Providing a shared language for Scotland’s 32 local authorities.
Case summary
ClimateView’s Transition Elements provide a shared language for data-informed decision-making across Scotland’s authorities.
The 32 local authorities lacked a unified methodology to structure and track climate transition plans. The Scottish Area-Wide Inventory now offers a standardised emissions dataset to align all decision-making.
All participants have access to a consistent and shared methodology, allowing them to categorise climate actions systematically. This enables better coordination across local and national strategies.
"The transition modeling has the potential to be groundbreaking. It fundamentally changed my team’s philosophy of how we do things."
Clare Wharmby,
Programme Director at SCIS
A holistic approach for Scotland
Shared targets and standardised data
Achieving coordinated progress requires shared understanding of key targets, the steps needed to reach them, and a consistent way to measure progress.
Previously, Scotland’s local authorities lacked a unified dataset or tools to ensure a level playing field in decision-making. Without standardised methodologies, it was difficult to align efforts and compare progress across areas.
All 32 local authorities now work with a consistent emissions dataset through the Scottish Area-Wide Inventory, enabling cohesive, science-backed climate planning. With a common taxonomy for interventions, ClimateView helps authorities structure and compare their climate actions, ensuring greater alignment at both local and national levels.
Enabling smarter, more efficient planning
From PDF’s to iterative planning
The Scottish Climate Intelligence Service (SCIS) is transforming climate governance by augmenting static PDF-based plans with iterative planning. This is done using The ClimateView platform that puts Transition Elements into practice.
This equips all 32 local authorities with a shared structure for decision-making. With varying levels of capacity—from full sustainability teams to single climate officers—local authorities need a common system that ensures clarity, comparability, and ease of use. By standardising climate planning, Scotland is strengthening its ability to meet national climate targets efficiently.
"There can be a lot of risk attached to taking good climate decisions. We need to de-risk it by providing strong evidence that supports the long-term environmental, social and economic benefits of these decisions."
Clare Wharmby,
Programme Director at SCIS.
De-risking climate action
Decisions based on accurate and actionable data
The integration between systemic and granular activity shifts with the ability to plan, execute and track progress over time gives city councils the confidence to make necessary decisions that promote change.
Now, when local authorities consult SCIS on their progress, they can rely on multiple performance indicators that provide a measurable, science-backed assessment of whether they are on track—helping them adjust course and maintain momentum.
The project in numbers
4.5/5
Local authority officers from the SCIS User Group rated the platform training an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars.
111
Local authority officers have engaged in the User Journey, covering 100% of the 32 Scottish local authorities.
84%
of local authority officers that participated in platform training felt
it was either useful or very useful.
Transition technology for areas worldwide
ClimateView enables areas to design structured transition plans, refine targets and develop strategies that accelerate sustainable progress and improve residents' quality of life.
By using Transition Elements and ClimateView, SCIS supports engage stakeholders across the 32 local authorities of Scotland. SCIS Programme Director Clare Wharmby praised the framework, stating it "makes us concentrate on the key activities that need to change" reinforcing its ability to bring clarity and consistency to climate action planning.
