Climate change: Scottish National Adaptation Plan 2024-2029

Outcome Three: Public Services and Infrastructure (PS)

Public services are collaborating in effective and inclusive adaptation action.

The climate emergency requires us to collaborate. Without our infrastructure and public services adapting to the challenges of extreme weather and the changing environment, Scotland’s other priorities for equality, health and the economy will be harder to achieve.

To tackle climate change in a way that is equitable, inclusive and builds on the strengths of a place, needs leadership and collaboration on shared outcomes. Ensuring people can access the public services they need will involve adaptation action across Scotland’s places.

This Outcome focuses on building the capacity of all Scotland’s public services and infrastructure networks to understand climate risks, adapt as organisations and act collaboratively with others in a place. The Outcome applies to all public services and infrastructure networks, with specific objectives for two key devolved infrastructure networks – water and transport – which support people’s health and connectivity.

Objective: Public body duties and capacity (PS1)

Providers of public services have the governance, culture, skills and resources for and are collaborating in effective and inclusive adaptation action.

SG Directorate lead: DECC

The Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 requires the Scottish Government to implement a statutory Adaptation Plan every five years. Public bodies play a critical role in delivering the plan due to the nature of the services they provide and their legislative duties.

This objective aims to support effective leadership and governance arrangements for adaptation, alongside inclusive planning approaches and working beyond organisation and sectoral silos through:

Legislative framework

• Public Bodies Climate Change Duties – the Public Bodies Climate Change Duties (PBCCD) contained within the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 require listed public sector organisations to act in the way best calculated to help deliver the statutory Adaptation Programme and to report progress annually. This is a key mechanism which makes climate adaptation a legal imperative for public bodies in Scotland.
• Guidance on climate adaptation duties – the Scottish Government will work across the public sector to develop and consult on updated statutory guidance on public bodies climate change duties in the wake of proposed revised climate change legislation in Parliament. This will provide guidance on the corporate adaptation actions all public bodies should undertake, to support the public sector in reaching a baseline standard and to support more advanced collaborative action. Case studies will share best practice from across the public sector.
• PBCCD reporting and analysis – all relevant public bodies will continue to report annually on the PBCCD, including adaptation action and contributions (where relevant) to delivery of this Adaptation Plan. Annual returns are publicly available. The Scottish Government will increase the use of the analysis of PBCCD returns, including via the Adaptation Plan’s monitoring framework, in order to continue to share best practice and drive accountability.

Support for providers of public services

In tandem with the legislative drivers of adaptation action, the Scottish Government will continue to support action, collaboration and leadership from across the public sector on effective and inclusive adaptation action.

• Adaptation Capability Framework – the Adaptation Capability Framework (ACF) is a core resource for public sector organisations. The ACF identifies four capabilities needed for an organisation’s adaptation journey. It describes a number of tasks to develop these capabilities over four stages from starting to mature. Adaptation Scotland, in collaboration with public bodies, will update the ACF by 2025 with resources and updated tasks to support mature adaptation capabilities.
• Public Sector Climate Adaptation Network – the Adaptation Scotland led Public Sector Climate Adaptation Network (PSCAN) will build and strengthen adaptation practitioner networks to share learning and best practice. The group will expand to include up to 60 member organisations by March 2025 and will continue to prioritise bodies with large estates and/or staff numbers, high impact and influence, large expenditure, or an auditing or regulatory function.
• Future climate in today’s decisions – to support future-proofed plans and strategic decision making, the Scottish Government will develop a climate scenario decision tool for the public sector. This will be informed by a ClimateXChange research project to be published in Spring 2025.
• Leaders’ Climate Emergency Checklist – the Leaders’ Climate Emergency Checklist is designed to enable senior leaders in the public sector to assess their organisation’s maturity and capability in tackling the climate and nature emergencies.
• Sustainable Scotland Network – the Sustainable Scotland Network (SSN) is Scotland’s public sector climate change and sustainability network. SSN shares knowledge, builds capacity, and enables the public sector to collaborate effectively to achieve Scotland’s climate change and sustainability commitments. SSN is supported by the Scottish Government, Scotland’s local authorities, and other public sector bodies.

SPOTLIGHT: Adaptation Capability Framework

The Adaptation Capability Framework is an award-winning resource that identifies four capabilities that every public organisation will need to adapt to climate change, providing step by step tasks to guide your adaptation journey. Organisations will have different levels of maturity, and the Framework allows you to identify where you are on your adaptation journey, and how you can develop each capability. The Framework is easy to navigate, allowing you to tailor your approach to your organisation's unique circumstances.

Objective: Public service and infrastructure resilience (PS2)

People can access the public services they need; and critical assets, systems and networks are resilient to the impacts of the changing climate.

SG Directorate lead: DECC

Disruptions to public services - such as health or education – will have a greater negative effect on people with vulnerabilities, for example children, older people, people with pre-existing medical problems, or people living on a low income. The impact of climate change risks making existing inequalities wider; but our responses to climate change can protect and improve population health, wellbeing, and reduce inequalities.

This objective aims to embed climate adaptation into public service design and operational resilience. It covers adaptation policies in key public services, but adaptation action and collaboration is needed across all sectors. This will be supported by new statutory guidance for all relevant public bodies in 2026.

Essential Services and Critical Infrastructure in Scotland

Critical infrastructure underpins the essential services needed daily by the people of Scotland. Some Critical Infrastructure Sectors are reserved to the UK Government (e.g. Energy, Telecoms, Civil Nuclear) whilst others are devolved (e.g. Water, Food, Health) and the responsibility of Scottish Ministers. An impact in one sector could cascade and disrupt others, and the essential services which they support. This will be addressed through:

• Critical Infrastructure Resilience - the Scottish Government will continue to work collaboratively with Regional and Local Resilience Partnerships, Technical Authorities (e.g. National Cyber Security Centre and the National Protective Security Agency), regulators (e.g. Ofcom and Ofgem), the Responder Community, Industry, the UK Government and other Devolved Nations to ensure the Critical Infrastructure risk landscape is understood and that appropriate planning and response arrangements are in place to remove, reduce or mitigate the impacts which could disrupt our essential services.
• Criticalities Process - the Scottish Government will continue to work closely and collaboratively with the UK Government’s Criticalities Process. This process provides the opportunity for a shared understanding of the most critical infrastructure in the UK, which will enable government to better understand and manage the risks to our Critical National Infrastructure. Scottish Government is particularly focused on devolved Critical National Infrastructure sectors where we have devolved responsibilities.

NHS and Social Care

NHS Scotland is made up of 22 Health Boards – 14 regional health boards, responsible for the protection and the improvement of their populations’ health and for the delivery of frontline services, and 8 national health boards including Public Health Scotland, Scottish Ambulance Service, the Golden Jubilee National Hospital and NHS Education for Scotland.

Storms, heavy rain, landslides and heatwaves can all affect infrastructure (transport routes, power, ICT and water supply) with failures resulting in disruption affecting access to health facilities for patients, staff and suppliers. Such disruption also causes difficulties for medical staff, including paramedics, to reach people in their own homes and elsewhere. Action here includes:

• NHS Risk Assessments – all Health Boards will continue completing Climate Change Risk Assessments covering all areas of service. These will ensure integration with other strategies (including Property and Asset Management Strategy), risk assessments and business continuity plans for staff, patients, visitors and contractors. Alongside other climate risks, Boards will assess the risk of flooding for all sites, key transport and access routes, supporting infrastructure and workforce based on current and future projected climate conditions.
• NHS Adaptation Plans - all Health Boards will prepare and implement climate change adaptation plans to ensure resilience of service under changing climate conditions. This will include work towards the requirements of ISO 14090: Adaptation to climate change. Plans will include actions to raise awareness of the potential for overheating, flooding and actions that can be taken by staff, patients, visitors and contractors.; and incorporate water saving measures wherever possible to ensure Health Boards are able to cope with any periods of water scarcity.
• Sustainable temperature management - all Health Boards will establish a programme of monitoring to capture data that will enable a robust assessment of the nature and severity of overheating at in-patient facilities. This will increase understanding of overheating and therefore improve the responses to it. Passive cooling measures will be prioritised over mechanical cooling wherever possible.
• NHS green infrastructure – all Health Boards will develop and manage greenspace and other green infrastructure such as green roofs and rain gardens to mitigate flood and overheating risks.

NHS National Services Scotland (NSS) provides national solutions to NHS Boards and others to improve the health and wellbeing of the people of Scotland. To build climate resilience across Scotland’s health service:

• NHS stakeholder engagement - NHS NSS will actively engage national partner organisations to understand the impact of climate change across Scotland, the risks to different population groups and opportunities to increase the resilience of our healthcare assets and services and minimise the impact of climate change in our healthcare system.
• Support for NHS resilience planning - NHS NSS will host national sources of data and information which can inform the development of NHS Boards’ emergency planning procedures within resilience planning for flooding, major outbreaks of disease and other climate-related risks that are more likely to occur.
• Standards for NHS resilience - NHS NSS will continue to implement Organisational Standards for Resilience. This sets out a standard for Health Boards to identify and ensure preparedness for worsening climate change impacts. It will assess NHS Boards’ status against the requirements of ISO 14090: Adaptation to Climate Change.
• Climate Mapping Tool for the NHS - NHS NSS will continue implementing its web-based Geographic Information System (GIS) NHSScotland Climate Mapping Tool. This enables Health Boards to assess risks to sites, key transport and access routes, and supporting infrastructure based on current and projected future climate conditions.

Local authorities are responsible for delivering social work and social care services and play a critical role in responding to the climate emergency. The Scottish Government recognises the need to work with local government to support the social care sector – whether in house or commissioned services - to play its part in tackling climate change as well as on climate change adaptation. We will:

• PHS support to social care sector - Public Health Scotland (PHS) will work with the Scottish Government and COSLA to understand how they can support the social care sector to respond to the climate emergency. Additionally, the PHS Adverse Weather and Health Plan sets out PHS’s commitment to working with partners to help mitigate, prepare for and respond to the potential health risks associated with hot and cold weather, flooding and drought. The Adverse Weather and Health Plan sets out a number of action areas for delivery between 2024 and 2027, including an area that will explore the training and development of health and social care staff in the health implications of adverse weather events, and on how they can support people through these events.
• Care Inspectorate - all registered care services are regulated by the Care Inspectorate in Scotland. The Care Inspectorate is a scrutiny body which supports improvement. To strengthen the resilience of social care services’ systems and policies to more extreme weather, the Care Inspectorate will share guidance (from Scottish Government and Public Health Scotland) with providers through our information channels.
• Social care adaptation resources – working with social care provider networks, including Scottish Care and the Coalition of Care and Support Providers in Scotland, Scottish Government will support the social care sector to develop sector-specific guidance and strengthened climate adaptation capabilities by 2027.

Schools, colleges and universities

The adaptation of school grounds and education estates can reduce heat, cold and wind stress, and create a richer and more resilient biodiversity and landscape. It can help manage extremes of drought and flood, improve air quality, reduce energy use, lead to improved health and wellbeing, and encourage community engagement. Key initiatives include:

• Learning Estate Investment Programme – the Scottish Government and local authorities will, through the £2 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP), continue to build the resilience of school estates. The requirements of LEIP include criteria for indoor temperature and air quality, including overheating assessments at design stage. These are key parameters to ensure that healthy learning and teaching environments support the wellbeing of all building users. Individual projects are required to be approved by local authority Flood Officers with input from SEPA. Improving access to outdoor spaces through the provision of covered areas in future projects will further support user wellbeing and their readiness to teach and learn.
• Learning for Sustainability Action Plan 2023-30 – the Scottish Government has committed to continue embedding Learning for Sustainability into the Curriculum for Excellence. In partnership with Learning for Sustainability, we will work to strengthen and update the current materials on climate adaptation available to educators. This will increase the depth and quality of understanding for practitioners in primary schools and also learners in primary and secondary schools undertaking project work on climate change.
• Climate Ready School Grounds – design advice for school estates has been developed by Architecture & Design Scotland (A&DS) and Learning through Landscapes via the Climate Ready School Grounds project. This is a collaborative approach to designing and creating spaces to reduce Scotland’s environmental impact and adapt to the changing climate. It provides guidance and examples of how to create new spaces, or adapt existing spaces, and to tackle the impacts of the climate emergency (and local climate risks) within the school estate.
• Co-Designing Sustainable Learning Settings - A&DS will support embedding the delivery of the Learning for Sustainability policy in places and communities, by co-designing sustainable learning settings through pilots in varied school contexts such as urban, rural and town settings. Through this project, A&DS will increase understanding of climate risks and opportunities to act on them across the school estate, and share learning to inform policy, resources and methodologies to enable more adaptable and resilient uses of the school estate.
• The Scottish Funding Council Net Zero Framework – the Scottish Funding Council (SFC) is Scotland’s national strategic public funding body for tertiary education and research. The SFC’s Net Zero and Sustainability Framework sets out how it will support Scotland’s colleges and universities to be global leaders in accelerating the climate emergency response and the just transition in Scotland. This should lead to reduced emissions, system change, and long-term climate resilience for the sector. In 2023-24 the SFC integrated the first climate measures in its main Outcome Agreement with the tertiary sector and the sector’s net zero and climate emergency response will be highlighted throughout the strategic themes in the SFC’s new Outcomes Framework and Assurance Model.
• EAUC Scotland climate risk tool – the SFC is a core funder of EAUC Scotland. As part of our Outcome Agreement with EAUC in 2023-24 they have produced a Climate Risk Register Tool and guidance to help the sector to continuously improve.
• College Infrastructure Strategy - adaptation is being considered under plans to progress Scotland’s College Infrastructure Strategy. The strategy gives priority to life-cycle maintenance needs of existing property and recognises that investment will be required in estates which are carbon neutral and which can flex to cope with climate change.

Energy networks

Our increased reliance on the electricity system means that building network and community resilience to electricity system failures is increasingly important. This is especially so for vulnerable households and essential services. However, security of energy supply is a reserved policy. For example, electricity network resilience requirements are set out in industry codes, standards and in licences. Responsibility for all of which sits with the UK Government, the GB regulator Ofgem and the National Grid Electricity System Operator. Actions to deliver this objective focus on the role of the Scottish Government within devolved competencies, recognising that the impact of a failure in the energy system is likely to rapidly cascade and directly affect people’s wellbeing and the economy. They are:

• Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan – the forthcoming Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan (ESJTP) will set out our vision for a future net zero energy system that delivers affordable, secure and clean energy and provide high quality jobs and economic opportunities. It will also set out policies to support a managed transition from fossil fuels in line with the Scottish Government’s climate change goals. The forthcoming ESJTP will define a set of outcomes that will drive Scotland’s future energy system including reducing vulnerability to the impacts of climate change.
• SEPA Energy Framework - The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is a statutory planning consultee and regulates some aspects of the energy infrastructure in Scotland. SEPA’s role is to advise, influence and regulate the effects of electricity, heat and fuel generation, transmission and consumption on the environment and human health, as outlined in SEPA's Energy Framework.
• Adaptation guidance for Control of Major Accident Hazards sites - the GB COMAH Regulations 2015 require operators to include Natural Hazards Triggering Technological Accidents (NaTech) causes for potential Major Accidents. In early 2022, SEPA undertook a pilot assessment with 4 operators in Grangemouth on the effectiveness of ISO 14090 (Adaptation to Climate Change – Principles, Requirements, and Guidance) as an aid to businesses (suitably focused, flexible and proportionate to the risks). The ISO standard forms the basis of guidance being developed by a regulators and industry group (CDOIF, Chemical and Downstream Oil Industries Forum) due to be published by 2024.
• COMAH site climate risk assessments and regulatory activity - SEPA is currently collecting information from every Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) site in Scotland (about 200 sites) to understand the risk assessments and development of adaptation plans that each operator has undertaken. This will give a snapshot of the identified risks and current preparedness for the most hazardous sites, and enable SEPA to focus regulatory activity on those sites with highest risk or inadequate plans.
• Energy storage for resilience – security of electricity supply is a reserved matter and is operationalised by Electricity System Operator (ESO) across the whole of Great Britain under regulation from Ofgem and policies set by Governments. As we move towards a net zero energy system, we will need increasing levels of storage and flexibility to support greater diversity of demand and greater proportions of renewable and geographically distributed electricity generation. In some specific cases, energy storage may help increase supply resilience in localised parts of the network for short durations. This could support reduced power outages and increase security of supply in response to the sort of weather events that are becoming more frequent due to climate change.

Emergency Services – Police, Fire and Ambulance

Our emergency services respond to emergency incidents, including those caused by severe weather. To continue to deliver this vital public service, Scotland’s blue light services need to build their resilience to climate change and contribute to wider community resilience. This will be achieved through:

• Fire and Rescue Framework – the ‘Fire and Rescue Framework for Scotland 2022’ sets out Scottish Ministers’ expectations of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). Strategic Priority 4, ‘Climate Change’, sets out an expectation that the SFRS should continue working with other public sector partners and communities to support action to address the climate emergency, including the challenges of more extreme weather events such as wildfires and flooding in particular. The SFRS should continue to strategically place specialist resources in flood risk areas and ensure firefighters are prepared, fully equipped and ready to support and protect communities, whatever the weather. In response to wildfire risk, the SFRS should continue to invest its response, make use of local assets, technological advancements and forward thinking operational practices, whilst continuing to place a strong emphasis on partnership working.
• Scottish Fire and Rescue Service – the SFRS Strategic Asset Management Plan for property across 2023-28, outlines how the SFRS aims to achieve a modern and fit for purpose estate that supports the effective delivery of services across the whole organisation. One of the key strategic outcomes is “we respond to the impacts of climate change in Scotland and reduce our own carbon emissions”. Our ongoing Strategic Service Review Programme (SSRP) is considering how we can evolve to meet Scotland’s changing climate. Our current wildfire strategy considers the increased risk of wildfire and changing climate in Scotland. The strategy includes the roll-out of new equipment and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on a phased and risk assessed basis, as well as developing a number of pilot projects to test an enhanced response to wildfires. Community Safety messaging is carried out through Thematic Action Plans, these are produced seasonally (spring, summer, winter, autumn) and are continuously reviewed based on incident data and partner feedback where there is an increasing focus on climate related messaging.
• Police Scotland – Police Scotland is committed to safeguarding its operations and contributing to a more sustainable future. The Police Scotland Adaptation Strategy for 2024-2034 sets strategic outcomes and includes an Action Plan and Estates Adaptation Framework and Assessment Tool. Actions include: upgrading and maintaining its estates to meet resilience standards, withstand climate impacts, and improve energy efficiency; targeted climate literacy training programmes; embedding adaptation measures in key documents including Business Continuity Plans; and new approaches to address the health and wellbeing impacts of climate change on officers (e.g. new trouser types to reduce the risk of lime disease from ticks in rural areas and hydration vessels to tackle heat stress).
• Scottish Ambulance Service – the Scottish Ambulance Service has a clear Climate Emergency and Sustainability Organisational and Governance Structure. It uses this to foster sustainable practices, provide direction and influence behaviours/cultures. The National Vehicle Design & Equipment Group will consider climate risks in the design and procurement of new vehicles, including any associated driver training requirements needed as temperatures and weather patterns change. It will continue to review and assess “at risk” locations, the placement of critical infrastructure and estates, whilst ensuring appropriate business continuity plans are in place.

Objective: Managing Scotland's water resources (PS3)

Partnerships for water resource planning and rainwater drainage networks are active in prioritised catchments to support drought resilience, flood resilience and climate resilient places.

SG Directorate lead: DECC/ENFOR

Water is a precious resource – it is essential for life. It supports our lives, agriculture and businesses (including distilleries and manufacturing, etc), provides drinking water supplies which are essential for public health and supports Scotland’s environment.

As the climate continues to shift, demand for water will continue to grow as the weather gets warmer and this will affect our crop management and food supply as well as putting pressure on our drinking water supply. More intense storms will increase the risk of sewer and surface water flooding in people’s homes, businesses and other essential services which will impact the way we live.

We need to adapt the way in which we plan, deliver and use our essential water, sewerage and drainage services to cope with these changes now. This needs to be done alongside building community resilience to flood events, informed and supported by public sector action. This will ensure that water resources and drinking water is secured, our environment is protected, and rainwater is managed in a way that reduces the impact on society, for future generations.

The Scottish Government is currently developing policy to build community flood resilience and adapt the way in which we plan, deliver and use our essential water, sewerage and drainage services to cope with climate change. The Scottish Government has consulted on proposals for changes in the water industry (Water, Wastewater and drainage consultation analysis, July 2024) this Adaptation Plan covering action to address all climate risks (January 2024); and a Flood Resilience Strategy to set out what we need to do in the long term to create a flood resilient Scotland (May 2024).

Scottish Water

Scottish Water is responsible for Scotland’s public drinking water and wastewater services and is focussed on ensuring it can continue to deliver service in a changing climate. In 2021, Scottish Water’s Strategic Plan for the 2021-27 investment period committed Scottish Water to adapting its services and assets and identified actions to help Scotland achieve its shared Vision for the water sector. In discharging its actions and commitments on climate change Scottish Water has outlined the following actions in its Climate Change Adaptation Plan published in 2024.

• Scottish Water, Climate adaptation planning - a Climate Change Risk Assessment has been completed using the 2 and 4 degree emission pathways to the 2080s, reflecting the longevity of Scottish Water assets. This informed Scottish Water’s Climate Change Adaptation Plan published in 2024. The plan sets out the risks, impacts to service, responses and strategy for adaptation, and sets out key activities to support service resilience. It also identifies interdependent risks with other sectors and supply chains that need to be managed. It estimates that an additional £2-5 billion will need to be invested by 2050 to sustain current service levels and manage climate change related impacts. This will inform Scottish Water’s 2027-33 strategic business plan for agreement with government, regulators and stakeholders.
• Maintaining drinking water quality - climate change will impact the quality of Scotland’s water resources, presenting challenges to Scottish Water’s ability to treat and deliver high quality drinking water for customers. To adapt to the risks presented by climate change and to maintain current service to customers, Scottish Water will: assess climate risks to source water quality and treatment capabilities; improve water quality monitoring and intelligence; make water catchments more resilient to climate change; and adapt our water treatment works to ensure they continue to deliver high quality drinking water for customers.
• Adapting the sewer network - to adapt to the risks presented by climate change and to maintain current service to customers and the environment, Scottish Water will: focus on supporting customers vulnerable to flooding whilst it develops and delivers longer term solutions to address flood risk; increase monitoring of the sewer network to better understand performance with the aim to avoid flooding and pollution incidents; partner with local authorities and developers to remove rainfall from sewers; and and transform urban landscapes with blue-green infrastructure, delivering its stormwater strategy of “no more in, what’s in out” to reduce climate change flood risk and pollution.
• Managing water asset flooding and coastal erosion - flooding of assets and coastal erosion caused by climate change will present major challenges to Scottish Water’s assets that could impact their ability to provide water and wastewater services. To adapt and to maintain current service to customers and the environment, Scottish Water will: update water and wastewater operational resilience plans to ensure it can maintain service; embed weather and flood projections in system and asset planning; and progressively increase resilience through its repair, refurbish and replacement of ageing assets programme. On coastal flooding Scottish Water will work with local authorities and other stakeholders to understand how future coastal change will be managed and build this into service and asset resilience plans.
• Preventing sewer and drain blockages - adapting to heavier rainfall events can be supported by preventing blockages in sewer systems that lead to spills and overflows. 80% of current sewer blockages are caused by flushing inappropriate items down the toilet, or pouring fats, oil and grease down the sink. Disposing household items in bins, such as wet wipes, cotton buds, sanitary products etc. rather than flushing them down toilets can support climate adaptation. Scottish Water’s high profile ‘Nature Calls. Bin the Wipes’ campaign promotes positive behaviour change in the bathroom and kitchen. Scottish Water will continue to work with others in the sector, and with government and industry to end plastic pollution and find alternatives to items that can block sewers.
• Waste water treatment - climate change will present major challenges to Scottish Water’s wastewater treatment works that could impact environmental performance and impact river water quality. To adapt and to maintain current service to customers and the environment, Scottish Water will assess the capability of our wastewater treatment works and networks to deal with the expected increase and variability of flows entering the system due to climate change and adapt assets to cope with the wider range of conditions they may expect.
• Scottish Water operational resilience – long term service and asset planning by Scottish Water will support a more resilient asset base. However, climate and weather extremes will continue to present challenges to service that require operational responses to support customers and prevent disruption. Scottish Water will keep operational resilience plans under review and work with Scottish Government and other partners through resilience partnerships to respond effectively to weather related disruption. Climate risks to national and global supply chains will be assessed and include in supply chain and procurement strategies.

Water, Wastewater and Drainage Policy Development

In 2023, Scotland witnessed the impacts of both drought and storms in short succession. Extreme weather events that damaged critical infrastructure impacting on the ability to supply essential drinking water and wastewater services.

Legislation on our water services was put in place when climate change was not recognised or anticipated. It is, therefore, imperative that Scotland implements adaptation measures to protect our vital water, wastewater and drainage services upon which we all depend. This should include measures on planning the use of water resources, protecting drinking water catchments, protecting the environment from the impacts of sewage overflows and recognising drainage as a service.

The water, wastewater and drainage public consultation explored how to adapt our water, sewerage and drainage services in the face of climate change.

• Review of water industry policy - the Scottish Government is committed to undertaking a review of water industry policy, and continuing to assess how water, sewerage and drainage services can adapt to the impacts of climate change to avoid water scarcity through future legislation. Aligning with the EU’s recast Drinking Water Directive, which includes provisions on improving and maintaining access to drinking water for all, and the EU’s recast Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive, which include provisions on collection and treatment of urban wastewater to further protect human health and the environment is part of this policy development. The consultation analysis of responses provided overwhelming support on the need for change.

Key policy development areas for the review of water industry policy are set out below.

Water resource and catchment management

Climate projections show there will be changes to rainfall patterns, with extended periods with less or no rain in future. Coupled with higher temperatures and the greater demands we see in warmer weather, the water resources on which we rely will be under greater pressure than they are today.

• Policy development for water resources – the need to secure water supplies for both now and for future generations through a collaborative approach has been recognised, supported through the response to the water, wastewater and drainage consultation and discussed at a roundtable in April 2024. Building on that, Scottish Government is developing policy with SEPA, Scottish Water and key sectors to develop a planned-led, partnership approach to manage our water resources, understanding the changing need, future demands and continued availability of water to protect the future of Scotland’s environment and economy.
• Scotland’s National Water Scarcity Plan – Scotland’s National Water Scarcity Plan sets out how the SEPA will manage water resources prior to and during periods of prolonged dry weather. This is to ensure the correct balance is struck between protecting the environment and providing resource for human and economic activity. The plan sets out how we will work with water users (authorised abstractors and recreational users) and key organisations, such as Scottish Water, to manage water resources during periods of low rainfall. All water users have a role to play to ensure that resources are used sustainably and the potential impact on the environment is reduced. The National Water Scarcity Plan was updated in 2023, following lessons learned in 2022 and 2023, to clarify how water will be managed when significant scarcity is reached.

Drinking Water

• Policy development for drinking water – the Scottish Government is developing policy to better manage and protect our water resources, including better use of water resources, water efficiency, continued protection of public health and increased resilience of water supplies to climate change. We also need to make sure that the water that reaches our taps remains safe to drink, which requires us to take a national view of catchment risk to help better protect drinking water sources from pollutants.
• Drinking water supply during drought (Scottish Water) - current projections suggest that without adaptation there may be a risk of around 240 megalitres per day water deficit during extended low rainfall by 2050. To adapt to the risk of increased drought conditions presented by climate change and to maintain current service to customers Scottish Water will: work with other water users to plan water resources at catchment scale; reduce demand by reducing leakage and consumption; improve operational and asset capability to respond to more frequent drought events; and increase the resilience of water supplies by developing further plans to reduce the number of customers fed from a single water source.
• Private water supplies - private water supplies are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Prolonged dry weather in the summer months can lead to many private water supplies running dry, with flooding in the winter impacting water quality. In most years since 2018, the Scottish Government have implemented emergency measures to provide bottled water to households affected by water scarcity, and more recently, those negatively affected by winter storms and flooding. Funding has also been allocated to help build long-term resilience to private water supplies by extending the public water network into communities that have been affected by water scarcity. A programme of work is underway to develop further support for people who rely on private water supplies. Local authorities are the Regulators for private water supplies and play a crucial role in implementing the measures set out by the Scottish Government.

Water saving and behaviour change

In Scotland, the average person uses over 180 litres of tap water every day. This is higher than any other UK country and many European countries. In Germany, for example, the average person uses 125 litres every day. In Denmark they use 105 litres. Climate change will increase dry periods and make water harder to treat. To avoid water shortages, extra costs and to protect the environment, we need to use less water.

• Water Is Always Worth Saving campaign – linked to the need to manage water resource risks, Scottish Water’s ‘Water Is Always Worth Saving’ campaign seeks to raise awareness of the value of water and provide water saving advice to households and communities through high profile public campaigns guidance and the distribution of water saving packs. Scottish Water will continue to engage customers in understanding the value of water to change behaviours on water consumption. Scottish Water also plan to pilot smart monitoring to build intelligence on water use and seek to work with industry and relevant authorities to ensure homes and developments are as water efficient as possible.
• Efficiency of authorised water abstractors - SEPA will work with authorised water abstractors to ensure water is used efficiently all year round, reducing the impact on the environment, other users and reduce the impacts of prolonged drought periods.

Rainwater drainage networks

There is a growing body of evidence for changes in the intensity of extreme daily rainfall. Extreme rainfall events could be four times as frequent by 2080 compared to the 1980s. This is putting urban drainage systems under extreme pressure, increasing surface water and sewage flooding and increasing sewage spills to the environment.

• Policy Development for rainwater drainage networks – the Scottish Government is responding by developing policy to improve the management of rainwater in those urban areas most exposed to this change in our climate. The policy will ensure that rainwater in urban areas is managed through a strategic drainage network designed for now and our future climate. Rainwater drainage networks will bring together below ground piped rainwater drainage systems and above ground blue and green infrastructure, to hold rain close to where it falls and make space for water in our places. This will reduce the amount of rainwater entering combined sewer systems, helping reduce sewer and surface water flooding and the frequency of sewage spills to the environment. As well as having the potential to create attractive places that enhance public amenity, support greater biodiversity, reduce heat island effects and improve air quality. The policy will ensure that rainwater drainage networks are established as essential components of municipal infrastructure requiring collaborative partnerships across local authorities, Scottish Water, SEPA and other relevant partners to work together to deliver, maintain, enhance and protect them.

Objective: Transport system (PS4)

The transport system is prepared for current and future impacts of climate change and is safe for all users, reliable for everyday journeys and resilient to weather-related disruption.

SG Directorate lead: Transport Scotland

Scotland’s transport infrastructure and networks are fundamental to our nation’s communities, businesses and visitors. They offer critical connections between people and places, and are vital in providing access to essential services, such as healthcare. Transport also enables us to access the building blocks of health and wellbeing including education, employment, services, social contact and resources – the things we need in our lives to give us the best chance of being healthy.

The importance of our transport systems cannot be overstated, particularly as they are susceptible to variations in Scotland’s weather systems.

Our road, rail, maritime and aviation transport networks are all facing unprecedented vulnerability to the weather-related impacts of climate change, which can contribute to the deterioration of assets, disruption to networks, and potentially hazardous incidents that may cause fatalities or serious injuries. These impacts have serious knock-on consequences across sectors, places and wider infrastructure systems that depend on transport infrastructure for their normal functioning.

By increasing the climate resilience and ability of transport infrastructure to adapt to climate change, we will have a significant influence on Scotland's overall ability to increase resilience and adapt.

National transport adaptation policy

Transport Scotland has an ambitious vision for a well-adapted transport system in Scotland which is safe, reliable and resilient in relation to the current and future impacts of climate change. This is set out in its 2023 Approach to Climate Change Adaptation & Resilience (ACCAR) which contains actions for trunk road, rail, aviation and maritime networks including:

• Embedding adaptation across transport - Transport Scotland will embed adaptation and resilience across its functions through its 2023 Approach to Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience, an internal governance structure for the ACCAR and an appropriate leadership board.
• Knowledge exchange – it will continue to share knowledge on climate change adaptation and resilience with transport peers and across sectors at a local, national and international scale.
• Resilient active travel routes – it will build the resilience and availability of active travel routes associated with the transport networks noted below, for example those adjacent to roads and canals and on shared pathways.
• Transport Just Transition Plan –the Scottish Government will publish a draft plan for consultation in late 2024-25, and continue to work with those most likely to be negatively impacted by the sector’s transition as it is finalised. The plan will set out a vision for the sector and it will consider the key risks and opportunities faced by our communities, businesses and workers, including those associated with equity and access. It will set out initial actions to support Just Transition Outcomes for the sector and set the direction for future areas of work.

Trunk Roads

Policies and actions in this section aim to deliver Transport Scotland’s ACCAR outcome: “trunk roads which are well adapted and resilient to the current, projected and unexpected impacts of climate change.” The trunk road and motorway network is over 3,500 km long, carries 35% of all traffic and 60% of heavy goods vehicles, and represents 6% of the total Scottish road network by length. The vast majority of all other roads in Scotland are maintained by local authorities, whom the Scottish Government will continue to work in partnership with to build Scotland’s climate resilience, including for those with a variety of mobility needs.

• Trunk Roads Adaptation Plan - Transport Scotland will develop and publish a Trunk Roads Adaptation Plan by 2025, based on the most up to date climate change projections (UKCP18) and climate vulnerability and risk assessments building on previous studies undertaken to identify locations where future adaptation of the trunk road network will be required.
• Collaboration with supply chain partners and stakeholders is essential to take effective steps to protect the trunk road network against the impacts of climate change. Transport Scotland will continue to collaborate with Trunk Road Operating Companies, who manage the network on its behalf, to build network resilience to extreme weather and other climate risks. The Operating Companies will work to bring adaptation into everything they do, consider innovative solutions and target improvements at known problem locations.
• Biodiversity Strategy for Transport Scotland - Transport Scotland will develop a Biodiversity Strategy for the agency by 2026. This is considered a critical activity to help better sustain our natural environment. The strategy will also highlight the cross-cutting benefits of biodiversity and the opportunities it can bring to help build trunk road resilience against the impacts of climate change
• Manage disruption risk – TS will continue to respond to real time weather disruption. TS will monitor the performance of our Operating Companies to ensure extreme weather responses are fit for purpose.
• High wind, flood and landslide management - TS will also continue to manage our High Wind, Flood and Landslide Management plans to ensure they are adequate and public safety is maintained at all times. We will also continue to collect data on instances and impacts of severe weather, and using that data investigate and where possible deliver targeted improvements at known hot spots.

Case study: A83 Rest and Be Thankful

The A83 Rest and Be Thankful is one of Scotland’s most famous and well-travelled roads but the route has become more prone to closures in recent years due to landslips, made more likely by the changing climate. This had led to an almost 100km diversion for many people. The situation is being treated with the seriousness and urgency it deserves, with measures to maintain connectivity on a short, medium and long term basis being implemented. In the short to medium-term, working with Forestry and Land Scotland, tree planting on the slope above the road has progressed to stabilise the soils. In the medium term improvements to the existing Old Military Road through the Glen Croe corridor are being made to make it a more resilient diversion route until the long term solution is in place. The preferred route for the permanent, long-term solution consisting of a 1.4km long debris flow shelter on the line of the existing A83, was announced in June 2023. The next step for the permanent solution, which is the detailed design and assessment of the preferred option, is being progressed at pace and will conclude with the publication of draft Orders and an Environment Impact Assessment Report for comment, expected by the end of 2024. Progress following publication of draft Orders will depend on the level and nature of any representations, including objections, to the published draft Orders. The current estimate for the long term preferred route option is between £405 million and £470 million, at 2023 prices. The progress of work can be followed at the A83 Rest and Be Thankful story map.

Rail Network

Policies and actions in this section aim to deliver on the ACCAR outcome “Supporting the delivery of climate change adaptation and resilience for Scotland’s Rail network” and requirements set for Network Rail Scotland in the Control Period 7 High-Level Output Specification 2024-29, published by Scottish Ministers in February 2023.

Scotland’s railway infrastructure is managed by Network Rail, including the delivery of major infrastructure projects and asset management. In collaboration with ScotRail, both organisations have developed a joint Climate Ready Plan for Scotland’s Railway covering the period 2024 to 2029:

• Scotland’s Railway: understanding climate risk – the Climate Ready Plan for Scotland’s Railway outcome 1 is “Decisions taken are based on a maturing understanding of climate-related risk”. This includes actions to enhance approaches to undertaking climate risk assessment, and better integrating climate and natural hazard data into decision-making processes.
• Scotland’s Railway: climate ready planning – the Climate Ready Plan for Scotland’s Railway outcome 2 is “A long-term climate adaptation and resilience strategy increasingly guides investment”. This includes actions to develop adaptation pathways which will help to understand the long-term climate adaptation and resilience investment needs of our railway.
• Scotland’s Railway: climate resilient investment – the Climate Ready Plan for Scotland’s Railway outcome 3 is “Assets are made increasingly resilient to acute weather events, as well as longer-term, more chronic changes in climate”. This includes actions to improve the resilience of Scotland’s railway infrastructure assets against adverse and extreme weather events, as well as longer-term changes in climate. There is approximately £400 million of planned infrastructure interventions in the next five years that will deliver some form of resilience to adverse and extreme weather, and longer-term changes in climate.
• Scotland’s Railway: adaptation governance – the Climate Ready Plan for Scotland’s Railway outcome 4 is “The ‘climate ready journey’ is underpinned by a maturing level of risk, assurance, competence, and data insights”. This includes actions to better integrate considerations of longer-term climate risk into corporate risk management processes and creating new training resources and opportunities for our people.
• Weather Risk Taskforce - in addition to the Climate Ready Plan, Network Rail will Continue to deliver actions plans associated with recommendations made by the Weather Risk Taskforce - including improved earthworks failure reporting, increased site investigations and improved drainage strategy.
• Collaboration on rail adaptation – the Scottish Government will engage with our rail stakeholders and support the development of future specifications and policies that deliver adaptation and improve resilience on Scotland’s rail network.

Aviation Network

Aviation is a reserved matter and Scotland’s main airports are commercial businesses with their own governance arrangements. Actions in this section are focused where we have most influence and aim to deliver the ACCAR outcome: “engaging with aviation stakeholders to support their decision making in relation to climate change adaptation and resilience.”

Highlands and Islands Airports Limited (HIAL) manages and operates 11 regional airports on behalf of the Scottish Ministers. The airports serve some of Scotland’s rural and island communities providing a lifeline service to individuals, communities and businesses across the Highlands and Islands. It is essential that HIAL ensures its operations, infrastructure and strategic functions are resilient to climate variability and change.

• HIAL risk management - in 2023 HIAL completed a Climate Change Adaptation Report and climate vulnerability and risk assessment of its operations, infrastructure, and strategic functions. The identified risks were incorporated into HIAL’s existing risk management process to allow on-going management, furthermore specific climate risks will be reviewed every two years to ensure that risk scoring and mitigation remains accurate and appropriate.
• HIAL adaptation actions - based on its climate risk management work, a number of actions and projects have already been completed to ensure there is no significant disruption to services including drainage works at Inverness, coastal defences at Stornoway, cladding replacement to reduce heat absorption at Benbecula and regular ongoing review of processes and procedures. In line with our two year review cycle any future adaptation requirements will be assessed using a risk based approach and presented to the Board for approval.

Ferries and Ports

Scottish Ministers have responsibility for the provision of lifeline Ferry Service on the Clyde and Hebrides and Northern Isles Networks. This includes ownership of vessels and many of the ports that underpin those networks through its asset owning company (Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited – CMAL) as well as working with third party owners where port facilities are vital to delivering these services. Policies and actions in this section aim to deliver the ACCAR outcome: “contributing to safeguarding lifeline ferry services, ports, harbours and canals in response to the threat of climate change”.

Ferry users and island communities report that the most important thing about ferries is that they are reliable. Reducing breakdowns, improving weather reliability, and increasing network resilience is, therefore, the first priority and will support overall island transport connectivity. Ministers are committed to mitigating and adapting to the impact of climate change to ensure that ferry services remain resilient through a series of measures related to vessels and port infrastructure.

• Building ferry network resilience - when designing and buying replacement vessels, features that will reduce the risk of disruption, in particular from weather, will be the among the priorities for CMAL and operators when considering options on behalf of the Scottish Government. Resilience of services can be improved by having spare ferries available in case of breakdowns and by increasing the number of vessels that can work from different ports including by having the same, or similar, designs. The Islands Connectivity Plan sets out plans to reduce the average age of the fleet to around 15 years by the end of the decade and retain a major CHFS vessel to provide resilience.
• Performance measures – the Scottish Government will work with operators and communities to develop performance measures for reliability that reflect lived experience, to ensure Transport Scotland, CMAL and operators have good information on disruption and long-term reliability issues and trends.
• Collaboration and flexibility – the Scottish Government will encourage collaboration between freight operators, hauliers and businesses for greater forward planning, including management of future capacity, demand, and weather-related strains. The Scottish Government will also ensure future ferry service contracts are flexible and can respond to short and long-term changes during the contract, including responding to weather-related disruption to services.
• Port investment - consideration of the impact of climate change in relation to the design of replacement or upgrading of port facilities on the lifeline network to ensure safe berthing and operations. The Scottish Government fully supports investment in remote weather monitoring equipment in both CMAL and Non-CMAL owned ports to enable better information to be available to vessel master's to inform decisions around committing to sailings.
• Knowledge sharing in marine transport - Transport Scotland will promote awareness of climate science and collaborate on proactive adaptation and resilience interventions and opportunities; and actively engage with ferry operators, providing information and guidance where appropriate, on services and infrastructure projects through a variety of working and advisory groups.

Canals

Climate change has the potential to have a significant impact on Scotland’s canal infrastructure, operations and the important wildlife habitats it supports. The more frequent instances of both flooding and drought in the last ten years have adversely impacted Scottish Canals’ operations and historic assets and will continue to do so without further intervention.

Scottish Canals’ response, as set out in its Corporate Plan 2023-28, is to deliver opportunities for its team and partners in tackling the impacts of climate change whilst improving canal asset health and protecting natural habitats, flora and fauna to secure biodiversity gain. The outcome of the plan will be a more resilient canal network which actively supports a just transition to a net zero and greener Scotland. ‘Canals for the future’ and ‘Explore and experience’ are two of the 4 priority themes of the Corporate Plan which set out Scottish Canals’ response to mitigating and adapting to climate change risks. Key actions include:

• Water stewardship - in addition to maintaining and investing in canal assets, Scottish Canals will embrace new opportunities and partnerships and continue to prioritise water stewardship, renewable energy and adaptive technology in response to more extreme weather events and the impact of climate change. Scottish Canals will prioritise water stewardship at catchment level to manage navigation whilst safeguarding water resources.
• Smart Canals - Scottish Canals will continue to operate the Glasgow Smart Canal, part of the Metropolitan Glasgow Strategic Drainage Partnership, which alleviates flooding in North Glasgow and unlocks the potential for brownfield development sites linked to the Forth & Clyde Canal via sustainable urban drainage systems. Scottish Canals has set out in their Corporate Plan 2023-28 that they plan to develop Scotland’s second Smart Canal by 2033.
• Climate resilience strategy for canals - Scottish Canals will undertake a gap analysis of the physical and social impacts of climate change and begin projects to model and quantify the impact on water resources. By 2028 Scottish Canals will have developed a Climate Change Resilience Strategy complementary to the Canal Stewardship Action Plan and identified opportunities and begun projects to support resilience work. By 2033 Scottish Canals anticipate taking action to reach a leading position in terms of both resilience and in leveraging the resilience opportunities at community and regional levels.