Scotland's Climate Assembly 2020 - 2022

February 2022

Assembly final session and response to Scottish Government

From Sustainable Scotland Network

Scotland’s Climate Assembly’s eighth and final weekend session took place between the 4th and 6th of February 2022.

Over the course of eight weekends, Assembly members heard from over 100 speakers and spent more than 60 hours learning and deliberating the evidence, to find common ground on the assembly’s core question. The Assembly agreed 16 goals and 81 recommendations which were sent to the Scottish Government and Scottish Parliament in June 2021.
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The main policy output from the final Assembly session, a Statement of Response from members assessing the Government’s own response to the Assembly’s recommendations, linked tackling the Climate Emergency to creating more engaged, happier, and healthier communities, and made specific reference to public sector procurement as a mechanism for leading positive change in Scotland.

The Assembly also challenged the Scottish Government to commit to annual check-ins, and outlined a scorecard system with 10 key performance indicators that could increase accountability around climate targets in Scotland and secure a legacy for the Assembly’s recommendations beyond its initial formal process.

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December 2021

Full Scottish Government response to Assembly

Scotland's Climate Assembly published their full report on 23 June 2021. It included 81 recommendations for the Scottish Government, who had six months to respond. This response sets out the existing and proposed actions that government will take in order to address their recommendations.

Read on SG website

Download PDF (162 pages)

November 2021

Scottish Government implements some Assembly recommendations

Resource and Sharing Libraries were recommendations supported by both Scotland's Climate Assembly members and Children's Parliament Climate Investigators.  Michael Matheson MSP announced on 11 November during a COP 26 event that the Scottish Government will initiate a £310,000 reuse and repair scheme, funded jointly with Zero Waste Scotland.

On the same day, Lorna Slater MSP announced Scotland will ban some of the most environmentally damaging single-use plastic items.

Read more on these announcements, and reports of Assembly events at COP26 and notices of forthcoming events.

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Scotland's Civic Charter on Climate

On Thursday 21 October we launched Scotland's Civic Charter on Climate and attracted significant media attention. The Charter already has more than 100 signatories - organisations and prominent individuals across Scotland who want to express their support for the Assembly's recommendations, demanding immediate action from policy-makers, industry and all members of society. Signatories include the City of Edinburgh Council, Oxfam Scotland, the John Muir Trust, the WWF, the Royal Scottish Society of Arts, the University of Aberdeen, Rock Rose Gin and Val McDermid. 

Civic Charter and list of signatories

More information and signatories' statements

November 2021       TBI has now joined the list of signatories to the Civic Charter on Climate.

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June 2021

Scotland's Climate Assembly  Final report

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7-8 November 2020  First meeting of the Assembly

‘How should Scotland change to tackle the climate emergency in an effective and fair way?’

On the 7th & 8th November, Scotland’s Climate Assembly hosted Members at the first Assembly meeting. Members from age 16 to 82 joined experts and facilitators online to tackle the question with which they have been tasked. 

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24 March 2021

Interim report released   

Scotland's Climate Assembly is complete! After five and a half months of learning, deliberating and decision-making, the Assembly members of have reached their first conclusions.  The Interim Report, featuring their Statement of Ambition and 16 overarching goals, was laid in Parliament  on 24 March 2021. 

The full report including the complete breakdown of recommendations will be laid in the new Parliament in May, after the election.  However, the work of the Assembly continues. Over the next eight months the Assembly will be engaging across Scottish society to promote its recommendations and drive climate action ahead of COP26 and the Scottish Government’s response to the Assembly’s recommendations.

"We, the members of Scotland’s Climate Assembly in our report to Parliament, present a call to action to Scotland for change to tackle the climate emergency in an effective and fair way. The climate emergency is a real and urgent issue that cannot be ignored. It requires immediate action at all levels of society. If we fail to act now, we will fail our current and future generations, in Scotland and across the world.  We believe that urgent cultural change is needed across society - from governments, businesses, communities and individuals."

Read the report

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Weekend  7     20 & 21 March
Programme, report and video links.

Weekend 6        6 & 7  March
Programme, report and video links.

Weekend five      20 & 21 February
Programme, report and video links.

Weekend four      23 & 24 January
Programme, report and video links.

Weekend 3 report and video links

Weekend 2 report and video links

Weekend 1 report and video links

All videos  (Scroll down for weekend 1)

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The setting up of a citizens' Climate Assembly for Scotland, as required by the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2019, began in September 2020 with the selection of 100 individuals as Assembly members to provide a representative sample of all sections of the population.  -   'A number of criteria will be used during the selection process including age, gender, ethnicity, disability, geography, rurality, household income, and attitude towards climate change.'

Meetings will be held, initially online, over six weekends from November 2020 to March 2021. The Assembly's deliberations will be guided by the question
'How should Scotland change to tackle the climate emergency in an effective and fair way?'

Public consultation in the form of an 'ideas forum' ran from 9 to 26 October (it seems with very little publicity and limited response), and the forum 'results' are available in a rather confusing format  here  (filter by highest rated or most comments).  It is not clear if there will be any further public consultation.