Annual Report 2025/26 - Delivery Plan Implementation and Next Steps

Climate Conscious Shetland brings partners together to support coordinated action on climate change, helping Shetland reduce emissions and build resilience to current and future climate impacts. During 2025/26, the initiative moved from strategy development towards implementation, with partners approving the Climate Conscious Shetland Strategy and Implementation Plan. This provides a shared framework through which organisations can align activity, identify common priorities and collaborate in areas of mutual interest.

Progress during 2025/26 included:

• Completing the Rural Energy Hub in Brae following a full refurbishment of the Youth Centre. The development includes an electric vehicle charging point and has created associated employment opportunities, supporting local capacity for low-carbon activity. 
• Making climate emergency training available to all Shetland Partnership organisations, helping to build understanding of climate risks and organisations’ capacity to take action. 
• Initiating rewilding projects across Shetland to support biodiversity and strengthen the resilience of local ecosystems. 
• Securing funding to map Shetland’s coastline, strengthening the evidence available to plan for storms, flooding and coastal erosion. 
• Continuing quarterly Shetland Partnership Climate Change Forum meetings, enabling partners to share progress, identify common priorities and coordinate activity. 

Delivering the Shetland Climate Festival 2025, bringing together partners and communities to showcase climate action, share learning and encourage wider engagement with climate resilience initiatives.

Next steps will focus on embedding the Strategy and Implementation Plan across partner organisations, strengthening coordinated climate communications and maintaining opportunities to share information, evidence and learning. The Partnership will continue to support organisations to translate their climate commitments into practical activity and identify opportunities for collaborative work that reduces emissions, strengthens resilience and protects Shetland’s environment. As delivery progresses, there will also be a greater focus on demonstrating the outcomes and wider benefits of the work.

Related case studies: Brae Rural Energy Hub, Growing Wild, and Junior Rangers.