End of Commitment Report – Establish an Open Government stakeholder network to deliver on participation and engagement requirements across key milestones for climate change policy

Name of Evaluator

Andy McDevitt

Email

[email protected]

Member Name

Scotland, United Kingdom

Action PlanAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... Title

Action plan – Scotland, United Kingdom, 2021 – 2025

CommitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action...

Establish an Open Government stakeholder network to deliver on participation and engagement requirements across key milestones for climate change policy

Title

Establish an Open Government stakeholder network to deliver on participation and engagement requirements across key milestones for climate change policy

Action

An initial core group of stakeholders will be set up to co-create the terms of reference for the network, set out governance, and initial plans for the selection and membership process. This will ensure a clear understanding of the network’s remit and a solid basis on which to begin a process of co-creation. The open government partnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More will then co-create a 4-year commitment, with additions and revisions during delivery. This will contain the activities and targets for the network to advise on, as well as key milestones, plus practicalities like the resource ask of the network and methods of participation. The partnership will undertake as its initial milestone establishing a stakeholder network to support in delivering on participation and engagement requirements across the delivery of aspects of climate change policy. Given the established climate change policy landscape, the network would be focused on implementation rather than policy design. During the four years of the Action Plan, there will be collaborative reflection to revisit this and refocus as required.It is anticipated that the network will include a broad range of stakeholders, who would act as a pool from which to draw advice via different methods on a range of climate policy issues. The expected result from the network is advice that supports more participation/engagement in the implementation of key climate change policies, including delivering against objectives in these policies.

Problem

The Scottish Government has set ambitions to become a net-zero greenhouse gas-emitting nation by 2045, with interim targets of 75% by 2030 and 90% by 2040, against 1990 baseline levels. It has committed to doing this in a way that is just and fair for all people across Scotland. To achieve the system-wide transformation needed to become a net-zero nation, it is crucial that stakeholders, communities, and people are aware of the global climate emergency and Scottish Government climate change policy, understand how it relates to their lives, and are able to participate in its delivery. Participation is key to ensuring all groups are bought-in to Scotland’s climate ambitions and are part of the collective effort required. Reaching a diverse audience and different sections of Scottish society to enable participation and engagement in climate change policy will require collaboration with the many and varied organisations across Scotland best placed to deliver these activities. There is currently no singular forum to support this by bringing these organisations together with climate change policymakers. In line with the Just Transition approach and the principles of the Public Engagement Strategy for Climate Change (PES), there is a need to consolidate and widen the existing pool of stakeholders regularly consulted, streamline consultative processes, and use these connections to maximise opportunities to develop new options for and drive public participationGiving citizens opportunities to provide input into government decision-making leads to more effective governance, improved public service delivery, and more equitable outcomes. Technical specificatio... and engagement.

1.1 What was the overall level of progress in the commitment implementation at the time of this assessment?

Substantial

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

CPEN members contributed to government policy work through impact assessments and consultation on the Disposable Cups Levy. Members had six opportunities to advise on Just Transition Plans (JTPs) via discussion papers and engagement sessions, covering topics including land use, agriculture, and transport. The Draft Climate Change Plan (CCP) publication was delayed in November 2023, with stakeholder engagement expected to resume. Two network meetings were held in February and December 2024; no meetings took place in 2025 to allow internal review of CPEN’s future. Membership is broad, spanning climate and non-climate organisations across Scotland’s varied geographies and demographics. 27 members attended the members’ meeting, though a follow-up survey received no responses. (See Final Report for further details and references)

1.2 Describe the main external or internal factors that impacted implementation of this commitment and how they were addressed (or not).

The commitment suffered from the fact that it was developed somewhat in isolation from, rather than in step with, the statutory public engagement strategy for climate change, through which the main delivery of the Scottish Government’s climate public engagement is delivered. Initial ambitions to include a young people-focused element to CPEN did not proceed as it was decided that this would be too resource-intensive, and may also imply safeguarding issues. Engagement with Children and Young People was delivered through the PES portfolio through other methods, including the participation programme and the Climate Action Schools programme. Another barrier to using CPEN is that it was not built into workstream planning across Scottish Government policy structures and processes. As such, when resources are tight and priorities are many, CPEN will tend not to be used.
The commitment was also affected by changes in policy priorities within the climate change sector. In April 2024, the Climate Change Committee advised the Scottish Government that the interim net zero target to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030 (versus 1990 levels) was no longer credible. The Scottish Parliament passed new legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r... to shift to a new system of carbon budgets, whilst maintaining its existing commitment to reach net zero by 2045. As a result, the government’s next Climate Change Plan (initially a key focus of the engagement work under this commitment) was significantly delayed, with consultation on the draft plan not launched until November 2025. For this reason, the focus during the action plan period prioritised the JTP process to support the engagement and ambitions on co-design. (See Final Report for further details and references)

1.3 Was the commitment implemented as originally planned?

Most of the commitment milestones were implemented as planned

Provide a brief explanation of your answer:

1 milestone was fully completed, one was substantially completed, and one was completed to a limited extent

2.1.1. – Did the government disclose more information; improve the quality of the information (new or existing); improve the value of the information; improve the channels to disclose or request information or improve accessibility to information?

Not Applicable

2.1.2. – Did the government create new opportunities to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation inform or influence decisions; improve existing channels or spaces to seek feedback from citizens/enable participation/ inform or influence decisions; create or improve capabilities in the government or the public aimed to improve how the government seeks feedback from citizens/enables participation/ or allows for the public to inform or influence decisions?

Yes

Degree of result:

Marginal

Explanation: In narrative form, what has been the impact on people or practice.

Although the commitment was successful in completing many of the activities set out in the original plan, most notably in the setting up and running of the Climate Policy Engagement Network (CPEN), broader impact was constrained by the limited depth of engagement in practice. CPEN has had some success in influencing the policy development process, including with regard to consultation design (e.g., on the Transport Just Transition Plan and the draft Climate Change Plan). Of the different policy areas, CPEN has been most used to advise on Just Transition Plans, with 6 opportunities for CPEN members to advise on JTPs through engagement on JTP Discussion Papers. More than 10 stakeholders advised on each opportunity, although it has not been determined how many other network members advised in each case. Although there was an ambitionAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, OGP commitments should “stretch government practice beyond its current baseline with respect to key areas of open government.” Ambition captures the po... for peer learning and knowledge sharing on the forum, this did not take place, with little content driven by membership or civil society. The government team shared some news items or resources to stimulate discussion, but these posts had limited traction. (See Final Report for further details and references)

2.1.3 Did the government create or improve channels, opportunities or capabilities to hold officials answerable to their actions?

Not Applicable

2.1.4 Other Results

Not Applicable

2.2 Did the commitment address the public policy problem that it intended to address as described in the action plan?

Unclear

3. Provide at least one lesson or reflection relating to the implementation of this commitment. It can be the identification of key barriers to implementation, an unexpected help/hindrance, recommendations for future commitments, or if the commitment should be taken forward to the next action plan.

While the next action plan is unlikely to contain a dedicated commitment to climate change, there is scope for this and other streams of work under this action plan to continue under other themes, e.g., the public participation theme. According to the government, no decisions have been made regarding the future of CPEN itself and if/how its remit and role in the public engagement process might change once the Climate Change Plan has been finalised. Regardless of the approach adopted, both government and civil society agreed that any potential future iteration of this work would need to see better alignment between OGP and the next iteration of the statutory climate change public engagement strategy. Public participation on Climate Change policy remains a priority as part of the Climate Change Public Engagement Strategy.