Climate Risk Register and Tool image #1

Created in collaboration with the Adaptation Scotland programme, the Climate Risk Register Guide and Tool aims to assist institutions that are at the beginning and intermediate stages of their adaptation journey to take the next right step. Following on from previous resources ‘Adapting universities and colleges to a changing climate' (2019) and 'Using an existing organisational resilience framework to develop a Climate Change Adaptation Plan' (2019), this guide aims to piece together the main resources available on climate change adaptation in Scotland with a Further and Higher Education (FHE) lens.

We bring in: 

  1. Best practice examples of universities and colleges preparing their institutions for present and future climate scenarios. 
  2. Resources and guidance from across Scotland and the United Kingdom. 
  3. A bespoke Climate Risk Register tool and Borders College case study of the tool in practice that you can complete and modify for your own institution’s needs.                                     


Note: This guide is focused primarily on the Scottish context, but is applicable across the UK. 

Key features of the Risk Register Tool include:

  • A template for the assessment of climate vulnerability to institutional assets and operations.
  • An institutional Exposure Assessment based on current and future climatic conditions.
  • Risk Register template to manage risks, assign impact and likelihood scores, and identify actions.
  • Scoring matrix to prioritise action areas.
  • Climate Adaptation Action Plan template.
  • Weather incident log and campus flood risk templates.


The downloadable and linked resources include: 

  • Introductory guide to climate change adaptation and climate risk registers
  • Risk register tool 
  • Risk register tool demonstration video 
  • Risk register tool user guide 

Our Sustainability Project Manager for the Central and South of Scotland College Partnership Rory Hill has recorded a Borders College case study walk-through of the tool.

Videos