Scottish Government Improvement Plan – Response to Environmental Standards Scotland Investigation – Climate Change Delivery Improvement Report

Proposed actions and implementation

Establishing the feasibility of reporting against all scope 3 emission categories for LAs will take additional research into data collection methodologies, and the provision of resources to carry out the reporting for each body.

The revised SG ‘Statutory Guidance – Putting the climate change duties into practice’ document and accompanying non-statutory topic supplements will also contain further information on scope 3 emissions reporting.

SG will seek to enhance and increase voluntary reporting, and notes that any mandatory reporting scope 3 emissions by LAs would commence in November 2027.

SG is proposing to take forward the actions below following the laying of this Improvement Plan and subject to agreement by Parliament:

• Action 1, to be taken forward immediately is to encourage voluntary reporting of all scope 3 emission categories, where relevant and applicable, for all LAs. The new statutory guidance, currently under development, will include the group 1 categories as a suggested best practice ‘baseline’ for inclusion in the annual reporting for all relevant public bodies; and will encourage reporting of relevant group 2 and 3 categories where practicable and feasible.
• Action 2, which will be taken forward in 2025 as part of wider legislative amendments work is the preparation of an Amendment Order to mandate reporting on categories 3, 5, 6 and 7 (i.e. Group 1), which will require public consultation prior to introducing through Parliament.
• Action 3, which will commence in spring 2025 is to establish a focus group involving LAs, academics, climate change professionals, procurement professionals and those with experience in reporting during 2025 to share best practice, identify opportunities to report, and develop a standardised methodology for reporting on categories 1, 2, 4, 8 13 and 15 (i.e. Group 2). This group can also assist with sharing best practice and, where practicable, develop a standardised of approaches for reporting on Group 1 categories.
• Action 4, commencing in spring 2026 will be to work with local government partners to develop and implement a training programme on emissions reporting for local authority officers.
• Action 5, to commence in the autumn of 2025 will be to commission independent researchers to establish value for money in reporting on the Group 3 categories, and if so, robust data gathering methodologies for categories 9, 10, 11, 12, and 14.