ECCI Evidence Statment: Scotland’s climate policy and knowledge brokerage

Scotland’s climate policy: Implications for knowledge brokerage

How have priorities in climate policymaking changed since the Scottish Government’s centre of expertise on climate change, ClimateXChange, was established in 2011?

Governments around the world are navigating increasingly complex and uncertain climate policy landscapes. As climate risks intensify and policy choices carry far-reaching social, economic and environmental implications, policymakers rely on a diverse suite of evidence to design and implement strategies for mitigation, adaptation and resilience building.

In this context, knowledge brokers play a central role in enabling evidence-informed climate governance.

One such knowledge broker organisation is ClimateXChange (CXC), established in 2011 as the Scottish Government’s centre of expertise on climate change, with a secritariat based at ECCI.

This research examines the evolution of evidence demand from the Scottish Government through CXC and explores what this reveals about changing priorities in climate policymaking.

Drawing on a review of 299 research outputs commissioned between 2011 and 2024, research analysed how evidence asks have shifted over time and considers the implications of these shifts for the future of knowledge brokerage.

Authors: Dr Ashrika Shama and Dr Kate Donovan

ECCI Evidence Statement - Scotland’s climate policy: Implications for knowledge brokerage