Takes Climate Action
There are three outcomes under the Takes Climate Action priority:
- Will help deliver our net-zero target
- Will adapt to the effects of climate change
- Will promote greener, cleaner choices
In November 2025, the Scottish Government published the draft Climate Change Plan which includes 28 actions for the transport sector to support meeting Scotland’s new statutory carbon budgets. In 2026, we will reflect on the parliamentary scrutiny and public consultation responses on the draft Climate Change Plan, as they relate to transport alongside the Climate Change Committee’s Progress report for Scotland to inform the transport contribution to the final Climate Change Plan, due to be published in Spring 2026. Following publication of the final Plan, the emphasis will continue to be on collaborative delivery with local authorities, regional transport partnerships, private sector, eNGOs, and continuing to engage the UK Government on its role. It will take action by all parts of society - Governments, businesses, householders and local authorities – to tackle the climate emergency.
In June 2025, we published jointly with COSLA a renewed policy statement on reducing car use in Scotland setting out the key next steps. As part of delivering this we set a new draft target in the draft Climate Change Plan in November 2025 and commenced a Regulatory Check on local road user charging powers within the Transport (Scotland) Act 2001. The new target for car use will be finalised within the final Climate Change Plan. The Regulatory Check on local road user charging powers will also continue working with key stakeholders as part of a technical working group. Governance arrangements for the delivery of car use reduction will be formalised through a Car Use Reduction Delivery Group consisting of stakeholders including COSLA, RTPs, SCOTS and other areas such as bus and active travel, strategy, planning and health. During 2026, this group will take forward collaborative development of delivery plans for car use reduction in Scotland. A potential national Communications and Engagement campaign for 2026-27 will continue to be co-developed by a working group of partners.
Error loading Partial View script (file: ~/Views/MacroPartials/ImageWithoutCrop.cshtml)We invested £41.7 million over the course of the 2024-25 and 2025-26 financial years, leveraging more than three times that amount of private funding, to increase the size of our zero-emission bus and coach fleet by 252 zero emission vehicles and establish a network of charging facilities open to a range of heavy-duty vehicle fleet operators. This will bring the total number of zero-emission buses in Scotland to 800, supported by investment of over £150 million since 2020. Through our EV Infrastructure Fund, we will work with Scottish local authorities to continue to develop Scotland’s public EV charging network, using a mix of public and private investment.
We have awarded £6.3 million to eight local authorities to improve public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the south of Scotland. The funding will support the installation of 1,770 additional public charge points across the region, with the councils working in partnership with the private sector. The South of Scotland Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund project is being led by City of Edinburgh Council and includes Clackmannanshire, Dumfries & Galloway, Falkirk, Fife, Midlothian, Scottish Borders and West Lothian Councils. This was the final award from our £30 million Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Fund.
In August 2025, we launched a grant offering up to £3,500 to install cross-pavement charging solutions. The scheme was open to all legal cross-pavement charging technologies and was open to all local authorities that wished to take part. This year, we will continue with the scheme, whilst working closely with the Scottish Collaboration of Transport Specialists (SCOTS) which is developing national guidance addressing the legal, safety and practical issues associated with the provision of cross-pavement charging.
On 30 January 2026, we published the analysis of the Transport Just Transition Plan consultation. The feedback highlighted that the final Plan should be more action-focused, that there needs to be greater consideration of the needs of vulnerable groups and those living in rural areas, and that improvements are needed to public transport to make it a viable and accessible option for all. We will begin the development of a full Transport Just Transition Plan following the publication of the final Climate Change Plan, and aim to publish our final plan by the end of 2026.
We are coordinating the development of a Public Sector Fleet Decarbonisation Action Plan which guides public sector fleet decarbonisation in order to achieve updated Statutory Climate Change Duties for Public Bodies and supports the public sector reform agenda.
We awarded £3.4 million to increase the shift of freight from road to rail or water through the Freight Facilities Grant in 2025-26, and a further £2.5 million is being provided in the 2026-27 Scottish Budget.
The latest round of the Plugged-in Communities Fund in 2025-26 provided £4 million to support community transport operators to purchase 56 zero emission vehicles, including wheelchair accessible vehicles, and the associated charging infrastructure.
Scotland’s transport network faces the threat of severe weather all-year round. Over the last three years, flooding has restricted the trunk network an average of 62 days each year, compared with the 2015-2017 average of 20 days. A new plan to ensure Scotland’s trunk road network remains resilient and reliable in the face of climate change has been published. The Trunk Road Adaptation Plan identifies climate impacts on the network and guides future resilience actions. Our Vulnerable Locations Group is delivering targeted adaptation works, supported by a new prioritisation tool to rank climate‑vulnerable sites and inform investment decisions.
In November 2025, experts from roads, rail and ferries held a severe weather event to outline their plans to prepare for the impact of severe weather on the transport network. Representatives from Transport Scotland, Police Scotland and the Met Office were joined by ScotRail, Network Rail, CalMac and our South-West Unit Operating Company at Shettleston Rail Depot in Glasgow to remind people that difficult conditions can present a challenge at any time of year, and how their preparations must be ready to tackle more than just snow and ice over the winter period.
In 2025-26 we commissioned research into the skills requirements in the road transport sector for net zero. This will map out requirements up to 2045 to produce a routemap which we will share with industry and seek to develop joint actions in 2026-27 as a continuation of the work of the Zero Emission Truck Taskforce.
We will publish a Net Zero Route Map which will aim to achieve Net Zero emissions associated with the operation, maintenance and improvement of the Trunk Road network by 2045.
We will adapt our transport system to remain resilient and reduce the harmful effects of climate disruption on future generations. The Approach to Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience (ACCAR) outlines the key climate risks affecting Scotland’s transport system and sets out our strategic outcomes for Road, Rail, Aviation and Maritime transport networks. In 2026, the ACCAR Governance Group will continue to progress action towards the delivery of strategic outcomes and sub-outcomes set out in the ACCAR, and work collaboratively with stakeholders to strengthen adaptation efforts.
A Sustainable Trunk Road Infrastructure for Drainage Engineering (STRIDE) working group will be established to foster cross-sector collaboration and innovation in addressing drainage challenges from more frequent and intense flooding events on our trunk roads.
We continue to support active travel, with data showing that active travel projects are encouraging greener travel. Over a two-day survey period on 24 and 25 September 2025, traffic surveys recorded 5,287 bikes on the South City Way cycle route on Victoria Road in the south of Glasgow. This was out of a total of 32,894 methods of travel recorded, meaning that 16.1% of people cycled their journey – a new record mode share for cycling on the South City Way.
We are introducing new rural and island EV infrastructure grants to help enable the delivery of approximately 24,000 additional public electric vehicle charge points by 2030; as well as expanding support for skills to help businesses and the workforce to adapt to zero emission vehicles, including developing capacity in colleges in EV and charge point maintenance and repair and a new heavy-duty vehicle just transition initiative.
We continue to work to enable the removal of emissions from the HGV sector in line with Climate Change Plan commitments, exploring investment in decarbonised vehicles and charging infrastructure. In 2026, Heriot-Watt University will publish the third iteration of their research work.
We will continue to actively engage with Distribution Network Operators and the National Energy System Operator and will continue to build an evidence base for investment based on sound understanding of the charging infrastructure and electrical load required to support road transport electrification.
We will continue construction works of the Borders Line and Fife Circle, and further advance works on the Haymarket – Dalmeny section of the line, with entry into service of this section of line planned for 2027.