector, and its investment, can be catalytic for ensuring Scotland is at the forefront of this innovation.

Removing the barriers for responsible private sector investment

In line with our NSET Team Scotland approach, building a climate-resilient Scotland will require contributions from multiple actors.

While large-scale investors are beginning to assess climate risk through climate-related disclosures, more, responsible, private investment in adaptation action will be crucial if we are to deliver the pace and scale of action required to support Scotland’s climate resilience, our economy and society.

As part of providing investors with clarity on the sectors, and activities, that make a substantial contribution to climate change, we are collaborating with the UK Government to ensure that adaptation is integrated into the UK Green Taxonomy.

However, the perceived lack of revenue streams, the emphasis on long-term benefits and difficulties of achieving scale are among barriers that have, until now, constrained private investment in climate resilience and adaptation. This is why the Scottish Government has funded Adaptation Scotland to explore the opportunities to advance climate adaptation finance, and to identify how with innovation we can unlock responsible private investment to support climate resilience.

This work has offered potential pathways to remove barriers and support greater responsible, private investment in adaptation, examples include:

• Blended finance models which involve strategic use of public finance to crowd in private investment. One innovative case-study, facilitated by Adaptation Scotland, looks at the retrofit of Craigleith Retail Park in Edinburgh with nature-based solutions to reduce current and future flood exposure, and has developed a business model where private and public capital could be combined. In this model, partially returnable public funding could be used to encourage and facilitate co-investment of returnable finance from the asset owners.
• Project delivery innovation which focuses on multiple benefits and monetising several revenue streams, for example from voluntary carbon markets, eco-tourism, sale of products and services,– in order to create ‘bankable’ adaptation projects.
• Mainstreaming adaptation in existing market codes for nature recovery and net-zero to ensure adaptation outcomes are more easily identified and monetised in projects.
• Grant funding schemes for project development to support innovative early-stage adaptation projects to attract private investment. This could include mainstreaming adaptation in existing nature and biodiversity grant programmes such as The Facility for Investment Ready Nature in Scotland (FIRNS).
• Open data platform and industry-led common metrics specifically for nature-based project and Blended finance models
• Mainstreaming adaptation in existing market codes
• Grant funding schemes
• Open data platform and industry-led common metrics
• Should you want to read a more detailed breakdown of these policy proposals for Private Investment please see here.
• infrastructure solutions, to help overcome barriers to investment around outcome uncertainly, comparability of projects and investments, and the ability to benchmark effectiveness.

We must ensure that the private sector is well informed and engaged on climate adaptation and how Scotland’s changing climate is influencing economic competitiveness. Outcome 4 – ‘Economy, Business and Industry’ presents a range of policies and proposals in this area. However, it is important the final Adaptation Plan, to be published in Autumn 2024, sets out the need for scaled up private investment to support implementation of policies across each of the five Outcomes.

Climate anxiety and cultural connection

Climate anxiety

Although the physical impacts of climate change are impossible to ignore, the evidence of the impact of climate change on mental health is equally hard to set aside. Ipsos Mori found that 82% of Scots were either very or fairly concerned about climate change (CXC, 2022) and in polling at a similar time the Mental Health Foundation found that in the UK, more than 2 in 5 young people reported that thoughts and feelings about climate change have a negative impact on their mental health (MHF, 2021).

Climate anxiety, put simply, is the chronic state of worry or fear about climate change and its impacts or as the American Psychological Association terms “chronic fear of environmental doom” (ASA, 2020). Although not identified as an explicit risk in the CCRA3, supporting people suffering from climate anxiety and the mental impacts associated with anticipated climate change can form part of an approach to address non-economic loss and damage from climate change.

Working together with colleagues working on health and with Public Health Scotland, we will commission more research into the mental impacts of climate change to inform policy development onto address mental health impacts in the final the Adaptation Plan.

Cultural connection

Around the world, coastal heritage sites are at risk of sea level rise and erosion. UNESCO estimates that of 318 World Heritage cities nearly 1/3 are coastal and are impacted by climate change. In Scotland, we have historic castles, coastal settlements and, perhaps most famously, Skara Brae, the 5000 year old neolithic settlement on Orkney. The measures taken to protect and manage these assets are set out in Outcome 3 Public Services and Infrastructure and specifically objective C5 and are led by our partners at Historic Environment Scotland.

“Throughout history, life in our coastal communities has been shaped by the need to adapt to extremes of weather. We face a new challenge with a predicted rise in sea levels that will require new approaches to living at the land’s edge.” (Scotland’s Coastal Places, Historic Environment Scotland)

The tangible cultural assets are in some ways easier to manage and protect but culture also encompasses language, dance, art and storytelling; community traditions which could also all be impacted by climate change and help us shape and understand our places and our connection to them. These are also often what makes Scotland an attractive place to live, work, visit and study in, thus having a knock-on economic impact.

Across the world, indigenous communities, often living by the coast, are threatened by sea level rise and coastal change, leading to migration and loss or dilution of language and culture. The Gaelic language and traditions are already experiencing decline caused by ageing populations and migration to the mainland from Gaelic island communities threatened by sea level rise. Recognising this, as part of COP26, the project Living Language Land was commissioned by the British Council under the COP26 Creative Commissions programme. It offers a platform to minority and endangered language-holders to share a word and a story that reflects the relationship to land and nature. Contributions included the word “scrogs” from the Doric word meaning brushwood or undergrowth and the Gaelic word “Aibidil” for alphabet, the Gaelic Aibidil has 18 letters and each letter is represented by a tree.

“This ancient affinity between the Gaelic word and the tree embeds a deep association between language and landscape in the original roots of Gaelic. It gives an ecological substance to the alphabet – the foundation of all literacy – a language we can learn by looking at the landscape.” [living-language-land.org, 2021]