Midlothian Council & Climate Change
To move forwardorback throughthis presentation,use the arrowkeyson your keyboard.
Thisslide show will takeyou on a quickbut insightful walk-throughof:
• A littleon the scienceof climatechange;
• Some evidencethat human activitiesare causingit;
• What MidlothianCouncil is doing in response; and
• How you yourself can play your part, both as a Council employee and outside of work.
There isa short exerciseatthe end. The whole course should takeless than 20minutes.
Thankyou forcompleting it!

What is climate change?
It is caused by the ‘greenhouse effect’.This happensdue to interactionbetween energy from the
sun, the Earth’s surface and ‘greenhouse gases’in the atmosphere.
Sunlight reaches the Earth
Some is reflected back into
space
But greenhouse gases in the
atmosphere stop this reflection back
into space
Diagram: Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Is climate change really happening, and if so, what is causing it?
“But theEarth’sclimatehas alwayschangednaturallyinthe past–
Idon’t thinkhuman activityisto blame now”.
• The climate has always changed naturally in the past, but those have often been in response
to predictable changes of the Earth’s orbit round the sun, and those changes have always
been at a predictable pace. The change we are seeing now is unexpected and much quicker,
so we know that the cause isn’t natural.
• Past natural changes in the Earth’s climate have often also been due to the release of
greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2). Nowadays, human activities in sectors like
transport and generating electricity are releasing these gases. In other words, humans are
doing what we know from history has caused past changes in the Earth’s climate. In fact, CO2
from human activity is increasing more than 250 times faster than it did from natural sources
after the lastIce Age.

Is climate change really happening, and if so, what is causing it?
We can see here for example, that
world temperature mirrors the
amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
We can also see that solar activity
has been steady over this period, so
we know that this isn’t causing the
temperature rise.

The impacts of climate change
Temperaturerises– globally,
the five warmest years on
record have allbeen since
2015. All of the UK's ten
warmest years on record have
been since 2002.
Moreextremeweather – warmer
air can hold more water, so
climatechange is expected to
lead to more heavy rain in the UK
and the rest of the world. It will
also lead to more global
heatwavesand droughts.
Sea-levelrise– when our
planet warms up, water in
the ocean expands. Together
with water running intooceans
from melting iceand glaciers,
this means that sea-levelsare
increasing.Thisthreatens
coastal and island
communities.
Oceanacidity– the oceans
absorb much of the carbon
dioxide that human activities
release. Thismakes them turn
more acidic,which threatens
marine life.
Images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Greenhouse gas emissions – by sector
• Each year the Scottish Government collects data on greenhouse gas emissions by sector. The list of emissions is
included in the Council’s Climate Change Strategy, which you will read about later in this presentation. The sectors
with the highest emissions, and therefore those where we need to take urgent action are:
• Transport - 31% of emissions;
• Industry, includingenergy and waste – 22% of emissions;
• Business– 20% of emissions;
• Residential- 15% of emissions; and
• Agriculture,forestry and related land use/land use change – 5% of emissions.
• Reducing emissions across all these sectors will present significant challenges if the Council is to meet its
ambitions. It will require organisational and personal behavioural change and for all of us to make decisions and
choices whichreduce our carbon footprint.

MidlothianCouncil’s response to climate change
• A motion was passed at the Council meeting of December 2019 which declared a ‘climate emergency that
requires urgent action’.
• The motion set the goal of the Council’s activities being net-zero carbon by 2030. It stated that all strategic
decisions,budgets and approaches to planningdecisionsshould be in line with thisgoal.
• ‘Net-zero’ means that the Council must drastically cut its emissions and any it cannot cut must be offset by
thingslike plantingtrees.
• The motion means changesto how the Council operates, particularlyin certain departments:
• Buildings& estates – usingless electricityand generating green electricityourselves;
• Transport/fleet – moving from petrol and dieselvehiclesto electricvehicles;
• Procurement – buying less carbon-intensive products and setting high environmental standards for the
Council’s suppliers;and
• Planning– promoting sustainable,low-carbon developments.
• It will also involve personal action related to work, such as home working (to reduce the need to travel to work)
or, where transport is needed, usinglow-carbon options for it, such as cycling or publictransport.

MidlothianCouncil’s response to climate change
• The Council approved a new Climate Change Strategy in August
2020. It translates the climate emergency declaration into
specifictasksthat we need to do.
• These tasks are contained in an ‘Action Plan’. This identifies
Council departments that tasks apply to and a timetable for
them to be implemented.
• The Strategy proposes to create a Climate Change Board to
oversee its implementation. This will be assisted by the
recruitment of a dedicated ClimateChange Officer.
• You can read the Climate Change Strategy and how your
department can help achieveits goals by clickinghere.

MidlothianCouncil’s response to climate change
• The Council will measure progress in reducing its emissions
through the PublicBodies Climate Change DutiesReporting.
• This is a legally-required report for the Scottish Government
produced every autumn using information requested from
various Council services.It covers:
• How much carbon the Council produces;
• Projects to reduce our emissions;and
• How addressing climate change is embedded in the
Council’s management, various departments and policies.
• It has shown that we have made good progress in reducing our
emissions– we have cut them by 35% between 2014 and 2020.
• However, many of the quick and easy ways to lower our
emissionshave already been done.

Your own response to climate change – at work & home
Using the Council’s fleet
of electricvehicleswill
reduce emissions from
business travel.
There are facilitiesto help
you cycle to work and for
work trips – there is bike
parking, shower and
locker facilitiesand you
can claim cycle mileage.
You can recycle your food
waste – it is used to
generate green energy at
the MillerhillDigester.
Don’t leave equipment on
stand-by – PC monitors
left on stand-by stilluse
around 15 to 20% of the
electricitythey use
normally.

Your own response to climate change – at work & home
• There are many stepsyou can take yourself in response to climate change. These are often easy,
can save you money and can benefityour health. Examples include:
• Some informationsourceson these actionsareprovidedon the next page.
Walkingor cycling to work
Using the bus insteadof the car
Turningoff or turningdown radiators in
rooms you use less often at home
Switchingelectricalequipmentoff at the
socket rather than leavingit on stand-by–
you can get a ‘stand-by’saver whichallows
you to turn them off all in one go
Using low-energy lightbulbs such as LEDs
Buying fewer products that involve
‘single-use plastic’, e.g. plastic cutlery,
cups and cup lids, and polystyrene food
and drink containers
Buying locally-made goods and produce to
reduce your ‘food miles’

Your own response to climate change – at work & home
• You can calculate your own carbon footprint on the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)
website - https://footprint.wwf.org.uk/#/
• You can get a bike through the ‘Cycle to Work’ salary sacrifice scheme and make tax and
National Insurance savings– https://www.cyclesolutions.info/midlothian
• The Energy Saving Trust have lots of easy to follow, practical information on how to save
energy and reduce your emissions:
• Easy ways to save energy at home –
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energy-efficiency
• How to insulateyour home to save energy and money-
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-insulation
• Ways you can generate your own green energy-
https://energysavingtrust.org.uk/renewable-energy
• For staff, the Council Intranet has further information on how to increase the amount you
recycle - http://intranet/Council/minisites/MiniSite02.asp?siteid=22

Exercise questions
• There will now be a short exerciseon what you havejust read.
• There are5 multiple-choice questions.Use yourmouseto select your answer.

Question 1
Regardingcarbondioxide(CO2),whichone of thefollowingfourstatementsiscorrect?
Clickon an answerbox below.
D - It stops the sun’s energy escaping back to space, which warms up the Earth.
C - The levelof carbon dioxide (CO2) in the Earth’s atmosphere has remained stablein recent
decades.
B - It is only released from natural sources, not human activities.
A - It stops the sun’s energy reachingthe Earth’s surface, whichcools our planet.
Correct
Incorrect
Incorrect
Incorrect
Clickhereto go to thenextquestion

Question 2
Globally,thefivewarmestyearson recordhaveall beenrecordedsincewhen?
D - Since2005
C - Since1915
B - Since2015
A - Since1995
Incorrect
Incorrect
Correct
Incorrect
Clickhereto go to thenextquestion

Question 3
Whichof thefollowingisthemainaimof theCouncil’sclimateemergencydeclaration?
D – The Council should only use electricityfrom a net-zero carbon supplier.
C – Allthe Council’sactivitiesshould be net-zero carbon by 2030.
B – Certain Council departments should eventually be net-zero carbon.
A - The Council should reduce itsemissions as much as possible by 2030.
Incorrect
Correct
Incorrect
Incorrect
Clickhereto go to thenextquestion

Question 4
A legally-required report for the Scottish Government, produced every autumn using
information requested from various Council serviceson how much carbon we release.
Thisdocument translatesthe Council’s climateemergency declarationinto specifictasks
that we need to do. These are contained in an ‘ActionPlan’ whichidentifiesCouncil
departments that tasks apply to and a timetablefor them to be implemented.
Incorrect – the top box describes the Public Bodies Climate
ChangeDuties Reporting. The bottom box describes Midlothian
Council’s new ClimateChangeStrategy.
Whichoneof thefollowingstatementsdescribestheCouncil’snewClimateChangeStrategy?
Clickhereto go to thenextquestion
Correct – the top box describes thePublic Bodies Climate
ChangeDuties Reporting. The bottom box describes Midlothian
Council’s new ClimateChangeStrategy.
Clickhereto goto thenextquestion

Question 5
Whichof thefollowingisthebestwayto reduceyourcarbonfootprintat work?
A – By usingthe Council’s fleetof electricvehiclesinstead of your own petrol or dieselcar.
B – By not leavingelectricalequipment on stand-by mode.
C – By recyclingyour food waste so it can be converted into green energy at the MillerhillDigester.
D – By doing allof the above. Correct
Incorrect
Incorrect
Incorrect
Clickhereto goto thenextslide

Climate change pledge
• TheCouncil is encouragingeveryone who viewsthis presentationto makea
personal pledgeto combat climatechange:
What will yours be?
• Help encourageothers to takepartby sharingyourefforts morewidely:
Send detailsto connect@midlothian.gov.uk
(andcopy in Richard.Lamond@Midlothian.gov.uk)