Legislative context
As highlighted in the Introduction, this Action Plan sits within the framework of climate change legislation and aligns with the statutory guidance issued by the Scottish Ministers under section 45 of the Climate Change (Scotland) Act 2009 (‘the 2009 Act’).
As amended, the 2009 Act is the central legislation of the climate change framework and supports the just transition to a sustainable, resilient, low-carbon economy.
The 2009 Act places statutory climate change duties onto relevant public bodies. Section 44(2) defines a “public body” as a Scottish public authority within the meaning of section 3(1)(a) of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 13). Public bodies must check whether they fall within the definition and act accordingly.
The duties are set out in section 44(1) of the 2009 Act and require that a public body must, in exercising its functions, act –
- in the way best calculated to contribute to the delivery of emissions reduction targets (i.e. mitigation)
- in the way best calculated to help deliver the Scottish National Adaptation Plan
- in a way that it considers most sustainable.
Section 45 of the 2009 Act requires Scottish Ministers to give guidance to public bodies in relation to the duties. When deciding how best to fulfil their duties, public bodies are required to take the statutory guidance into account – under the Act they must have regard to such guidance.
In March 2026, the Scottish Government published new Climate change duties: statutory guidance for public bodies. The Statutory Guidance is intended to be useful to all public bodies, not just those legally subject to the climate change duties. The guidance aims to be a potential source of information, tools and support for any public body aiming to contribute to Scotland’s national climate change targets and plans.
The Climate Change (Duties of Public Bodies: Reporting Requirements) (Scotland) Order 2015, as amended, requires over 180 public bodies deemed to be 'major players' to report annually on their compliance with the climate change duties. These bodies are listed in schedule 1 of the Order.
In January 2024, Scotland introduced the Vehicle Emissions Trading Schemes Order 2023, alongside England and Wales, extended to Northern Ireland from 2025. The legislation aims to deliver 420 MTCO2e of carbon savings between 2024-2050 across the UK. This is expected to ensure that the supply of zero-emission cars and vans are coming to the UK.
In November 2024, the Climate Change (Emissions Reduction Targets) (Scotland) Act 2024 came into force, introducing a framework for a 5 year carbon budget-based approach for setting emissions reduction targets up to 2045. The approach to setting public sector fleet emission reduction targets proposed in this draft Action Plan aligns with Scotland’s newly adopted carbon budgeting framework. Working towards a progressive reduction in total emissions related to fleet, rather than focusing on various vehicle types, also offers greater flexibility and local autonomy in determining how these reductions are achieved and what is required to deliver them.
In addition to climate change duties, public bodies operating vehicle fleets must also have regard to local air quality policies and regulatory frameworks, including the operation of Low Emission Zones established under the Transport (Scotland) Act 2019. These require that vehicles entering designated areas meet defined emissions standards, reinforcing the need for fleet transition to cleaner vehicles in advance of full decarbonisation.