By Councillor Gail MacGregor, COSLA Environment and Economy Spokesperson

Climate change can sometimes feel like a distant or technical issue. But for councils and communities across Scotland, it is already becoming part of everyday life.

More intense rainfall, flooding, heat, drought, coastal change and disruption to infrastructure are not abstract risks. They affect homes, schools, roads, public buildings, green spaces, local economies and the services people rely on every day.

Recent weeks have shown what that can mean in practice. The UK and parts of Europe have experienced severe heatwaves, with record temperatures reported, pressure on health services, disruption to transport and public life, increased wildfire risk and emerging estimates of excess deaths. These events are a reminder that climate adaptation is not only about future scenarios; it is about protecting people and services from risks that are already here.

The Climate Change Committee’s recent assessment, A Well-Adapted UK, makes clear that the risks we face are increasing and that adaptation is not yet keeping pace. Its 2025 progress report was equally direct: the UK’s preparations for climate change remain inadequate, with delivery too slow, stalled or moving in the wrong direction.

That is a serious message, but it is not a counsel of despair. The Committee also sets out that a well-adapted UK is still achievable if action accelerates and becomes more systematic.

The Committee is also clear about the scale of planning required. Its working assumption is that the UK should prepare for around 2°C of global warming by 2050, with prudent adaptation planning also considering more severe outcomes. That means designing buildings, infrastructure, services and emergency responses for a climate that is warmer, more volatile and more demanding than the one much of the UK was built for.

For local government, this matters because adaptation is not only about major national infrastructure or long-term climate modelling. It is about the practical choices made in local places: how we plan new developments, maintain roads and drainage, design schools and care settings, protect vulnerable people, manage greenspace and support communities when severe weather hits.

Scotland’s councils are central to that work. Our geography is varied, from dense urban areas and river catchments to islands, coasts and remote rural communities. The climate risks may look different from place to place, but every council will need to think about resilience in the years ahead.

The important point is that adaptation should not sit on the edge of public policy. It needs to be built into mainstream decision-making, from capital investment and asset management to public health, planning, transport, housing, emergency response and local economic development.

That will require stronger partnership between local and national government, clear roles, better evidence, and stable funding. Councils cannot adapt Scotland alone, particularly when many of the policy and finance levers sit nationally. But without councils, adaptation will not happen in the places where people live.

There is also a fairness issue. Climate impacts do not fall evenly. Those already facing disadvantage are often least able to absorb the disruption of flooding, overheating, damage to homes, transport disruption or pressure on local services. A just transition must therefore include a just approach to adaptation.

The good news is that many of the actions we need are already well understood. Early investment in resilient buildings, drainage, nature restoration, green infrastructure, land use planning and service design can reduce future costs and avoid disruption. Waiting will only make choices harder and more expensive.

COSLA will continue to make the case that climate adaptation is central to the future of public services. It will now be part of the Climate Delivery Framework and should be part of discussions on public sector reform and integral to how Scotland thinks about resilience, investment and place. The challenge is significant, but so is the opportunity: to build communities that are safer, greener, fairer and better prepared for the climate we now know is coming.