Scotland has set ambitious climate change targets to achieve net zero status by 2045. This determination is driving changes in so many aspects of our lives including what we eat, how we travel, and how we heat our buildings. Addressing this latter point is critical in making a successful transition to net zero given the currently high level of emissions resulting from how we heat our homes, businesses and publicly-accessible properties.

While we’ve made huge strides in decarbonising Scotland’s electricity supply – over 80 per cent is now generated by low carbon sources – heating remains a predominantly gas-fuelled energy source. Over half of Scotland’s energy demand comes from heating making it the single largest source of CO2 emissions.

The Scottish Government is now developing a new legislative and policy framework to support a renewable heat transition. It is an ambitious plan to tackle emissions from heating by changing the structure of our heating system – switching to low-carbon sources of heat and partially shifting to decentralised heat supply systems.

This framework encompasses the Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings Strategy as well as the Heat Network (Scotland) Act 2021 and associated Heat Networks Delivery Plan. New bodies will support the implementation of the new regime including the Scottish National Public Energy Agency (which will be in place by 2025 and is currently delivered by the Scottish Government), the Heat Network Support Unit (which is already operating), and Heat and Energy Efficiency Scotland, an agency to be set up by 2025 to coordinate heat decarbonisation. The Scottish renewable heat regime will be predominately independent of the UK regime, which is also under development.

The new framework is ambitious and far-reaching. It is a full-scale regulatory programme which will drive transformational changes to our energy supply. These changes will present challenges which we must anticipate and plan for but they also present opportunities, in particular to improve our climate resiliency. Such challenges and opportunities should be forefront in the minds of the Scottish legal sector as the legislative changes will impact clients from a broad range of sectors including local authorities, universities, social and private landlords, property developers, housebuilders, community groups, and corporations aiming to decarbonise their heat supply.

Scotland has long been a world leader on climate change and the heat transition is no different. Industry is already busy with renewable heat projects and this is driving a high level of environmental and infrastructure-focused work for lawyers. Within CMS, we are already helping a wide variety of clients to navigate the transition and the opportunities arising from it. The new framework is having a multidisciplinary impact with demand for advice on the planning, development and financing of renewable heat projects as well as on opportunities for purchasing renewable heat.

The demand for advice is symptomatic of the enormous change to the rules which govern our everyday lives. The heat transition is just the latest example of a structural legal change driven by a regulatory focus on reducing carbon emissions.

It is a stark reminder of the responsibilities of the legal profession. As lawyers, it is essential that we carefully follow the development of the new legislative regime, which should be fully operational sometime 2024 following a series of planned consultations which are due to be released shortly. We must anticipate the regime's impact on clients, aid their understanding of the new rules and ensure we guide and support them to successfully navigate the low carbon-transition.

Laura Sefton is a Senior Associate, CMS

Lawyers have a key role to play in transition to low-carbon heating - Laura Sefton