Climate Change

The Council Climate Change Framework was approved in March 2007. It set out the framework for the Council's own activities, identifying key areas for action to mitigate carbon emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Carbon Management Plan

Carbon management is a strategic priority for the Council and is embedded into all its processes. The Strategy and Implementation Plan (SIP) is the five year plan setting out how the Council will go about achieving a 25% reduction in its own carbon emissions by 2013, with an annual reduction target of a 5% reduction. The key delivery vehicle is the Carbon Management Plan (CMP) which is currently being updated.

Carbon Reduction Commitment

The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) is a UK wide mandatory energy saving and carbon emissions reduction scheme for organisations (public and private) whose total electricity consumption is greater than 6,000 megawatts (MWh) or approximately £500K. The scheme came into force on 1 April 2010. All electricity and fuel emissions are covered by the scheme except emissions from domestic buildings and street lighting.

The CRC provides a driver for the Council to reduce carbon emissions in all its activities, and introduce cost-effective energy efficiency measures.

Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP)

The Council is developing a Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) for the city to meet our commitments under Sustainable Edinbugh 2020 and the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009. The SEAP identifies measures and projects to reduce Edinburgh's energy consumption, improve energy efficiency and increase the city's share of renewables and low carbon technologies.

The SEAP will also meet our commitments under the European Commission's Covenant of Mayors (CoM) scheme. The Council became a formal signatory to the CoM on 17 May 2011. CoM is an European initiative to address climate change. Cities who sign up commit to exceeding a 20% reduction in carbon emissions by 2020. A condition of becoming a member is the obligation to carry out an energy action plan.