Guidance

Community benefits

What are community benefits?

Community benefits are voluntary packages that businesses and developers provide to support communities. These can be financial or in-kind assistance, and both aim to empower communities to devise and deliver projects according to the needs and aspirations of the wider community.

Historically, they are a well-established, integral part of renewable energy development. Community benefits can vary in scale, sector and longevity enormously. Their impact in delivering community priorities can be life changing.

The opportunity

Local Energy Scotland figures highlight that community benefits from renewables provided around £25m in the last year alone to areas of benefit. Scotland has an active and engaged community sector, and with government commitments to community empowerment, community wealth building and a just transition, there is a focus on the potential community land and asset ownership offers in income generation - particularly from the natural capital marketplace.

The power of community benefits from natural capital

Scotland offers potential for nature-based carbon offsetting to scale up through forestry, peatlands, soils and potentially the marine environment.

Natural capital markets could contribute to community wealth building including the use of community benefits as a means to engage communities and share wealth throughout the local economy.

Working with a range of partners, we've drawn together examples from across Scotland - showcasing how communities who have received various types of community benefits have managed and delivered a range projects. Download a copy of the guidance below.

Community benefits - a bridge to progress guide

Carbon sequestration

Interested in the potential from carbon markets? Find out more about the potential value to communities identified in our research.

Carbon sequestration Argyll and Bute research

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