Enhancing academic engagement with, and impact on, the Scottish Parliament in relation to scrutiny of climate change formed one aspect of a programme of work to support delivery of the Conveners Group Session 6 strategic priority on climate change and net zero.
This blog provides an overview of how academic engagement supported parliamentary scrutiny of the draft Climate Change Plan (CCP), the statutory plan setting out how the Scottish Government intends to meet emissions-reduction targets. It summarises:
- How relevant research expertise was identified and used, including through the application of new tools and approaches.
- Approaches to increase internal awareness of the opportunities to tap into academic expertise to support scrutiny and to build awareness, understanding and confidence amongst the academic community to engage.
- Some of the outcomes and benefits of this engagement including the contributions and where this linked directly to committee scrutiny and their resulting recommendations.
This blog sits alongside a blog on Delivering a model for parliamentary scrutiny of climate change: reflections on scrutiny of the draft Climate Change Plan 2026-2040.
Identifying expertise and insights early on
Ahead of the publication of the draft CCP parliamentary officials identified a desire to develop a better understanding of academic expertise which exists, and seek suggestions of key policy issues and priorities, in three specific policy areas. To do this the Scottish Parliament hosted Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) on:
- Regional and sectoral employment implications of a just transition.
- Climate emissions from waste management and resource use.
- Industrial decarbonisation.
ARIs provide a mechanism for the Scottish Parliament to express interest in hearing about research evidence and expertise of relevance to a specific policy issue, and for the research community to respond.
Collectively 86 responses were submitted to these ARIs. 64% of those responding were new to engaging with the Scottish Parliament and 24% of responses identified themselves as Early Career Researchers. The responses were drawn on by parliamentary officials to inform suggestions of potential committee witnesses, develop their knowledge and understanding of evidence in these areas and identify themes to explore in committee scrutiny work.
To support Members in understanding how climate change related to different committee remits ahead of scrutiny of the draft CCP, SPICe prepared a public hub of research on the relevance of climate change to committee portfolios. Several blogs drew heavily on responses to requests circulated to the Scottish Parliament Academic Network inviting academics to share relevant research insights, and another was drafted by a SPICe academic fellow who summarised evidence highlighting links between health and climate.
Committees were able to draw on a shared academic Adviser on climate change and net zero, whose role was to support the whole Parliament rather than a single committee.
Building awareness
Opportunities to tap into research expertise to support scrutiny of the draft CCP were shared internally through engagement with both clerking and Scottish Parliament Information Centre (SPICe) research staff, and committee Conveners.
A series of engagement events – both in the Scottish Parliament and in universities – brought more than 100 academics with climate expertise together with clerking and SPICe research colleagues ahead of scrutiny of the CCP. This included a collaborative event with Scotland Beyond Net Zero and the University of Edinburgh in November 2025. These events provided academics with the information needed to engage effectively and provided parliamentary staff with valuable insight to identify key issues for committees to explore.
Outcomes and benefits
Academics were well represented in written responses to the Call for Views issued ahead of the draft CCP being published, with over 23 contributing to responses to the Call for Views (from 9 academic institutions). Subsequently over 20 academics were invited to give evidence on the CCP across five different subject committees and this input is well referenced in the subsequent committee reports and summarised in the report published by the Net Zero, Energy and Transport Committee. Alongside policy specific expertise academics contributed expertise on cross-cutting issues, for example communication, co-benefits and monitoring, which was of relevance across committees. Twice as many academics gave oral evidence on the CCP compared to the previous Climate Change Plan (2017) and Climate Change Plan Update (2021).
While many factors informed the nature of the recommendations made by committees about the draft CCP, examples of those that that align closely with evidence and suggestions made by the academic community include those around the need for:
- greater sharing of data underpinning the plan and associated modelling assumptions to be made clear;
- approaches to the communication of the contents of the Plan to be set out including what the Plan will mean for people’s everyday lives and articulating the social, economic and health benefits of the transition;
- more information on how the Scottish Government intends to meet its targets for modal shift in transport to be provided;
- a more strategic approach to community benefit (e.g. from large-scale renewables) to be adopted;
- more information on how peatland restoration and tree planting sites will be prioritised;
- more granular information on the emission reductions attributed to each agricultural mitigation measure to be included.
- further detail to be included setting out how climate actions across portfolios will support public health.
Academics have shared a considerable breadth and depth of expertise and insights to support parliamentary scrutiny of the draft CCP. The scale of engagement reflects a significant step change in comparison with the scrutiny of previous climate Plans and many academics new to engaging with the Scottish Parliament have contributed.
In their recently published legacy report, the Scottish Parliament Conveners Group notes the role that academic engagement has played in supporting parliamentary cross-committee scrutiny of complex policy matters and invites its successor to consider using such approaches in the next parliamentary session. Evaluation and learning will continue, ensuring the insights from this programme inform the Parliament’s wider approach to academic engagement
This work has been supported through a partnership funded by the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and with the University of Edinburgh as host institution and the universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde and Stirling, who along with Edinburgh hold an ESRC Impact Acceleration Account.
Dr Dan Barlow, Knowledge Exchange Manager – Climate Change Scrutiny, SPICe
Featured image by the Scottish Parliament.