Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

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Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic: Perspectives from the Barents Area

Bering - Chukchi - Beaufort

Barents

Baffin Bay

Davis Strait

Figure 1.1 The three pilot regions for the project Adaptation Actions for a Changing Arctic. Blue lines delimit Large Marine Ecosystems (LMEs). AACA terrestrial regions Baffin Bay, Davis Strait (BBDS) Barents Bering, Chukchi, Beaufort (BCB) BBDS Barents BCB AACA marine regions Large marine ecosystem (LMEs) boundaries

areas, and Svalbard and Franz Josef Land.Thus, the study area is broader than the ‘Barents Region’ as defined by the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC; www.beac.st/en). This report sometimes also covers the neighboring regions of Yamalo- Nenets. This reflects the social, economic and environmental continuity to these nearby regions for some issues.This broader area is referred to here as the‘Barents area’ or the‘Barents study area’. The term ‘Barents Region’ is only used in the context of the defined BEAC area. The assessment is based on peer-reviewed publications, indigenous and local knowledge, and other documented information and data. By applying a ‘resilience and adaptation lens’to existing information and assessments,it has been possible to identify and highlight the key local and regional perspectives that will provide decision-makers with the information they need to prepare for and respond to the challenges, while taking well-judged advantage of the opportunities. The report comprises ten chapters. Chapter 2 provides an overview of the current status of environmental and socio- economic conditions in the region, while Chapter 3 gives insights into regional and local knowledge on adaptation . Chapter 4 outlines future socio-economic and climate changes in the region based on observed trends and model projections. The construction of future scenarios and narratives based on stakeholder consultation is discussed in Chapter 5, as a tool for identifying adaptation needs and evaluating strategies. Additional analyses of impacts from climatic, environmental and socio-economic drivers and their interaction, and as well

Owing to the social, economic and environmental diversity of the Barents area, there are different views, expectations and concerns about the future of the region, the changes expected and what can be done to prepare for and adapt to these changes. The capacity of the region to adapt depends on social and environmental contexts (e.g. demography and economic diversity), as well as on conflicting interests, decision-making power and capacity, and access to relevant knowledge. This report provides a knowledge base for understandingArctic change and its impacts upon communities and ecosystems in the Barents area, as well as tools for adaptation. It presents insights and perspectives that can help society become better equipped to cope with, and even thrive in a rapidly changing Arctic. Mitigation actions, including the essential mitigation of greenhouse gases, will increase the potential for successful adaption to Arctic change by local/regional actors, through decreasing the rate of change to which ecosystems and human systems must adapt, and over the long term through limiting the amplitude of that change.Adaptation and mitigation must therefore proceed in parallel. 1.3 Outline of the Barents area report This report summarizes existing knowledge related to past, present and possible future changes within a section of the Arctic – in this case the Barents area (Figure 1.2).The geographic scope includes the Barents Sea as well as the adjacent terrestrial