Midlothian Council & Climate Change

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This slide show will take you on a quick but insightful walk-through of:
• A little on the science of climate change;
• Some evidence that human activities are causing it;
• What Midlothian Council is doing in response; and
• How you yourself can play your part, both as a Council employee and outside of work.

There is a short exercise at the end. The whole course should take less than 20 minutes.
Thank you for completing it!
 What is climate change?
It is caused by the ‘greenhouse effect’. This happens due to interaction between energy
from the sun, the Earth’s surface and ‘greenhouse gases’ in the atmosphere.

But greenhouse
Some is reflected gases in the
back into
Sunlight reaches the Earth atmosphere
space stop this reflection back
into space

Diagram: Courtesy of NASA/JPL-

Caltech
Is climate change really happening, and if so, what is causing it?
“But the Earth’s climate has always changed naturally in the past –
I don’t think human activity is to blame now”.

• The climate has always changed naturally in the past, but those have often been in
response to predictable changes of the Earth’s orbit round the sun, and those changes
have always been at a predictable pace. The change we are seeing now is unexpected
and much quicker, so we know that the cause isn’t natural.

• Past natural changes in the Earth’s climate have often also been due to the release of
greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2). Nowadays, human activities in sectors like
transport and generating electricity are releasing these gases. In other words, humans
are doing what we know from history has caused past changes in the Earth’s climate. In
fact, CO2 from human activity is increasing more than 250 times faster than it did from
natural sources after the last Ice Age.
 Is climate change really happening, and if so, what is causing it?

We can see here for example, that

world temperature mirrors the
amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.

We can also see that solar activity

has been steady over this period,
so we know that this isn’t causing
the temperature rise.
 The impacts of climate change
Temperature rises – More extreme weather –
globally, the five warmest warmer air can hold more
years on record have all been water, so climate change is
since 2015. All of the UK's expected to lead to more heavy
ten warmest years on record rain in the UK and the rest of
have been since 2002. the world. It will also lead to
more global heatwaves and
droughts.

Sea-level rise – when our Ocean acidity – the oceans

planet warms up, water in absorb much of the carbon
the ocean expands. Together dioxide that human activities
with water running into release. This makes them turn
oceans from melting ice and more acidic, which threatens
glaciers, this means that sea- marine life.
levels are increasing. This
threatens coastal and island
communities.

Images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
 Greenhouse gas emissions – by sector
• Each year the Scottish Government collects data on greenhouse gas emissions by sector. The list of
emissions is included in the Council’s Climate Change Strategy, which you will read about later in this
presentation. The sectors with the highest emissions, and therefore those where we need to take urgent action
are:
• Transport - 31% of emissions;
• Industry, including energy and waste – 22% of emissions;
• Business – 20% of emissions;
• Residential - 15% of emissions; and
• Agriculture, forestry and related land use/land use change – 5% of emissions.

• Reducing emissions across all these sectors will present significant challenges if the Council is to meet its
ambitions. It will require organisational and personal behavioural change and for all of us to make decisions
and choices which reduce our carbon footprint.
 Midlothian Council’s response to climate change
• A motion was passed at the Council meeting of December 2019 which declared a ‘climate emergency that
requires urgent action’.

• The motion set the goal of the Council’s activities being net-zero carbon by 2030. It stated that all
strategic decisions, budgets and approaches to planning decisions should be in line with this goal.
• ‘Net-zero’ means that the Council must drastically cut its emissions and any it cannot cut must be
offset by things like planting trees.

• The motion means changes to how the Council operates, particularly in certain departments:
• Buildings & estates – using less electricity and generating green electricity ourselves;
• Transport/fleet – moving from petrol and diesel vehicles to electric vehicles;
• Procurement – buying less carbon-intensive products and setting high environmental standards for
the Council’s suppliers; and
• Planning – promoting sustainable, low-carbon developments.

• It will also involve personal action related to work, such as home working (to reduce the need to travel to
work) or, where transport is needed, using low-carbon options for it, such as cycling or public transport.
 Midlothian Council’s response to climate change
• The Council approved a new Climate Change Strategy in
August 2020. It translates the climate emergency declaration
into specific tasks that we need to do.

• These tasks are contained in an ‘Action Plan’. This identifies

Council departments that tasks apply to and a timetable for
them to be implemented.

• The Strategy proposes to create a Climate Change Board to

oversee its implementation. This will be assisted by the
recruitment of a dedicated Climate Change Officer.

• You can read the Climate Change Strategy and how your
department can help achieve its goals by clicking here.
 Midlothian Council’s response to climate change
• The Council will measure progress in reducing its emissions
through the Public Bodies Climate Change Duties Reporting.

• This is a legally-required report for the Scottish Government

produced every autumn using information requested from
various Council services. It covers:
• How much carbon the Council produces;
• Projects to reduce our emissions; and
• How addressing climate change is embedded in the
Council’s management, various departments and
policies.

• It has shown that we have made good progress in reducing

our emissions – we have cut them by 35% between 2014 and
2020.

• However, many of the quick and easy ways to lower our

emissions have already been done.
 Your own response to climate change – at work & home
Using the Council’s There are facilities to
fleet of electric vehicles help you cycle to work
will reduce emissions and for work trips –
from business travel. there is bike parking,
shower and locker
facilities and you can
claim cycle mileage.

You can recycle your Don’t leave equipment

food waste – it is used on stand-by – PC
to generate green energy monitors left on stand-
at the Millerhill by still use around 15 to
Digester. 20% of the electricity
they use normally.
 Your own response to climate change – at work & home
• There are many steps you can take yourself in response to climate change. These are often
easy, can save you money and can benefit your health. Examples include:

Turning off or turning down radiators in

rooms you use less often at home Using low-energy light bulbs such as
LEDs
Using the bus instead of the car
Buying fewer products that involve
‘single-use plastic’, e.g. plastic
cutlery, cups and cup lids, and Walking or cycling to
polystyrene food and drink work
containers
Switching electrical equipment off at the
socket rather than leaving it on stand-by –
Buying locally-made goods and produce
you can get a ‘stand-by’ saver which
to reduce your ‘food miles’
allows you to turn them off all in one go

• Some information sources on these actions are provided on the next page.
 Your own response to climate change – at work & home
• You can calculate your own carbon footprint on the World Wide Fund for Nature
(WWF) 

• You can get a bike through the ‘Cycle to Work’ salary sacrifice scheme and make
tax and National Insurance savings 

• The Energy Saving Trust have lots of easy to follow, practical information on how
to save energy and reduce your emissions:
• Easy ways to save energy at home –
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energy-efficiency
• How to insulate your home to save energy and money -
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-insulation
• Ways you can generate your own green energy -
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/renewable-energy