Climate Change Plan: third report on proposals and policies 2018-2032 (RPP3) - summary

6. Low Carbon Society

The Scottish Government cannot and should not deliver the Climate Change Plan alone. Local government, other public bodies, the private sector, the third sector, communities, households and individuals all have important roles to play.

Scotland’s private sector will drive much of the decarbonisation effort as well as benefitting from it, from savings made through energy efficiency measures, through to innovative new industries, clean technologies and access to global markets. 

The public sector is increasingly demonstrating how its own operations are driving down emissions, both through its statutory duties and its wider leadership role. 

Third sector organisations In Scotland continue to be successful in promoting climate change awareness and action in Scotland. 

The role of communities across Scotland is also crucial. Through the Climate Challenge Fund^[6], the Scottish Government enables communities to develop their own local solutions to reduce emissions.

All of us can make a difference at some level, whether it is in the home, the work place, or in schools, colleges and universities. Understanding how and why we behave the way we do is crucial. The Scottish Government provides resources such as Climate Conversations and Greener Scotland – Let’s Go Greener Together – to help us understand why climate change is an issue and what we can collectively do to reduce our own impacts.^[7]

The transition to a low carbon Scotland requires all of us to take action together: changing how we get around; how we heat and cool our homes and buildings; and how we deal with waste. Understanding how and why people behave the way they do is crucial to designing suitable policy interventions. To support the development and the implementation of proposals and polices in the Plan, we have used the Individual, Social, Material (ISM) approach^[8] to changing behaviours, and where suitable, we have used behaviour change as an enabler in delivery of policy outcomes in this Plan.

The Planning system

Buildings, streets and spaces are the ingredients of place, and placemaking is a useful way of thinking about how the planning system can help Scotland decarbonise. The planning system is a means by which the missing infrastructure which would assist low carbon choices to be made, can be identified and developed in the future. Our buildings are already becoming more energy efficient and our streets are changing to accommodate electric vehicle charging and active travel infrastructure. Using the placemaking approach and design-led principles can help to create places where sustainable and active lifestyles become the default, easy option.