Category: Cities and local authorities, Emission Inventories, Policies and measures

North East Scotland sustainable energy action plan

Aether led the development of the North East Scotland Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) for Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Angus and Moray.

Aether led the development of the North East Scotland Sustainable Energy Action Plan (SEAP) encompassing the local authorities (LAs) of Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City, Angus and Moray. The project involved providing technical assistance and capacity building support to the four LAs through the development of a regional SEAP as well as providing individual SEAPs for each LA. Aether was responsible for core GHG data compilation, emission scenario modelling, stakeholder engagement and assessing the impact of actions as well as authoring the final report and associated materials for submission to the Covenant of Mayors (CoM). The support focussed on creating a SEAP empowering public, private and community actors alike to enable efficient and engaging actions on local GHG emissions.

The Challenge

The regional approach the North East of Scotland is taking in order to develop a comprehensive and integrated SEAP requires the involvement of the private and public sectors across the region. Stakeholder engagement is key to enable significant and implementable climate change mitigation policies and actions and to develop the low carbon economy in the region. The key challenge for the project was to develop a cohesive evidence base and ‘route-map’ to demonstrate the region’s pathway to a low carbon future to inspire and galvanise professionals and inhabitants into coordinated action.

The Solution

Aether led a multidisciplinary team of collaborators to design and develop the project and ongoing programme for the North East Scotland SEAP. Working with each of the LAs and a regional steering group, the team considered LA-specific and regional mitigation actions and identified possible funding sources, financial mechanisms and potential co-benefits of the SEAP. The energy and GHG impacts of each policy/action were estimated and compared with targets for reductions. A SEAP governance structure was developed to ensure the ongoing decision-making and implementation of the plan. A regional SEAP report was authored for submission to the EU Covenant of Mayors

See all case studies

Chris Dore

Director

Related case studies

Ealing Council Climate Action Plan Multi-Criteria Analysis

Category: Cities and local authorities, Policies and measures

Aether developed a multi-criteria analysis of Ealing Council’s Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy (CEES) to support the Council with prioritisation and delivery of climate actions to reach their 2030 target of carbon neutrality.

Read case study

Luton Council Net Zero Roadmap and Climate Policy and Action Plan

Category: Cities and local authorities

Aether, alongside SE2 and associate Joanne Wade, developed a Net Zero Roadmap and Climate Policy and Action Plan to support the council in its vision of a net zero town by 2040.

Read case study

Lewisham Route to Neutral

Category: Cities and local authorities, Emission inventories, Policies and measures

Support to Lewisham Council to define the route to carbon neutral for the Borough

Read case study

News

Latest news

Posted on: 11 December 2025

Aether Provides Training to Strengthen Government of Jersey’s Climate Policy Modelling Capacity

“Aether provided an excellent structured training programme which has enabled us to develop the next phase of emissions modelling in-house. This process has built new skills within the team to support policy development and greater understanding of our GHG inventory.” Policy Principal, Government of Jersey

Read full story

Posted on: 06 October 2025

Aether Experts Contribute to IPCC Report on Short-Lived Climate Forcers

In the first week of October Richard Claxton and Sergii Shmarin were in Istanbul, contributing as lead authors to the upcoming IPCC Methodology Report on Short-Lived Climate Forcers (SLCFs). SLCFs - such as black carbon, and other ozone precursors play a critical role in climate change and air quality. The new methodology report will provide essential guidance for countries to improve their emissions inventories and strengthen climate action.

Read full story

Posted on: 01 September 2025

Six new project wins for the land development services team

Aether has recently expanded its Land Development services and secured six new commissions with one of the UK’s top 14 house builders. These projects span from comprehensive Environmental Impact Assessments for large-scale residential developments to focused sustainability, energy, and air quality reports for smaller schemes.

Read full story

Posted on: 01 August 2025

Aether expands land development services

Aether has strengthened its Land Development services with the appointment of Michael Dray as Principal Sustainability Advisor. Michael brings over a decade of experience in sustainability across the built environment, with specialist expertise in low-carbon infrastructure, life-cycle carbon assessment, and Passivhaus consultancy.

Read full story

Testimonial

Don't just take our word for it...

“Saint Lucia embraces the professional approach with which this project was undertaken by Aether, particularly their ability to develop mentorship relations with local government experts. This provides a basis for ensuring that the pool of local experts remain engaged and recognized over successive processes.”

Annette Rattigan-Leo, Chief Sustainable Development and Environment Officer

“The Aether team were a joy to work with and I would recommend the consultancy - the service provided throughout the process was exceptional. Where there were problems, they provided solutions. The team were working to very short time scales but were able to deliver a high quality piece of work within the specified time frame.”

Sefton Council - for the Merseyside Atmospheric Emissions Inventory

“It has been a pleasure to work with Chris Dore and Richard Claxton from Aether: they did their job in a very professional and timely manner. The workshop was organized and carried out in a cooperative spirit; the information provided to the workshop participants was complete and clear.”

Alina Novikova, UN/ECE Secretariat

“Aether is a great partner for work in the area of European Air Emissions. The team was committed, reliable, well organised and had a deep technical understanding and motivated other partners with their good spirit.”

Umweltbundesamt: Environment Agency Austria

“I must congratulate each of you for your professional and tireless efforts. Let me point out that this has been the 'neatest' in-country review expert review team I have coordinated, and it has been a real pleasure.”

UNFCCC Secretariat

“We have been collaborating with Aether for several years, and our projects have greatly benefited from it. Aether staff are very knowledgeable, professional and flexible - and last but not least, very friendly and a pleasure to work with.”

Umhverfisstofnun, Environment Agency of Iceland

“Engaging Aether to support us to develop the first GHG Inventory System and first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) for the United Republic of Tanzania has been a rewarding experience due to their high level of professionalism, creativity, timeliness and value for money. We will definitely consider Aether in our future initiatives.”

Abbas Kitogo, Programme Specialist Energy and Climate Change, UNDP Tanzania

“The Aether team were a joy to work with and I would recommend the consultancy - the service provided throughout the process was exceptional.”

Clare Bayley, Defra

“Aether's approach to couple innovative visualisation with high expertise manpower delivered valuable insights for our inventory work.”

Umweltbundesamt (Germany)

“The professional service provided by your company was of very high quality and completed within agreed timelines.”

Matthew Dudley, UNFCCC Secretariat

Required form 'ContactES' does not exist.