Annual Climate Action Report and Action Plan Update
Perth and Kinross Council · 4 December 2024
Back to Perth and Kinross Council — 4 December 2024 and its agenda
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PERTH AND KINROSS COUNCIL 4 December 2024 ANNUAL CLIMATE ACTION REPORT AND ACTION PLAN UPDATE Report by Strategic Lead - Environment & Infrastructure (Report No. 24/345) 1. PURPOSE 1.1 This report is the third annual Climate Action Report. It provides the Council with an update on Perth and Kinross Council’s (PKC) progress delivering its Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan. It reviews overall performance and progress and then explores the progress in each of the eight themes identified in the plan. It proposes an annual update to the action plan for 2024/25 and the associated resources required to deliver them. 2. RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 It is recommended that Council: (i) approves the Climate Change Annual Report (Appendix A) and approve the associated detailed Action Plan for 2024/25 and the recommended 25 top priority projects. (Appendix B) (ii) notes that the resources required to take forward the priority actions will be included for consideration as part of the Revenue and Capital budget setting process. (iii) approves the changes to the Key Performance Indicators (Appendix C) (iv) requests Members and Officers to continue to raise the resource and delivery challenges associated with addressing the climate and biodiversity emergency with COSLA, the Scottish and UK governments, and other relevant bodies whenever appropriate. (v) requests all Members, the Strategic Leadership Team and Senior Managers to complete Carbon Literacy training by 30 September 2025. 3. STRUCTURE OF REPORT 3.1 This report is structured over the following sections: • Section 4: Background • Section 5: Progress since November 2023 • Section 6: Proposal for action in Year 4 • Section 7: Conclusion • Appendices
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4. BACKGROUND 4.1 In December 2019, Perth and Kinross Council approved an Interim Climate Emergency Report and Action Plan (Report No 19/362 refers). This highlighted the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) concerns in relation to keeping the global average temperature rise below 1.5°C, which has been also reflected at COP26.To keep the global average temperature rise below 1.5°C dramatic emissions reductions are required by 2030. 4.2 Perth and Kinross Council has a legal responsibility for emissions reductions and climate resilience both within the Council’s operations as well as across the entirety of Perth and Kinross. In December 2021, the Council approved its Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (Report No. 21/245 refers), which covers the identified necessary actions for the Council to undertake for both areas. This report set the strategic principles for the Council’s approach to addressing the climate emergency and provided detailed action plans for eight key thematic areas. These are Transport, Buildings & Energy, Waste & Circular Economy, Business & Industry, Land Use, Resilience, Education& Engagement and Governance. 4.3 The Report acknowledged that as climate action is a rapidly changing environment, this plan will need to be constantly evolving and included a requirement to provide an annual update to the Climate Change Action Plan. 4.4 In November 2022, the Council formally declared a Climate and Biodiversity Emergency (Report No. 22/272 refers). The Council furthered its commitment to tackling the Climate and Biodiversity Emergencies by naming ‘Tackling Climate Change’ as one of its seven Corporate Plan priorities (Report No. 22/311 refers) 4.5 The Council agreed, at its meeting on 30 August 2021, to establish the Perth and Kinross Climate Change Commission (Report No. 21/142 refers). The Commission met for the first time in July 2022 and has been meeting quarterly since then. 4.6 In February 2022 (Report No 22/35), the Council approved an additional £500,000 of recurring revenue budget to address the Top Priority items identified in the action plan. On 01 March 2023 (Report No. 23/72 refers), the Council agreed an additional £45,000 to fund the creating of a Climate Change Land Restoration Officer. As part of the 2024/25 budget setting process, £50k of savings were taken from the Climate Change recurring budget (Report No. 24/63 refers). 4.7 In addition, the Council has also signed up to a number of initiatives. By becoming signatories to the Covenant of Mayors, the Edinburgh Declaration and the Glasgow Food and Climate Declaration (Report No. 21/209 refers), the Council has enhanced its commitment to taking its responsibilities seriously.
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Legislation and targets 4.8 The UK Climate Change Act 2008 sets the UK’s approach to climate change and commits the UK Government to reach net zero greenhouse gases emissions by 2050. The Act also requires the UK government to produce a UK Climate Change Risk Assessment every five years in order to assess current and future risks and opportunities for the UK from climate change. 4.9 Scotland has set more ambitious legislation in the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019 which makes provisions about advice, plans and reports in relation to targets for the reduction of greenhouse gases emissions. This includes reaching net zero by 2045 and had set interim targets to reduce net emissions by at least 56% by 2020, 75% by 2030, and 90% by 2040 compared to the baseline year (1990) respectively. In April 2024, the Scottish Government announced a shift away from the interim targets to five-year carbon budgets. The net zero date of 2045 is unchanged. 4.10 The legislation to formally transfer from interim targets to carbon budgets, the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Bill was passed on 5 November 2024. This requires the Scottish Government to set five-yearly national carbon budgets, with the requirement to be in place by 2026. There are no changes to the duties placed on public bodies under the draft Bill as introduced. 4.11 The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019 Act also placed a duty on Scottish Ministers to act on climate change adaptation and prepare a programme of action. The third Scottish National Adaptation Programme (SNAP3) was launched in 2024 and addresses the risks set out in the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment 2023 to help Scotland prepare for the impact of climate change. 4.12 The Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019 has also given local authorities the duty to ensure their local authority areas decarbonise in line with the Scottish Government Targets; are resilient to the impacts of climate change; and promote sustainable development. Compliance with this means climate change should be considered at the heart of every council decision, as well developing new streams of activity. 4.13 There are several pieces of corresponding legislation that put additional climate related duties onto Local Authorities. These include the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (Scotland) Order (2022) and the Heat Networks Scotland Act (2021). 5. PROGESS TO DATE 5.1 This report covers the progress made between October 2023 and September 2024. The Perth and Kinross Climate Change Update - 2024 (Appendix A) provides a full summary of progress, performance and next steps. The key points are summarised below.
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Key Achievements 5.2 There has been progress to note across the six Strategic Priorities identified in the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan attributed to all of the eight delivery plan themes. Highlights of this progress includes: 1. Achieving Net Zero aligned with the Paris Agreement and the Scottish Government Targets, with the ambition of achieving them sooner. • Developing key decarbonisation strategies including our new Mobility Strategy (Transport) and the Local Area Energy Plan (Buildings & Energy) • Developing our Scope 3 Works, Purchased Goods & Services carbon emissions footprint to understand the full scale of the Council’s impact. We are one of the first local authorities in Scotland to have done this (Governance) • Achieving the prestigious CDP ‘A’ score for our approach to tackling area-wide emissions • The contract award and commencement of a long-term solution ahead of the ban on landfilling municipal waste. This has resulted this year in the diversion of approximately 39,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste from landfill, reducing carbon emissions by an estimated 11,868 tCO2e. (Waste & Circular Economy) 2. Building a more resilient Perth and Kinross • We screened all 865 of our road bridges for Scour potential and completed the detailed assessment for the ten bridges considered most likely to have scour issues which have had a detailed scour assessment completed. (Resilience) • A contractor has been appointed to build the £40.8M Comrie Flood scheme designed to lower risk to 189 homes and businesses. (Resilience) • Developing a plan to address the significant risk of Ash Dieback to Perth & Kinross. (Resilience) 3. Delivering a fair transition and a green recovery • Directly improving the energy efficiency of struggling households, using ECO4 Funding of £3.1M to install 506 individual measures. These measures contribute to the decarbonisation of privately owned properties across the wider Perth & Kinross area. (Buildings and Energy) • Green Business Grants - 22 businesses have been paid a total of £380,000 from the Capital Green Recovery Grant scheme (Business & Industry); • Publication of the Perth & Kinross Council Design Guide for New Build housing in November 2023 to help ensure high quality and energy efficient homes are delivered. (Buildings & Energy)
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• Hosting the Perth and Kinross Circular Economy Business Opportunities seminar in June 2024, part of progressing the development of a Circular Economy Plan for Perth and Kinross for low carbon transitioning and economic. (Waste & Circular Economy) 4. Preventing an ecological emergency and enhancing biodiversity • The Council funded a restoration plan for the lower South Quiech Catchment to address high phosphorus runoffs into Loch Leven. • With our Nature Restoration Fund (NRF) allocation, 18 projects were successfully delivered in Year 3 by both the Council and our communities. • Grassland management (Grow Wild) trial area has been expanded out to 157 sites within central Perth and Kinross for Year 1. • Biodiversity Towns and Villages – Our innovative Biodiversity Towns and Villages programme received UK Shared Prosperity Funding this year to enable expansion of the initiative to up to 20 new communities and the Tayside Biodiversity Partnership has been shortlisted for the Nature of Scotland Award. 5. Engaging and empowering our children and young people • Hosting a successful third annual Youth Climate Conference in November 2024 (Education & Engagement). • Conducting Climate Change and energy workshops for learners in Madderty Primary School and Auchtergaven Primary School to encourage energy saving beyond retrofits through behavioural change and energy monitoring. (Education & Engagement). • Developing a video on Madderty Primary School’s energy-saving journey and the transition from electric storage heating to heat pumps. The Video was shared across schools to build awareness. (Education & Engagement). • Conducting school holiday Switch-off campaigns - Summer/October holiday switch-off posters were created and sent to all the schools to participate followed by energy audit and results poster shared across the schools (Business & Energy). 6. Empowering our communities • Expanding provision of home energy advice services with our partner SCARF to over 2200 households this year and supporting numerous others to access funding sources. (Buildings & Energy) • Continuing to work with communities to explore innovative ways of delivering Public Transport, building on the award winning Glenfarg Community Bus project which has provided new travel opportunities for residents in the Glenfarg and Kinross-shire area (Transport) • Delivery of the PKC Green Living Fund, a Participatory Budgeting (PB) process to support projects that tackle both the Cost-of-Living crisis and Climate Change. £226k was distributed across 38 Community Groups. Delivery
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5.3 As of 30 September 2024, 86% of actions showed good or some progress – this is made up of: 14% of actions were marked as complete; 27% of actions were classified as Green (on-track including recurring) and 36% as Amber (some progress, but not progressing as quickly as envisioned). When looking at the actions prioritised by Members as ‘Top 25’, all of these actions have progressed this year. Removed actions are primarily actions that have been consolidated into other actions this year to ensure consistency of what classifies as a ‘strategic’ or ‘supporting’ action across all the themes. Appendix A summarises progress by theme and Appendix B provides an action level update on progress. Figure 1 Status of Actions in the CCSAP at the end of Year 3 Challenges and barriers 5.4 Resources and capacity – The Council has shown its commitment to climate change, by ensuring the Top Priority Actions had the necessary additional resources in the challenging budgetary environment over the past three years. This has helped ensure critical actions have been delivered. Looking at the scale of action that needs to take place over the next 6-10 years, to meet crucial targets there is a significant resources gap both financially and with officer skills and capacity. The Climate resource gap will, however, have significant implications for the Council’s overall budgets, and in particular of key capital and revenue programmes around waste & recycling, transport, fleet, flood risk management, property and housing. 5.5 Governmental and other funding sources are being and will be pursued to limit the impact of this gap on Council Budgets. To bid for this funding, the Council is often required to have developed projects to a ‘shovel ready’ stage prior to bidding and often there may be a revenue gap on projects. This positively has started to change, with the IUK and others supporting project development costs. For our on-going multi-year projects, the recent high levels of inflation have impacted the deliverability of capital projects and created potential capital pressures. 74, 36% 55, 27% 25, 12% 28, 14% 22, 11% Status of CCSAP 2023/24 Actions A G R Complete Removed
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5.6 Embedding climate change into decision making and across all Council decisions and operations - Since its formation, the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee by the Council has been a positive step towards helping to embed climate change into Council’s decision making. As climate change is cross-cutting and can be impacted by a wide variety of decisions the Council makes (e.g. school meals, locations of service provisions, large procurement decisions) there is need to ensure that climate change is one of the factors considered in decisions across all committees and by senior officers. Two actions have been taken to help address this: a) the rollout of climate literacy training to members and officers has led to more climate-informed decisions and has the ability to positively embed climate change into decision making. Current Climate Literacy completion rates of elected Members is currently at 42% and for the Senior Leadership Team at 13%. The target for next year is to get both of these figures up to the KPI target of 100% and set an additional target for the wider Strategic Leadership Forum of 50% next year and 100% the year after. b) Many officers are already using the refreshed Impact and Value Assessment Tool to screen all Council plans and proposals for climate impacts. Updates to the Council’s reporting template expected shortly will incorporate this formally into the reporting process to help. 5.7 Influencing others to take action - While we have a responsibility for overall climate emissions reductions across Perth and Kinross, the public sector is only directly responsible for 1% of area-wide emissions. We have means of having wider influence, through policies, planning and infrastructure provision that will get us part of the way there. In some areas, it will require us to work differently (e.g. focus on public behavioural change) or with different partners and trying to have a wider influence than we traditionally have – e.g. working with the agriculture and land use sectors. Shifting and uncertainty of government targets and regulatory requirements – In 2024 there was a shifting of targets by both the UK and Scottish Government level and delays to key pieces of legislation, such as the Heat in Buildings Bill and the target date for the Internal Combustion Engine phase-out. This impacts on the ability to align work and made it more challenging to convince others to act. This has led to uncertainty by residents, landlords, businesses over targets coming up and impacted on the willingness to take actions. Data timeliness and availability - Several of the key datasets have one-to- three year data compilation windows. This is a challenge to reviewing the effectiveness of our actions and making appropriate and timely adjustments. Availability and suitability are also a challenge, with many relevant data sets (e.g. transport data) often either aggregated at a national level or has a very small Perth and Kinross sample size that makes it challenging to track progress.
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Performance 5.8 Seven high-level key performance indicators (KPIs) have been established to give an overview of the Council’s progress towards net zero. All KPIs positively showed year-on-year improvement. It should be noted that due to the lag of the data sources being published, the values reported range from 2022 to 2023/24, so many reflect only limited changes due to the implementation of the Climate Action Plan. Please see Appendix A for more details and analysis of the performance data and theme specific performance data. A summary of the key performance data is shown in Table 1. 5.9 For indicators No 1, 2, and 3, the values for 2022 were published by DESNZ in June 2024. For these three indicators the Council has Influence rather than Control and wider socio-economic have had a significant influence. The energy price spike in 2022 contributed to a fall in commercial and domestic energy emissions (19% and 13% respectively), while transport emission rose year-on-year as would expected due to the return to normality following the Covid restrictions in 2020 and 2021 (8% rise). Positively, transport emissions are still lower than 2019 levels. Overall emissions fell by 1.2 to 2.9% across these categories. To reach our 2030 and 2045 target, emissions need to fall by 7.8% annually now for the next 8 years. 5.10 PKC’s own emissions (Scopes 1,2 & 3) are shown in KPI 4 and showed a 30.8% year-on-year decrease with a total carbon footprint of 27,947 tCO2e recorded for 2023/24. This is largely attributed to a reduction in Scope 3 waste emissions linked with the introduction of twin-stream recycling and the new residual waste contract, but there also were proportionally smaller decreases in Energy and Transport emissions. 5.11 Positive performance was also demonstrated for KPIs 5, 6 and 7. The Carbon Disclosure Project City score an independently audited assessment of our progress in tackling climate change and our 2023 ‘A’ score has made us one of only 3 Scottish Local Authorities to reach that status. The level of grant funding received has nearly doubled year-on-year and KPI performance has significantly improved.
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Table 1 2022/23 KPI Data KPI Target Current value % change over previous year Comment on performance 1. Perth and Kinross Area- wide territorial greenhouse gas emissions (kt CO2e) 75% reduction on 1990 levels by 2030 and zero net emissions by 2045. 1258.2 (2022) 2.9% Decrease in comparison to 2021, however post- Covid transport recovery limited the decrease 2. Perth and Kinross Area- wide territorial greenhouse gas per Capita emissions (t CO2e) 75% reduction on 1990 levels by 2030 and zero net emissions by 2045. 8.3 (2022) 1.2% As above, but changes in year-on-year decrease different from 1&3, due to Census Data publication that differed from the 2021 projection. 3. Perth and Kinross Area- wide CO2 emissions (kt CO2e) 376kt CO2e by 2030 (75% reduction on 1990 levels) 707.6 (2022) 2.8% As above 4. Perth and Kinross Council Scope 1,2, and 3 emissions (t CO2e) Net zero by 2045 27,947 (23/24) 31% Significant decrease due to changes in waste management 5. Carbon Disclosure Project (City Score) ‘A’ by 2024 A (2023) B Improvement from B in 2022 6. Percentage of Climate Change Indicators showing positive change* 100% 65.4% 41% In addition, new data was not available this year for 6.1% of indicators 7. Climate Change Grant Funding secured (£k) No target set £3,263 (23/24) 185% Note: excludes the Flooding grants from the Scottish Government and large capital building grants Perth and Kinross Climate Change Commission Update 5.12 The Perth and Kinross Climate Change Commission (now rebranded as SHIFT) was formed in October 2021 following selection by application and selection of an Independent Panel. The Commission was selected to have 21 Members, 6 of whom are young people in the age range of 15-24. The Convener and Vice-convener of the Climate Change and Sustainability Committee represent the Council on the Commission. Formerly, the Executive Director of Communities also sat on the Commission. Following their retirement and the leadership restructure, it has been agreed with the Commission that the Climate Change and Zero Waste Team will continue to provide Secretariat support to the Commission going forward, without an Officer formally sitting on the Commission. 5.13 Since its creation, some commissioners have resigned for different reasons, reducing the number of members. To address the situation, the Commission has carried out a review of its membership and activities. At a recent meeting, the Commission agreed to launch a new recruitment campaign to be as open, transparent and inclusive as possible as well as focusing on young people.
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The Commission also agreed to strengthen its identity via stronger online presence and its programme of activities by targeting key areas of interests and connections with local community and interest groups. 6. PROPOSED YEAR 4 ACTION 6.1 Appendix A contains an overview by theme of the priorities for climate action for Year 3 and highlights any significant additions or changes to actions from what has been previously approved. The detailed action plans with the current action status are contained in Appendix B. To ensure consistency between themes in the level of action being classified as a Strategic Action and Supporting Actions, there has been a proposed consolidation of actions for several themes. Selected new actions have also been added across all the themes to reflect changing policies or follow on from original actions (e.g. EV Strategy Development to EV infrastructure delivery) 6.2 Several key plans and thematic strategies have been completed in Year 3 or will completed by the end of the 2024. These include the Mobility Strategy, Domestic and Non-domestic estate decarbonisation strategy, and the Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategy (LHEES), EV Expansion Strategy and Flood Risk Management Cycle 2. This represents a shift in operational approach from planning to delivery – trying to realise the quick wins, while also developing the strategic, shovel- ready projects. This will lead to a significant shift in resource requirements over the coming years and external funding options and innovative funding mechanisms should be explored. 6.3 At a workshop with elected Members in October 2024, Members identified a refreshed list of the 25 top priority projects for the upcoming year. These span all themes of the Strategy and will be a delivery focus for the upcoming year. A similar workshop was run with SHIFT, and there was agreement with 8 of the 10 priorities between them. Resources 6.4 While the current UK and Scottish Governmental funding landscape is uncertain, there is still a significant quantity of climate change related external grant funding available that officers do not currently have the capacity to pursue. In addition, there is also the potential to explore more innovative partnership models to bring in private finance. 6.5 The resources to meet the identified needs have been estimated at £400k revenue funding and £6M of capital investment over the next three years for the Estate Decarbonisation Programme. These figures only reflect the immediate resources needed to meet the top 25 actions, but not the full extent of investment required particularly to deliver decarbonisation of domestic and non-domestic estate and of transport. It is hoped existing revenue funding can be used to fund some of the c£400k revenue costs however further funding, both revenue and capital, will be required to deliver the top 25 actions which will be put forward for consideration as part of the upcoming budget process.
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At this time, the full extent of the expenditure required is not yet known, however, it is likely to run into several hundreds of millions of pounds. 6.6 While the future challenges are significant, the Council is already investing significant resources in its revenue and capital budgets to adapt its estate to meet the demands of the climate change agenda. However, compared to the scale of investment required with the looming statutory intermediate targets, in or around 2030, there requires to be consideration by Council on the level of commitment and steps it is required to make to change our pace of action. 6.7 Funding the route map to net zero is perhaps the most significant of the challenges. Until there is greater clarity about the financial assistance available from Government and other sources, it will remain so. The response to the behavioural and cultural change required by residents and businesses is also a significant unknown but is key to the success of addressing and mitigating the impact of climate change. 6.8 Officers will pursue all available funding sources with current capacity. The Council will, however, continue to work with other Local Authorities and COSLA to highlight these areas to the Scottish Government and seek solutions. 7. CONCLUSION 7.1 The Council has continued to make steady progress in the third year of delivery of the Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan. However, to meet our statutory targets and organisational commitments and play an appropriate role in addressing the climate emergency, we need to increase our pace and scale of action next year and years going forward. This will require us to continue to change in the way we operate and make decisions across the Council. 7.2 As have been seen by events over the last few years, climate change can no longer be thought of as a future risk but is a real and pressing current emergency. While there are other on-going crises and the Council is balancing many priorities, many of the actions in the plan have the ability to deliver wider benefit and address multiple priorities. For example, improving energy efficiency cuts both bills and emissions, improving public transport and active transport is the most equitable and cost-effective means and helping our businesses prepare for the green economy can help create attractive, well-paying jobs.
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Authors Name Designation Contact Details Divindy Grant Pete Leonard Team Leader, Climate Change and Sustainable Development Climate Change & Zero Waste Manager (01738) 475000 EPLCommitteeReports@pkc.gov.uk Approved Name Designation Date Fraser Crofts Strategic Lead, Environment & Infrastructure 22 November 2024 APPENDICES ▪ Appendix A: Annual Climate Change Progress Report ▪ Appendix B: Updated Climate Change Action Plan ▪ Appendix C: KPI Performance and Proposed Changes
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ANNEX 1. IMPLICATIONS, ASSESSMENTS, CONSULTATION AND COMMUNICATION Strategic Implications Yes / None Community Plan / Single Outcome Agreement Yes Corporate Plan Yes Resource Implications Financial No Workforce No Asset Management (land, property, IST) No Assessments Equality Impact Assessment Yes Strategic Environmental Assessment Yes Sustainability (community, economic, environmental) Yes Legal and Governance Yes Risk Yes Consultation Internal Yes External Yes Communication Communications Plan Yes 1. Strategic Implications Community Plan/Single Outcome Agreement/Corporate Plan 1.1 Climate change clearly links to the Objective: ‘Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations.’ It is also beneficial interlinked in multiple ways to all of the other priorities of the Community Plan and Corporate Plan. 1.2 Examples of the benefits are included below: (i) Giving every child the best start in life – Addressing fuel poverty (ii) Developing educated, responsible and informed citizens – Engagement and climate literacy (iii) Promoting a prosperous, inclusive and sustainable economy – Supporting the Development of green skills and jobs (iv) Supporting people to lead independent, healthy and active lives – Increased levels of active transport and improved air quality (v) Creating a safe and sustainable place for future generations – The overarching ambition of the Climate Action Strategy
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2. Resource Implications Financial 2.1 This report has no direct resource implications, but the Head of Finance has been consulted on the resource requirements for the delivery of this Strategy which would to be considered as part of the 2025/26 budget setting process. Workforce 2.2 This report does not directly have workforce implications. Asset Management (land, property, IT) 2.3 This report does not directly have asset management implications. 3. Assessments Equality Impact Assessment 3.1 Under the Equality Act 2010, the Council is required to eliminate discrimination, advance equality of opportunity, and foster good relations between equality groups. Carrying out Equality Impact Assessments for plans and policies allows the Council to demonstrate that it is meeting these duties. 3.2 This section should reflect that the proposals have been considered under the Corporate Equalities Impact Assessment process (EFIA) with the following outcome: (i) Assessed as relevant for the purposes of the EFIA (with both positive and negative likely effects): a. Equalities impacts were identified using the Integrated Appraisal Toolkit as part of the initial approved interim Climate Change Plan in 2019 and and EqIA was completed. The Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan 2021 built on the interim strategy and the assessment. It was agreed once the action plan was approved, actions would be periodically assessed as they progress, and if necessary, a full EFIA would be undertaken and appropriate mitigation taken. b. The report recognises that the most severe impacts of climate change are likely to be felt by people experiencing greater risks of poverty and disadvantage. It also recognises that by promoting future mitigation measures in the move towards zero carbon, certain groups may be disproportionately impacted. c. An EFIA was completed to reflect the proposed, updated Action Plan.
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Strategic Environmental Assessment 3.3 The Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005 places a duty on the Council to identify and assess the environmental consequences of its proposals. 3.4 This section should reflect that the proposals have been considered under the Act and pre-screening has identified that the PPS will have no or minimal environmental effects, it is therefore exempt and the SEA Gateway has been notified. The reason(s) for concluding that the PPS will have no or minimal environmental effects is that the Strategy is unlikely to trigger the Act as will not lead to future development by itself but rather other sector and subject plans, programmes and strategies will provide the detail which if appropriate will be assessed at the time. Sustainability 3.5 The proposal has been considered under the provisions of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2019 and it has been assessed that: 3.6 A large number of positive climate change and sustainable development outcomes are likely as a result of this proposal being implemented, across all 3.7 All actions proposed are likely to contribute to the provisions of the Act and will be reported as part of the annual Public Sector Climate Change Duties Reporting process. Legal and Governance 3.8 The Strategic Lead, Legal and Governance has been consulted in the preparation of this report. Risk 3.9 Climate Change is recognised as the joint-top corporate risk to the Council. The proposals focus on addressing and reducing the risks that Climate Change poses. 4. Consultation Internal 4.1 The Council’s Climate Change Board and Climate Change Working Groups were consulted on the report and appendices. External 4.2 SHIFT were consulted via a workshop on 25 October 2024 about the prioritisation of the top 25 Climate Change Actions.
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5. Communication 5.1 Communication is addressed by the actions under the Education and Engagement theme action plan. 2. BACKGROUND PAPERS 2.1 This section should list the documents that have been relied on in preparing the report, other than those committee reports already referenced within the main body of the report. All documents must be kept available by the author for inspection by the public for four years from the date of the meeting at which the report is presented.