The UK Government’s Sustainable Development Strategy, Securing the Future, says that:
"The effects of a changing climate can already be seen. Temperatures and sea levels are rising, ice and snow cover are declining. The consequences could be catastrophic for the natural world and society. The scientific consensus is that most of the warming observed over the last fifty years is attributable to human activity, through emissions of greenhouse gases – such as carbon dioxide and methane – into the atmosphere. We need to make a profound change in our use of energy and other activities that release these gases. And we need to prepare for the changes in climate that are now already unavoidable"
Aberdeenshire Council’s Sustainability Charter Action Programme states:
We have a long-term goal to significantly reduce the production of greenhouse gases by 2050. Every three years we will monitor progress made in the Action Programme
Aberdeenshire Council's Scrutiny and Audit committee conducted an audit on the Councils reponse to Climate Change, the findings of this became available in March 2007 in a document called 'The Bigger Issue'. The findings from this report state that "Aberdeenshire Council would seek to be a carbon neutral organisation in the short to medium term, i.e. 2020, and for the whole area of Aberdeenshire to be carbon neutral in the medium to long term, i.e. 2030". This shows a huge commitment by Aberdeenshire Council both in their own operation and that of the public and businesses operating within Aberdeenshire.
In working towards this aim the Sustainability Charter for the period of 2004-2007 has enabled a huge amount of work to progress which has essentially allowed the Council to measure where it is in terms of energy usage and carbon emissions. This data has been collected over this period in order that we can measure the progress we have made, the results can be seen in the annual reports.
Aberdeenshire Council has addressed a number of issues regarding the reduction of greenhouse gasses via the Local Authority Carbon Management Plan (LACM). This project took place from March 2006 to March 2007 and allowed staff from all services to be represented and to develop a plan for Aberdeenshire Council to reduce its emissions. The project looked at energy used in buildings, street lighting and council vehicles, and the quantity of waste which the council deals with from households. The project was enabled as a result of the commitments made in the Sustainability Charter 2004-2007 and provides baseline data against which to measure performance. It also enabled employees to meet together and brainstorm ideas which could facilitate the reduction of emissions.
The work of the Scrutiny and Audit Committee and the LACM were both ongoing at the same time and although they were both done independently of each other they came to very similar conclusions. This position makes it quite straight forward for Aberdeenshire Council in progressing these projects. The work of both these projects has been consolidated into one document called the Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP), this will simplify the reporting process.
The Scottish Climate Change Declaration (SCCD) was signed in January 2007 further demonstrating Aberdeenshire Councils commitment to improving performance. This document carries a commitment to make annual reports and Aberdeenshire Council currently uses the Sustainability Charter Annual report and LACM programme to fulfil this. The introduction of the Single Outcome Agreement will require annual reporting and with this in mind the formal reporting for the SCCD will have to be reviewed in order to eliminate double reporting.
In terms of work ongoing from these projects and as a regular matter of practice Aberdeenshire Council has done and continues to do a lot of work in terms of reducing the emissions which it produces as a result of the services which it provides, examples of such projects are the Aboyne Biomass Boiler, the Auchenblae nursery, replacement of streetlights with more energy efficient lamps and switching gear, and the use of funding from the Central Energy Efficiency Fund (CEEF) to reduce emissions and energy usage.
More information on climate change and what we can do to help reduce our greenhouse gas emissions can be found on the Carbon Trust website.
In addition, at the same time as reducing greenhouse gasses we should still be prepared for a future where the climate is different from today. The UK Climate Impacts Programme produces useful information on how to plan to adapt to climate change.
