Climate Emergency Training for Falkirk Council to help combat climate change

Working with Falkirk Council, we have developed and delivered Climate Emergency Training to help the local authority take action to tackle the climate crisis.

The training looks at how the authority will be impacted by climate change, the practical actions needed to reduce emissions and future-proof the council, the science of climate change, and the significant changes we will all need to adapt to as Scotland moves to a net zero future.

In 2019, Falkirk Council declared a Climate Emergency and set a target to achieve Net Zero on its emissions as an organisation by 2030.  Carbon literacy training was identified by the council as an important element in its efforts to meet this target.

Currently, 20 of Falkirk Council’s 30 Elected Members and 31 officers – mostly senior managers- have either begun or completed the training. 

Chief Executive Officer Kenneth Lawrie is among those to have completed the training and said:

“It was a positive, interesting and enjoyable experience. In the context of the council’s Climate Emergency Declaration, this training is an essential element of ensuring that as an organisation we are well equipped to collectively tackle this most fundamental of issues impacting on the long-term wellbeing of our communities.”

Catherine Gee, Deputy Chief Executive for Keep Scotland Beautiful, said:

“We are delighted to have developed our Climate Emergency Training for Falkirk Council. The climate crisis and Scotland’s journey to net zero is going to require everyone to adapt and change their way of working and we are extremely pleased the local authority is taking steps to play its part. We hope that other councils will follow in their footsteps and learn how to adapt their ways of working to reduce their emissions and provide a better future for our country and our planet.”

In May 2019, the Scottish Government declared a climate emergency and has pledged to drastically reduce emissions from Scotland in the next 10 years. This will mean new legislation and technology that will bring significant changes to the way that we do life and business in Scotland.

Keep Scotland Beautiful is the only Carbon Literacy Training Organisation in Scotland, and as part of the training, each participant will receive a certificate of Carbon Literacy from the Carbon Literacy Project and the opportunity to apply for Carbon Literate Organisation status.

The training is available for all local authorities and interested councils should contact Keep Scotland Beautiful to find out more, or visit: www.keepscotlandbeautiful.org/climate-emergency-training