Public awareness of climate risks and opportunities in Scotland

A better understanding of the public’s awareness of the risks of climate change will help provide a platform for more effective engagement. This study finds that concern in relation to climate change generally, and its impacts on Scotland specifically, is high. Around half of respondents said their concern about climate change had increased over the past year, with concern higher among younger people and those with personal experience of extreme weather events. 

The report is based on a rapid evidence assessment of previous studies of public perceptions of climate risks and adaptation in the UK, and a nationally representative survey of the Scottish public, and can inform future engagement activity.
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The Land Capability for Agriculture: building a tool for climate change assessments

The Land Capability for Agriculture (LCA) classification for Scotland has been used since the 1980s to inform decision-making on land use management, planning and valuation.

This report explores the potential for a new research tool to estimate land capability under future climatic conditions - the Land Capability of Scotland research platform. Development in this project has been based on the original LCA guidelines. The platform is a set of computing tools (not PC based) for data integration, calculation, analysis, mapping and visualisation, allowing models to be run to estimate land capability constraints and generate digital maps.
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GHG emissions from Scottish farming

The Scottish Government has set ambitious targets for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Scottish agriculture: the Climate Change Plan update requires the equivalent of a 31% reduction in agricultural emissions by 2032 from 2018 levels. However, between 1990 and 2019 Scottish agriculture’s emissions decreased by only 13%.

This report explores how data on emissions and nitrogen from the Scottish Farm Business Survey, using Agrecalc, can be used to help design policies aimed at reducing emissions in a sustainable way. Agrecalc is a farm carbon calculator used widely within Scotland.
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Impact of emissions trading systems on Scottish business

Emissions trading systems (ETSs) have been at the core of climate policy in the EU and the UK for more than 15 years. They are designed to enable decarbonisation to take place in industries where it is most cost-effective. However, there is a risk of pushing carbon-intensive industrial processes to other territories with lower standards. To reduce this "carbon leakage" risk, the European Union is planning a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).

This research project has developed an approach to assess the impacts of ETSs and CBAMs on Scottish business.
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• Adapting Scottish agriculture to a changing climate - assessing options for actions. Closes 20 May.
• Decarbonisation of mobile agricultural machinery in Scotland – an evidence review. Closes 23 May.
• Encouraging sustainable travel behaviour in children, young people and their families: A literature and policy review. Closes 30 May.
• Low-carbon transport fuels – an evidence review. Closes 31 May.
• Zero-emissions heating in new buildings across Scottish Islands. Closes 1 June.
• The future secondhand bus market in Scotland: Impact of the move to battery electric buses by major operators. Closes 15 June.