What needs to be in place for Scotland to create a climate-resilient built environment?  Is knowledge and know-how enough or are there other critical factors to consider?

In February 2013 ClimateXChange invited a group of practitioners and academics in the built environment sector to explore what is needed in Scotland to ensure that we adapt our built environment to become more climate resilient.  The workshop participants drew up a list of key recommendations, which are summarised in this short report.

Most economists regard a carbon tax as the most efficient way to reduce carbon emissions. In this perspective it is interesting to consider the effect of a Scottish-specific carbon tax. It is particularly relevant given the demanding environmental targets set by the Scottish Government and the present discussions around increased fiscal autonomy.

This brief uses an energy – economy – environment model of Scotland to simulate the impact of the Scottish Government imposing such a tax on carbon emissions and the level of aggregate, and sectoral, economic activity.

No-regret actions are cost-effective now and under a range of future climate scenarios and do no involve hard trade-offs with other policy objectives. Low-regret actions are relatively low cost and provide relatively large benefits under predicted future climates. Win-win actions contribute to adaptation whilst also having other social, economic and environmental policy benefits, including in relation to mitigation.

These types of actions can be identified across a range of sectors. For example, reducing leakage from water utility infrastructure can both improve water efficiency and help address drought risk.

The Scottish Government asked for a brief on no-regret, low-regret and win-win actions supported by some ‘on-the-ground’ examples that might be used in the Scottish Adaptation Programme to inspire similar actions. 

Terminology needs to be clear, understood and inclusive both in research and policy documents. What is the best term to use to describe how we are responding to and managing the consequences of a changing climate?
 
This brief looks at how the term ‘adaptation’ is used and how appropriate it is in different contexts. This is particularly important in relation to communicating the impacts of climate change to the general public and for motivating action. The Scottish Government asked for this brief to stimulate thinking around the language that could be used in the Scottish Adaptation Programme.

This brief sets out key principles and features for a good adaptation strategy, based on an international review of adaptation strategies. The summary was provided to the Scottish Government as a follow up to the international review and to inform the development of the Scottish Adaptation Programme.

Historically, climate change adaptation and mitigation have generally been treated separately, both in policy and in research. Mitigation has been the highest priority and has received the most attention, often driven by national and international policy commitments to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

This brief lists some important win-wins, conflicts and trade-offs between mitigation and adaptation policy objectives, both in Scotland and internationally. These examples highlight potential positive outcomes for Scottish adaptation and mitigation policies.

Understanding how the climate will be affected on a local and regional level is important in building resilience to the changing climate.

The main climate projections for Scotland are for hotter, drier summers and warmer, wetter winters. However, there are many factors that influence climate and weather events.

This project is a literature review to identify the latest scientific evidence about how the variability and predictability of the Scottish climate will change as a result of climate change.

The report considers the potential impacts that both internal variability (naturally occurring variability) and external variability (such as human induced greenhouse gas emissions) will have on Scotland’s climate into the future.

The UN climate change meetings in Cancun (2010) and Durban (2011) discussed changes to greenhouse gas emissions accounting rules and guidelines under the second Kyoto protocol. The Scottish Government asked ClimateXChange to advise on the implications for Scotland of the changes proposed for EU countries.

We were asked to look at:

• the impact of proposed EU accounting rules on the Scottish emissions total;
• the data requirements (and cost of collection) for implementing the accounting rules; and
• the potential policy impacts and costs.

‘Flexible adaptation pathway(s)’ is a relatively loose term used to look at how building flexibility in to adaptation can help to manage the long-term and uncertain nature of climate change impacts.

The approach uses risk-based decision frameworks involving thresholds and trigger points for making systematic adjustments in response to new information and changing circumstances.  It has its roots in financial risk management. 
 
This brief looks at how the flexible adaptation pathways approach is being used internationally and considers how it might be used in Scotland.

The Scottish Government asked ClimateXChange to conduct a comparative review of strategies for adapting to climate change in other countries. The review looks at how other countries have approached certain key issues in their adaptation strategies. It provides evidence and learning points for the Scottish Government to consider in formulating Scotland’s first statutory Adaptation Programme. ClimateXChange researchers reviewed 12 strategies from countries in Europe and beyond. 

The report has already informed policy thinking on how lessons from other countries can be applied in the Scottish context. It has also sparked some further, more focused pieces of work, which ClimateXChange is now undertaking.