Accelerating the decarbonisation of Scottish infrastructure

In July 2021, ICE Scotland commissioned consultancy group Mott MacDonald to produce a report looking at what policy, legislative, regulatory and industry interventions need to happen in Scotland over the next four years.
The report was developed following consultation with stakeholders across the infrastructure planning and delivery landscape - including the Scottish Government, infrastructure providers, local authorities, academia, and the business sector.

It concluded that Scotland is still falling short of targets and leadership and funding, alongside an improved planning and regulatory system, is needed to ensure decarbonisation is embedded throughout infrastructure.

There are five key recommendations:

• There should be a Scottish infrastructure coalition created where key national infrastructure providers and stakeholders can convene to demonstrate leadership, share learnings and plan for an integrated economy-wide transition to Net Zero aligned infrastructure.
• Public sector procurement should include a consistent focus on carbon reduction.
• The planning process requires more investment to enable the pace and scale of change required to deliver Net Zero infrastructure.
• Greater use of systems thinking along with digital tools should be used to identify interactions and efficiencies between traditionally separate sectors.
• Develop a Scottish Government good practice note on why and how place-based approaches bring advantages to Net Zero delivery