Public sector leadership on the global climate emergency: guidance

3. Leadership and Governance

Senior leadership accountability

Climate change is a responsibility for all organisations, and action on it is a core deliverable of all public bodies. There must be clear accountability across senior leadership in the organisations for climate action. Climate change should be embedded using good governance principles, as outlined, for example in the CIPFA/IFAC International Framework of Good Governance in the Public Sector. Guidance on embedding carbon management in good governance in public bodies is also outlined in the Zero Waste Scotland guide to Carbon Management: Governance and Accountability.

All organisations need to respond to the climate emergency, therefore it is vital that climate action is reflected in the organisation’s annual plans and annual reports. Climate change governance must be integrated into the public bodies existing governance approach.

The board/council and senior executive teams must ensure that climate change systemically informs strategic investment planning and decision-making processes and is embedded into the management of risks and opportunities across the organisation.

Climate change must be integrated into financial planning and reporting, and finance teams should be engaged. Organisations may wish to align with external guidance, such as Accounting for Sustainability, a Net Zero Practical Guide for Finance Teams which outlines actions such as:

• Embedding net zero targets into decision-making processes, including budgeting and capital planning processes.
• Recognising the broader influence and impact that your organisation can have on local development and investment planning.
• Incorporating sustainability into your organisation’s financing strategy and communications.

Public bodies should also consider climate risk and adaption and consider reporting to external frameworks such as the Task Force for Climate Related Financial Disclosure.

Leaders in public bodies should have climate change performance linked to their objectives to ensure clear accountability on performance.

Organisational KPIs

Climate change performance should be included in public bodies key performance indicators (KPIs). These should have a clear link back to the climate change targets the body has set but may also focus on more specific areas of climate action that are the priority for the current period.

Climate KPI performance should be regularly monitored as part of the organisation’s performance management, and action taken if performance is going off track.

Climate steering groups

The support of leaders, chairs, boards, chief executives and senior managers for the dedicated communities of energy, sustainability, environment and climate adaptation experts within Scotland’s public bodies, has been instrumental in delivering the strong commitments to climate action. Steering committees can be a useful way to drive climate action across organisations.

Steering committees should have representation from all key parts of the organisation to ensure that climate change is properly embedded across the organisation. They should also have clear outputs or deliverables aligned to setting or meeting the organisation’s targets.

Carbon in decision-making

The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Amendment Order 2020 includes a question on how public bodies will align their spending plans and use of resources to contribute to reducing emissions and delivering emissions reduction targets.

It is vital that public bodies understand the carbon impacts of their decisions and therefore embed carbon into decisionmaking processes. Any investment should consider the whole life impact with regards to climate change to ensure that truly sustainable options are selected.

Leadership and Staff Engagement and Training

The importance of supporting public sector leaders and staff on climate action was recognised in the Scottish Government consultation in 2019 and the consultation responses. Climate change is the responsibility of all and needs to be part of all roles, not just environmental leads. Therefore both leadership and role-specific training is very important to ensure staff are confident in climate action and what they need to do.

Due to the importance of training across organisations some public bodies have worked with external providers to seek a Train the Trainer approach, with a smaller group attending external training courses and then being able to train others within their organisation. This approach can be very effective and save costs while maximising impact.

Some examples of external training courses that focus on climate emergency and carbon literacy are included below:

Royal Scottish Geographical Society Climate Solutions Qualification

The Scottish Government has funded the Royal Scottish Geographical Society to develop its Climate Solutions qualification launched in 2020 helping organisations embed climate change action at the level where it can achieve the most significant impact. The focus is on identifying and delivering on specific actions and commitments, both organisational and personal, to reduce carbon emissions.

The Carbon Literacy Project

A Carbon Literate Organisation (CLO) is an organisation that has been accredited by The Carbon Literacy Project as having a substantial commitment to Carbon Literacy. CLO accreditation supports the development (and recruitment and retention) of a Carbon Literate workforce and requires an organisation to engage positively with its audience or community in developing and delivering low carbon behaviour.

Public bodies can also influence emissions through engaging with their workforce, working to achieve buy-in to action on climate change at all levels of the organisation, and ensuring that staff feel empowered to play their part in cultural change. This could include raising awareness of the imperative to reduce emissions, addressing this in future workforce skills requirements and training, and creating a sense of shared ownership by asking staff to identify contributions they can make such as switching off office equipment at night. The public sector employs a large number of people in Scotland and the workplace is a key environment in which people can not only learn the skills they need to address climate change but also, through making informed choices in their everyday work environment, promote significant cultural change both there and beyond at home and in their communities.

The Carbon Literacy Project, the Improvement Service and SSN are working together to develop a coordinated programme of Carbon Literacy support for Scottish public bodies. It is hoped that this will be in delivery in 2022.