Keep Scotland Beautiful to provide elected members of Glasgow City Council with accredited Climate Emergency Training

Glasgow City Council becomes first Scottish local authority to provide its leaders with Climate Emergency Training.

Elected members of Glasgow City Council – including leader Susan Aitken – will undertake Climate Emergency Training this August as the council becomes the first local authority in Scotland to take the accredited training, developed with, and provided by Keep Scotland Beautiful.

Keep Scotland Beautiful is Scotland’s only certified Carbon Literacy Training Organisation and worked with Glasgow City Council to create a bespoke Climate Emergency Training course that is relevant to the Glasgow and Scottish context.

Glasgow City Council declared a climate emergency in May 2019 and appropriate training was one of 61 recommendations identified to help elected leaders best respond to the growing risks that climate change poses to the area.

The Climate Emergency Training developed with us includes learning on the causes of climate change, how the changing climate will impact Glasgow – such as increased flood risk – and the strategies the council can implement to help mitigate and adapt to climate change. The course also highlights the potential for positive action and champions the work of communities in Glasgow who are contributing to a more sustainable, cleaner and healthier city.

The training course will culminate in a final assessment, requiring participants to select one individual action and one group action to reduce carbon emissions, demonstrating their learning and understanding of carbon emission sources and solutions. Each participant will be awarded with official Carbon Literate accreditation upon successful completion of the course.

Barry Fisher, Chief Executive of Keep Scotland Beautiful said:

We are delighted that Glasgow City Council has chosen to work with us and become the first local authority in Scotland to develop and take Climate Emergency Training that is fully accredited by The Carbon Literacy Project. The training is part of our portfolio of climate change support that is available to help organisations, businesses, communities and young people understand the climate emergency and respond to the risks, opportunities and responsibilities ahead.

Councillor Susan Aitken, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said:

Glasgow City Council is committed to playing a leading role in helping to address climate change, so I am looking forward to attending the very first session of this bespoke Climate Emergency Training that we have developed with Keep Scotland Beautiful. As the course includes elements tailored to the Glasgow and Scottish context, it will help elected leaders to respond effectively to the risks that climate change poses at a local level. Developing a better understanding of what climate change means for Glasgow is essential if we are to build a cleaner, healthier, low carbon city.

The Climate Emergency Training course will be delivered online with the first 29 elected council members due to start their training in mid-August.

Keep Scotland Beautiful offer a portfolio of Climate Emergency Training to support organisations, businesses, communities and young people understand the climate emergency and respond to the risks, opportunities and responsibilities ahead.