Rural and Environment

Building climate resilience in Scotland

June 16, 2021 by Michael Matheson No Comments | Category Uncategorized

The Scottish Government welcomes this new, independent assessment of climate risk published by the Climate Change Committee today. We know that Scotland needs to build resilience to the impacts of climate change which are locked in, such as more extreme weather events and rising sea levels. The Committee’s reports add more urgency to this task.

Through our statutory Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Programme, we have already set out more than 170 policies and proposals to build climate resilience. Our Infrastructure Investment Plan recognises the importance of adapting existing and designing future assets to be more resilient.

Progress is being made. As part of our investment in a green recovery from COVID-19, we have committed an extra £150 million over this Parliament to manage the risks from flooding, with a further £12 million for coastal change adaptation. In February, we set out our Water Resilient Places policy framework which has planning for climate change at its heart.

Before COP26 comes to Glasgow in November, we will launch the second phase of our Dynamic Coast project, to help coastal communities adapt to rising sea levels.”

The risks to Scotland’s natural environment reported by the Committee, and the opportunities for building resilience through nature-based solutions, also serve to further highlight that the global climate and nature crises are intrinsically linked.  We are committed to tackling the crises hand in hand, and are already investing in nature’s capacity to adapt to climate change through measures such as peatland restoration and tree planting.

We also accept that more needs to be done to build resilience as part of a just transition to being a net-zero nation. In light of the Committee’s new reports, the Scottish Government plans to host a National Climate Resilience Summit in the Autumn to connect leadership across the public and private sectors.

Ministers will now write to the CCC to seek further, more detailed, advice on Scotland’s current adaptation programme. That advice, along with the findings of the National Summit, as well as those of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission and Climate Assembly, will help to shape our ongoing response to the global climate emergency.

Tags: adaptation, ccc, flooding

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