Balance - Roadmaps

Anderson Bell + Christie urges the Scottish Government to implement the roadmaps in their white paper, Balance. Achieving carbon balance in Scotland requires legislative changes to enable a place-based approach to net zero, benefiting flood risk mitigation, urban heating reduction, air quality, and wellbeing.

New legislation should establish a circular construction industry with:

1. Standard embodied carbon measurement and assessment procedures.

2. An enforceable embodied carbon limit of 150kgCO2e/m² (stages A-D excluding biogenic carbon) by 2045.

3. Formation of a deconstruction industry.

4. A national materials mining database.

5. Enforceable material reuse requirements.

To remove atmospheric carbon through living organic material, the white paper calls for:

6. Standard sequestration measurement and assessment procedures.

7. Comprehensive local authority tree surveys and management plans, with mandatory GIS publication.

8. Enforceable protections for all documented trees.

9. 2040 local development plans to demonstrate a holistic approach to net zero using balance calculations.

ABC Director Jonathan McQuillan emphasises the need to start now for readiness in 20 years.

To find out more, please visit our dedicated website where the full white paper can be accessed - Balance

#EmbodiedCarbon #Balance