Climate-Conscious Shetland - Blog Post
Climate Conscious Shetland
Building a Climate Conscious Shetland Together
By Claire Ferguson, Climate Change Strategy Team Leader, Shetland Islands Council
Community, resilience, and natural environment are some of Shetland's greatest strengths, and so we must ensure we protect them in the face of climage change. Over the last two years, we've been working together across sectors to shape a local response that’s rooted in evidence, community voices and collaboration.
Through the Climate Conscious Shetland project, we’ve co-developed a shared strategy for change. At the heart of this has been listening: to data, to experts, and – crucially – to people living and working across Shetland. From peatland restoration to energy transition, transport, waste, buildings and nature-based solutions, every conversation helped shape our approach.
Our Net Zero Route Map has helped build a clearer picture of where Shetland’s emissions come from. Land use – particularly degraded peatlands – emerged as an important area to focus on, while sectors like aviation, marine transport and energy-intensive industries also need to be considered in a way that reflects Shetland’s geographic and economic reality.
But the Climate Change Strategy isn’t just a technical document. It’s the product of sector-led workshops, logic modelling, and real engagement with Shetland’s unique context. Over 100 people from key local sectors helped identify practical, coordinated action – from retrofitting homes to trialling innovative transport solutions and restoring biodiversity.
Now, we’re moving from plans to action. With support from across the Shetland Partnership, we’ve begun delivering projects that put the strategy into practice – projects like the Brae Rural Energy Hub, solar and battery trials, and improved community data on emissions. These efforts are helping us build both resilience and fairness into our transition.
Over the next few months, we are meeting with Partnership organisations to discuss how best implementation of the strategy can work for all organisations to give the best chance of success in reaching our common climate goals.
Climate Conscious Shetland sits alongside a number of other key Improvement Projects being taken forward through the Shetland Partnership – all aligned with the community planning priorities set out in the Local Outcomes Improvement Plan. These include:
- EmPowering Shetland: strengthening financial wellbeing and tackling hardship
- Compassionate Shetland: embedding kindness and mental wellbeing into communities
- Person‑Centred Delivery: reforming how support systems work for people
Together, these projects are helping to put the Shetland Partnership’s vision into practice — building a more inclusive, connected, resilient, and future-focused Shetland where services follow people, not the other way around. More information on these Improvement Projects is available here.