Public sector leadership on the global climate emergency: guidance

4. Assessing Organisational Capability

The 2011 guidance recommended mainstreaming which means integrating climate change into the everyday work of a public body at all levels including senior management, policy makers, service delivery and external partners.

The guidance highlighted key outcomes for public sector leaders in implementing public bodies’ climate change duties:

• governance supports climate change action;
• strategies/action plans to address climate change;
• outcomes and targets for emissions (direct and indirect);
• integrate greenhouse gases into decision-making through carbon impact assessments;
• preparing for a changing climate;
• supporting climate change awareness and engagement work; and
• acting sustainably.

Action for Leaders: Adopt a Capability Framework.

The Scottish Government is funding and collaborating with Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) to produce a capability framework for public bodies.

Based on mainstreaming of climate change set out in the 2011 guidance, assessing an organisation’s capability on climate action would centre on these requirements:

• Be able to demonstrate commitment and leadership in addressing climate change and consider where appropriate a formal governance system for addressing climate change within the organisation with a nominated lead or champion from senior management.
• Strong leadership and shared ownership of climate change action. Develop commitment to climate change within the senior management of the organisation to ensure that climate change is visible in management processes and decisions and to promote increased awareness of climate change and appropriate action at all levels of the organisation. Taking action to strengthen a public body’s governance, leadership and commitment in regard to climate change will significantly contribute to the successful implementation of the climate change duties. Strong governance, leadership and commitment within the public sector is vital.
• By ensuring that responsibility for leadership on climate change is clear within the organisation, both at management level and cascaded throughout, accountability for climate change action will be increased.
• A declared commitment to action on climate change: making a public body’s commitment to deliver against the climate change duties visible and transparent, both to those who work within the organisation and to stakeholders, suppliers and service users, will increase the level of scrutiny of climate change actions, and public bodies will begin to exert positive influence over the behaviours of their stakeholders, suppliers and service users.
• Promote this climate change commitment to staff, service users, stakeholders, delivery partners and suppliers, e.g. by referring to it in other published material, website, displaying within the public body’s premises etc.
• Integration of climate change within business planning, e.g. through policy appraisal, impact assessment, Strategic Environmental Assessment: building a process whereby the ‘climate change question’ and ‘sustainability question’ is routinely asked as part of the decisionmaking process around new and existing policies, plans and proposals, will ensure the impact of that decision on climate change is considered and public bodies are seeking to act sustainably.
• Partnership working with external bodies and interests: working cooperatively with other public bodies, e.g. bodies in the same geographic area, or bodies working in the same sector, will maximise efficiency and increase the impact of climate change action.