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Introduction | Mitigation Policy | Adaptation Policy | Strategic Planning | Work of the Joint Committee | Publications | Links From the United Nations’ 1992 Rio Conference and the Kyoto Accord of 1997, the issue of addressing climate change has risen in awareness to become a global issue requiring global solutions. The primary focus is upon reducing levels of emitted greenhouse gases which are seen as contributing to the general rise in global temperatures through the human-enhanced atmospheric greenhouse effect. Some scientists estimate that at current emissions levels, the world’s climate will reach a tipping point twenty years beyond which irreversible climatic impacts will occur. There are two inter-related policy responses to climate change which focus on two categories of response:
Climate Change Mitigation Policy The Scottish Government has recently published (29/01/08) for consultation a piece of legislation entitled the Draft Climate Change (Scotland) Bill. The legislation aims to achieve 3% year on year emissions reductions is proposed to contain a long-term target to reduce Scotland’s Greenhouse Gas emissions by 80% by 2050 compared to 1990 levels (Cook, 2007). This target is in line with the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) recommendations and the European Parliament’s high-end reduction target to limit global temperature increases to 2 degrees Celsius and so limit the impacts of climate change (Commission of the European Communities, 2007; Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change, 2007). In the Draft UK Climate Change bill a 2050 60% reduction target is proposed by the UK government. The development of the Climate Change (Scotland) Bill will likely see the earliest introduction of legislation to the Scottish Parliament in September 2008 (Cook, 2007). The UK Climate Change Bill was introduced in November 2007 to the House of Lords and could gain royal ascent by Summer 2008 (DEFRA, 2008). A key piece of government policy was also published in 2007 Scottish Planning Policy 6 (SPP 6): Renewable Energy. This document outlines Scottish Minister’s target of generating 40%, quantified as six gigawatts, of Scotland’s electricity from renewable sources by 2020. SPP 6 outlines that the planning system used be used to support and encourage the continued growth of all renewable technologies and in particular development plans should set out a spatial approach for considering wind farm proposals over 20 megawatts. The Scottish Government have subsequently amended this target to a new target to generate 50 per cent of Scotland's electricity from renewables by 2020, with an interim target of 31 per cent by 2011. The Scottish Government has also published in 2008 Planning Advice Note 84 (PAN 84) detailing a methodology for calculating reduced carbon emissions in the context of producing development plans and assessing planning applications. At the local government level the need to address climate change has been identified and has resulted in January 2007 in all 32 local authorities in Scotland signing Scotland’s Climate Change Declaration. The declaration expresses Scotland’s local authorities intent and it outlines a commitment to take action against climate change. Various actions are outlined including reducing greenhouse gas emissions through their own operations, identifying measurable targets and timescales, incorporating adaptation measures into plans and encouraging local communities to take adaptation and mitigation action. These national policy developments complement the recent Commission of the European Communities (2007) An Energy Policy for Europe which seeks to achieve a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by developed countries compared to 1990 levels by 2020. The EC also recognise once a new international commitment exists that Europe will need to increase the target to a 30% reduction by 2020 and 60-80% by 2050. The EU Energy Policy also seeks to secure Europe’s energy supply, stimulate the economy through technological development and secure more jobs for its citizens. | return to top | Climate Change Adaptation Policy Climate change presents major challenges for Scotland’s land-using industries according to the Scottish Government’s recent consultation on proposals for a Scottish Climate Change bill. The Scottish Government state that the role of the town and country planning system in adapting to climate change is already addressed in Scottish Planning Policies such as: Planning Advice Note 69 (PAN 69): Planning and Building Standards Advice on Flooding provides further information and includes an annex on climate change research. The Scottish Government also states that adaptation to Climate Change impacts will also be addressed in the second National Planning Framework . The Scottish Government is currently developing a Scottish adaptation strategy to identify priority adaptation action required in Scotland and to clarify roles and responsibilities in achieving this action. Initial consultation on the Scottish Climate Change Adaptation Framework was published in June 2008. Measures to address adaptation in Scotland will be primarily addressed through this document and any legislative requirements could be included in the Scottish Climate Change Bill. The UK Climate Change Bill contains several provisions regarding adaptation to the impacts of climate change in the UK. The Secretary of State is also to be given a power to direct relevant authorities performing public functions to assess the risk associated with climate change impacts. In a Scottish context this power will relate to reserved matters only, and land-use planning is not a reserved function. The recent publication by the Commission of European Communities outlines the challenges faced by societies worldwide in terms of adapting to climate change in Europe and outlines a series of options for EU action. The Commission of the European Communities (2007) Green Paper Adapting to Climate Change in Europe – Options for EU Action highlights the key role of spatial planning in linking together various sectors of the urban environment and highlights a particular role for regional spatial planning.
| return to top | The Role of Strategic Planning The Joint Committee’s work recently has focussed on the mitigation approach whilst recognising the linkage between effective adaptation and the longer-term response of mitigation. The focus of the mitigation approach is about ensuring that strategy does all that it can within its design to reduce energy consumption and thus greenhouse gas emissions. Land-use, as the principal factor governing land-use distribution and development density, and therefore the origins and destinations associated with trip generation, can contribute much to the reduction of consumption and emissions. However, land-use change is necessarily long-term in nature and is one part of a complex interrelation of cause and effect and thus requires to be partnered by operational and management responses. “Spatial planning could provide an integrated framework to link up vulnerability and risk assessment with adaptive capacities and adaptation responses thus facilitating the identification of policy options and cost-efficient strategies”. It could also be argued the spatial planning has similar potential in facilitating the capacity for mitigation, identifying policy options and cost-efficient strategies Indeed, the Stern Review Report on the Economics of Climate Change (2006) highlighted the role of spatial planning in implementating adaptation and mitigation measures, stating that a series of decisions will need to be taken over the next ten years or so to stabilise the current increases in greenhouse gas emissions and move towards low carbon technologies for power, heat and transport. This raises further requirements for discussions on requiring new large developments to incorporate combined heat and power systems, balancing renewable energy developments with environmental resources, biodegradable waste being used as biomass for CHP purposes. It could be argued that the spatial planning system is obvious channel for these discussions and decisions. | return to top |
The Glasgow and the Clyde Valley Structure Plan Joint Committee agreed in early 2007 to implement a process which would assist the formulation of a strategic development planning response to planning for climate change. As part of the process the Joint Committe agreed to continue to be lead partner in an extension to the InterMETREX project. The project extension InterMETREXPlus, funded by INTERREG IIIC, was based around the use of the GRIP (Greenhouse Gas Regional Inventory Project) model, developed by the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research.
The Joint Committee in early 2008 agreed to participate in a Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) project submission entitled
The project proposal was submitted in March 2008 and subsequently the C-RED project partnership has been informed that has been unsuccessful in this round of funding .
Adaptation and Resilience to a Changing Climate Green Infrastructure Design for Climate Adaptation and Resilience
Publications | return to top | Useful Links Scottish Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Scottish Environmental Protection Agency Scottish Climate Change Impacts Partnership UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) Sustainable Scotland Network Scottish Parliament Climate Change Cross-Party Group | return to top | |
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