Climate change research at the Scottish Research Institutes
Climate change is widely recognised as the most serious
environmental threat facing our planet today, and is likely,
therefore, to become central to policy-making and land-use
decision-making within the next decade or two, and remain so for
many years thereafter. In the Scottish Government’s Climate
Change Strategy, the need to move to a low-carbon economy by
2050 is emphasised, and, recognising that some climate change
will occur even if emissions are successfully reduced, some of
the adaptive responses that might be made are outlined.
Subsequent policy documents for the forestry and agriculture
sectors have also been published, both of which acknowledge the
contribution of these sectors as both sources and sinks of GHGs.
Similarly, the Scottish Biodiversity Strategy explicitly
recognises the threat of potential shifts in species’ range, and
a need, therefore, to minimise limits to dispersal and
migration. In addition, the Scottish Government announ