Public sector leadership on the global climate emergency: guidance

5. Climate Change Adaptation

The public sector has a crucial role to play in enabling Scotland to adapt to the impacts of climate change (e.g. increased risk of flooding, sea level rise and coastal erosion, water supply, heatwaves, etc.).

Taking a strong, proactive approach will ensure that vital public assets, infrastructure and services are able to continue delivering positive outcomes across society for both current and future generations.

The statutory climate change reporting requirements include a provision for public bodies to report on how they are contributing to national objectives for climate change adaptation and resilience as set out in the current five-yearly Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme (SCCAP).

The Programme, prepared by Scottish Government, responds to the priority risks for Scotland independently identified by the Climate Change Committee (CCC) in the evidence reports of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (UKCCRA) and covering a range of global warming scenarios. The CCC publishes the evidence reports for UKCCRA on a five-yearly basis and the most recent reports were published in June 2021. The response to these risks will form the basis of the next SCCAP, due for publication in 2024.

The Programme aims to prepare Scotland for the challenges that we will face as our climate continues to change in the decades ahead. It takes an outcomesbased approach, derived from both the UN Sustainable Development Goals and Scotland’s National Performance Framework. This cross-cutting approach promotes co-benefits, and integrates adaptation into wider public sector policy and service delivery.

The Programme sets out around 170 policies and proposals across Scotland, structured around seven high-level outcomes which are aligned to the National Performance Framework and UN Sustainable Development Goals and relate to the climate resilience of Scotland’s people, communities, economy, infrastructure, natural environment (terrestrial and marine) and international connections. Such policies include Dynamic Coast which aims to improve the evidence base around coastal erosion and proposes plans for coastal change management in Scotland, and the Place Standard Tool, which aims to strengthen engagement among communities and stakeholders at the local level.

Action from Scotland’s public bodies will be vital to achieving many of these outcomes and the annual reporting provides an opportunity for bodies to set out and showcase these contributions.

The Scottish Government’s approach to adaptation is place-based, with strong roles for action at regional and local scales as well as the national. Action from public bodies, as well as businesses and communities, will be central to delivering such adaptation.

Scotland Adapts: a capability framework for a climate ready public sector

Resources to support public bodies on adaptation include the Scotland Adapts Handbook which provides an introduction to the topic aimed at Scotland’s public sector.

The Handbooks shows how the Adaptation Capability Framework can be used by any public sector organisation to accelerate their action on adaptation. The Framework has been developed by Adaptation Scotland, funded by Scottish Government, to promote a holistic approach to adaptation.

Based on local and international experience, this pioneering ‘capability-maturity’ approach draws on the characteristics of well-adapting organisations and identifies four capabilities that every public organisation will need to develop to adapt to climate change, and recommends tasks that support progress for organisations, providing step by step tasks to guide their adaptation journeys and recognising that organisations will have different starting levels of maturity, from those starting out on their adaptation journey to those leading the way. Adaptation Scotland provides advice and regular information sessions for public bodies to help them get started with using the framework.

For example, Aberdeen Adapts (jointly led by Aberdeen City Council and the University of Aberdeen) has developed its own Climate Change Adaptation Framework^[2] for the city, supported by Adaptation Scotland and utilising the Adaptation Capability Framework.

As part of the annual reporting, respondents are encouraged to indicate whether they have made use of the Adaptation Capability Framework and if so to summarise what have been the key findings and identified next steps. Public bodies are also encouraged to provide feedback on the framework to support future learning.