Fife Council Planning Service is the first local government service in Scotland to achieve Gold Carbon Literate Organisation (CLO) accreditation.

Fife’s new CLO gold accreditation is thanks to partnership working with Climate Action Fife in climate literacy training over 120 staff and elected members, over half of which are in planning.

Continued commitment by Planning Services to tackling the climate emergency has increased the number of accredited staff from 39 to 65. Staff have created a service level Climate Action plan and are now implementing continuous actions to reduce the Service’s carbon emissions. Carbon Literacy training is also now mandatory within the Service.

The training means staff now have tools, knowledge and inspiration to help tackle the climate emergency and change life, work and behaviour in Fife to respond to climate change.

Cllr Jan Wincott, spokesperson for Environment & Climate Change commented:

“Achieving Climate Literacy Gold is a great recognition of the hard work, dedication and pledges made by our staff in Planning Services and being the first service in the UK to achieve this is outstanding.

“The whole Council has overall achieved bronze status, thanks to staff and elected members who are taking on the climate crisis. We all have the power to make an impact on climate change, and efforts made to gain knowledge, put it into practice, share behaviours and more are already making differences in Fife.

“We hope even more of our people will attend the training with Climate Action Fife to learn about the climate emergency and what they can do to combat it at home, at work and with others.”

Ross Spalding, Service Manager, and Cllr Jan Wincott attended the awards ceremony (15 June) to receive the Council’s award.

Pam Ewen, Head of Planning commented:

“Addressing the Climate Emergency across Fife is a key priority for Fife Council. Furthering our knowledge through training and development of staff and elected members is important to lead with change.

“Throughout 2022 Planning Services staff worked intensively to achieve Gold Carbon Literate Organisation accreditation. This enabled the Planning Service's officers to be aware of the impacts of the climate crisis globally and locally and empower them to act as agents of change.”