SPF Response to draft climate change duties - statutory guidance for public bodies

We responded to the Scottish Government’s consultation on draft climate change duties statutory guidance for public bodies.

In our response we have relayed member concerns over the issue of SEPA’s reliance on the worst-case future scenarios of considering the RCP 8.5 scenario (4.3 degrees global temperature rise) for flood risk assessment. This presents significant challenges for current developments, this use of over precautionary modelling means some developments are struggling to qualify for flooding insurance and there's a real risk there will be an artificial deflation in property values and a reduction of investment appeal in certain areas.