Contribution to just transition
The SCIS programme provides local authority decision-makers with data and evidence to maximise the impact and effectiveness of decarbonisation interventions in their local area, and to understand the wider socioeconomic benefits these can deliver. Alongside the core programmes, we have developed and are refining methodologies for assessing the wider co-benefits of climate action at a local level, across areas such as air quality, public health, job creation and public expenditure.
All 32 local authorities have their own publicly available dashboard, which they are currently populating ahead of publication. These will be updated, to manage and monitor progress on climate targets at an area-wide level, and to communicate the policies and actions each authority is taking to reach net zero targets. Dashboards provide several benefits in line with SG’s JT Outcomes:
- A systemic approach supports more efficient and effective approaches to decarbonisation.
- Visibility of dashboard to public means greater transparency and accountability for climate mitigation decisions taken by local authorities for citizens and communities.
- Standardised methodology across all 32 local authorities sends clear signals to public and private stakeholders on what programmes will be delivered, where and when.
- This can facilitate greater business and economic confidence in green industrial sectors, with a knock-on positive effect on green jobs, skills, and education programmes.
- We are looking to add functionality to allow local authority partners to access and view data at a more local level, facilitating better area-wide collaboration on transition and placemaking.
- We are developing spatial functionality and impact assessment to help target interventions for most socioeconomic benefit, supporting fair distribution of costs and benefits at the local level.
- The platform allows decision-makers to tag and categorise mitigation interventions with the potential to deliver other benefits including just transition and adaptation and resilience. This supports prioritisation of actions that cut across these key themes.
Finally, SCIS is engaging regional and national stakeholders across adaptation and resilience, health, just transition and energy systems governance. This includes hosting workshops aimed at better integrating adaptation considerations and outcomes into the programme, facilitating local government responses to just transition, meeting with Public Health Scotland to discuss integration of positive health outcomes onto the platforms, and engaging with critical stakeholders such as NESO to share data on future energy system needs.
The SCIS seeks to support a just transition across Scotland by supporting local authorities to deliver a fair and equitable low carbon transition for all our local communities. SCIS will give local authorities the tools, data, and evidence to more effectively engage with their local communities by publishing local emissions data, being transparent on future plans and what they mean, setting out clear actions and pathways, and sharing the pace and progress of delivery.
SCIS has grown from supporting Edinburgh’s net zero ambitions. With the recognition that all 32 LAs were facing similar challenges with net zero delivery, the need for a consistent, co-ordinated, and collaborative approach was recognised and scaled through the Scottish Cities Alliance and the Sustainable Scotland Network, and then in partnership with COSLA and Scottish Government. SCIS implements the recommendation of the Carbon Scenario Tool Pathfinder Project to set up a national capacity building programme to accelerate area-wide emissions reduction across Scotland.
Benefits to the local area
The SCIS programme brings multiple local and national benefits:
- Empowers decision-makers to implement more effective and targeted cross-sector emissions reduction interventions to meet net zero targets.
- Supports decision-making in connected policy priorities across Scotland and helps to specifically connect climate delivery to other social and economic priorities.
- Improves transparency and accountability around local government climate action, with dashboards an opportunity to share and learn iteratively from best practice across Scotland.
- Directly and indirectly deepening shared climate literacy and decision-making framework for local authority officers and elected members across Scotland.
- Facilitates dialogue between local and national government with regards to net zero policy implementation, in addition to other key stakeholders and delivery partners.
Lessons learned
There is a great appetite for accelerated climate action amongst local authorities in Scotland, demonstrated by the passion, commitment, and engagement of LA staff in our programme. They have welcomed and embraced the collaborative approach focused on progress and delivery and improving transparency and engagement.
The programme has also highlighted where Local Authorities have greatest influence to focus their activities more efficiently and effectively. Transitions of domestic and public sector heat, and of road and sea transport, are largely within their influence. They have fewer levers over industrial and commercial heat and energy use, and on agriculture and other land use. By understanding these powers better, and supporting their use, we can help support local government-led climate action in the areas in which they can have most impactful and distributed just transition benefits.
Other key stakeholders in both the public and private sectors have also demonstrated their eagerness to engage with and support the programme. Together, these show a collective appetite and willingness to deliver a fair and equitable transition to a zero-carbon economy across Scotland.
Challenges
To fully support a just and equitable transition across Scotland, and to enable and empower local communities, we need to help our partners widen their focus beyond mitigation and emissions reduction and to communicate the wider benefits of climate action.
The challenge (and opportunity) is to help better connect what can be seen as conflicting policy priorities at local and national level. Local policy priorities can be seen as separate and competing to existing capacity and resources, when they can be complementary. Well designed and targeted actions can deliver benefits across policy priorities – for example climate action can support economic development and job creation, placemaking, public health and wellbeing, community wealth building, local resilience, all of which support just transition.
Another example is communicating understandings of a just transition to different stakeholders across Scotland. There is very visible focus on the economic impact and on jobs in specific communities such as Grangemouth and Aberdeen. Policy supporting just transition needs to consider and support the impact and opportunities of energy transition in communities across Scotland
Some practical issues can also limit the programme impact. For instance, local government context can make it difficult to secure officer time to work on the programme and fully socialise the programme with heads of service and elected members.
The current annual funding arrangements present challenges for long-term programme planning and continuity. Scottish Government funding is awarded on an annual basis. This has impact on people – recruitment, retention, capacity, wellbeing – and on medium and long-term planning, creating concerns over continuity among stakeholders, and affecting their confidence to invest capacity and resources in supporting transparent and effective local climate action. This is common to many programmes supporting climate and just transition policy. The wider funding challenges are the budgetary constraints within local authorities. SCIS can make some contribution to this by making better connections between policy priorities and helping to support investment which delivers multiple benefits.
Replication and scaling
There are significant opportunities for SCIS to be scaled up, in terms of stakeholders involved in the programme, areas of focus, and reach. There is much interest both within and beyond Scotland in our approach, and a clear opportunity to show leadership in accelerating and supporting delivery of national climate ambitions.
The opportunities to both replicate and scale are:
- Deeper engagement into local authorities, to ensure they make full use of their powers and influence to support a just transition to net zero.
- Wider engagement with critical delivery stakeholders, in both the public and private sector, who will be essential to delivering a successful transition.
- Engaging and empowering local communities, as both essential participants in and beneficiaries of a fair and equitable transition at the local level.
- Broadening impact across a wider range of sectors and emissions sources within Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions inventory.
- Providing enhanced data and evidence to support local decision making, for example by integrate co-benefits modelling into the platform, and developing spatial functionality.
- Showing Scotland’s leadership on climate delivery, by helping other regions on countries to learn from and replicate our approach.
The primary barrier to scaling is the short-term nature of current programme funding, making it more challenging to plan for longer term development and impact.
Working conditions and fair work practices
Featured organisations and initiatives were asked to supply the following information regarding working conditions:
- Alignment with Scottish Government Fair Work First criteria
- If they have gone beyond Fair Work First by incorporating broader values on fair work
- For larger organisations, whether a union recognition agreement is in place.
This did not apply to co-operatives structures and membership-based initiatives, though all projects and initiatives were given room to provide any detail on fair work practices deemed relevant.
The following information was provided:
The University of Edinburgh and the Improvement Service both have statements and policies confirming their commitment to fair working practices in support of the Scottish Government’s ‘Fair Work First’ policy. See University of Edinburgh Fair Work Statement, and Fair Work First Statement | Improvement Service.
The University of Edinburgh recognises three main trade unions: the University and College Union (UCU), UNISON, and Unite. These unions represent different groups of staff and are involved in negotiations and consultations on various matters affecting employees. Additionally, the Edinburgh University Students’ Association (EUSA) is the students’ union. The Improvement Service also recognise Trade Unions and encourage membership.
