Groundbreaking report shows climate risks to Scottish Highlands

A ground-breaking report from the Highland Adapts partnership reveals how climate change will impact the Scottish Highlands. The first of its kind, the assessment details both the risks and the opportunities which the Highlands face.

The Highland Climate Risk and Opportunity Assessment examines how climate change will affect three crucial areas of the Highlands’ economy:

• energy
• forestry and timber
• food and drink.

The results are clear: we must make big changes to ensure climate resilience in the Scottish Highlands.

What does the report show?

The report shows that the Highlands are already feeling the impact of climate change. Both mitigation and adaptation will be crucial to avoid further negative outcomes.

Key findings of the report include:

• Climate change could shrink the Highland’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 1.5% per year by the 2050s, then 3.3% by the 2080s.
• Financial impacts of flooding are currently £11 million per year.  This could rise to £20 million per year by mid-century.
• Economic costs of wildfires are currently £0.3 billion per year. This could quadruple by mid-century.
• Risks of highly negative impacts on energy generation, distribution, and delivery of net zero.
• Risks to salmon production from rising sea temperature and acidification.
• Risks to whisky production from extreme climate events and climate conditions.
• Significant risk to forestry and timber sector from drought, pests, disease, and wildfires.

How is Changeworks involved?

Changeworks was a founding partner of Highland Adapts in 2021, and we currently have representation on their board through Vicky Walker, Home Energy Scotland Highlands and Islands Centre Manager. Alice Tirbooman, a graduate trainee from our 2023 graduate scheme, also offers regular support to the partnership.

Changeworks supports Highland Adapts’ commitment to cooperative, transformational action for a prosperous, climate-ready Highland. Key to this goal is understanding the potential impacts of climate change across the Highland region, hence why the Climate Risk and Opportunity Assessment is so important.

For this project, we helped to summarise the long-form technical reports. Our particular focus was the Energy sector report summary. Highland Adapts have published these accessible summaries alongside the full reports, opening up their findings to a wider readership.

Vicky Walker said:

“We are delighted with the publication of this report and pleased to contribute to such an important project. We look forward to the report’s conclusions inspiring strong mitigation and adaptation action cross the Highlands.”