Climate Change

The Highland Council was one of the first of Scotland's 32 Local Authorities to sign Scotland's Climate Change Declaration in January 2007. The Council then reaffirmed its commitment to delivering greener and more efficient services in the Highlands by re-signing the Declaration in May 2008. 

As a signatory, the Council is committed to producing an annual statement on local progress towards mitigating climate change and identifying how the local Authority should adapt to its likely effects.

Highland Council recognise that it has an important role to play as a manager of its own estate, as an employer, as a service provide, a community leader and a signatory of the declaration. A Member led Climate Change Working Group has been set up to deliver the commitments outlined in  Declaration and oversee the production and implementation of a climate change strategy for Highland. The Working group will make recommendations to the Council on the following aspects of climate change: 

• How the Council can mitigate against climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from its own estate and practices. 
• how the Council can mitigate against climate change through the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the Highlands through the range of services provided by the Council and in partnership with other statutory, voluntary and private sector organistations.
• How the Council will adapt its services to deal with the impact of global warming and extreme weather events (considering both threats and opportunities) and in particular regarding impacts of large-scale flooding and community level.

More information on Climate Change can be found by following the links to the right.