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

the Environment, 2010), and in 2015 an updated report with new, downscaled projections for climate change, hydrological impacts, flooding, sea-level rise and geohazards was delivered (Hanssen-Bauer et al., 2015). The Norwegian Environment Agency has been assigned the responsibility of coordinating the national level work on adaptation,while the county governor is coordinating,advising and overseeing the municipal activities on adaptation in their county, and checking that municipal and county level planning adheres to national policies. The White Paper on Adaptation focuses in particular on spatial planning, local and regional preparedness and emergency planning, and overseeing that climate change adaptation is included within the areas of the public actors’ responsibilities as the main areas for adaptation (NorwegianMinistry of the Environment, 2013). Adaptation activities in Norway within the public sector have mainly focused on natural hazards, for example avalanche protection in Hammerfest and the need to incorporate increased flood levels and rising sea level in spatial planning (Hovelsrud et al.,2010b; Stokke 2014).A focus in the agricultural sector has been attention to agricultural crops that can thrive in a warmer and wetter climate and the 24-hour daylight of the northernNorwegian summer (Kvalvik et al.,2011; Uleberg et al., 2014). As is the case in Finland and Sweden, municipalities are in the early stages of developing adaptation plans and activities, and currently there are no formal requirements to develop such plans. Few municipalities in northern Norway have included adaptation in their planning documents to date, notable exceptions are Hammerfest and Tromsø municipalities (Hovelsrud et al., 2010b; Dannevig et al., 2013; Stokke, 2014), but this is unlikely to be the case for much longer. Formal guidance on the inclusion of adaptation in municipal planning is currently being prepared at the national level and is also being requested by the municipalities themselves. The Norwegian Arctic region is the only geographical area subject to particular attention in theWhite Paper onAdaptation (Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, 2013). The white paper justifies this by the rapid warming in the Arctic and the reliance of Arctic communities on climate sensitive industries. It also highlights the need for continued ecosystem-based management of the Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea as a response to climate change. 9.2.2.2 Sweden In Sweden, adaptation policy at the national level has mainly been developed through the Swedish Commission on Climate and Vulnerability (2007). This is followed up in a Climate Bill (Government Offices of Sweden, 2009), and in guidelines by departments, linked to the Swedish environmental quality objectives processes (e.g. Rydell and Lind, 2009; Persson and Rummukainen,2010).The Commission report presents a broad overview of impacts and adaptation needs in multiple sectors in Sweden, with forestry and reindeer husbandry of relevance for northern areas, in addition to universally relevant sectors such as water management, construction and infrastructure (Swedish Commission on Climate andVulnerability, 2007).The Climate Bill (Government Offices of Sweden, 2009) focused on financial support for regional (county administrative boards) coordination of climate change adaptation work, development

The 2014 Arctic Human Development Report (Larsen and Fondahl, 2015), the 2013 Arctic Resilience Interim Report (Arctic Council, 2013b) and the 2014 Arctic Social Indicators Report (Larsen et al., 2015) do not have a specific geographic focus on the Barents area, although several case studies within these reports do concern this region. Projects specific to the Barents area include the Barents Euro-Arctic Council’s adoption of the Action Plan on Climate Change for the Barents Co-operation (see Chapter 3). To support the development and implementation of climate strategies that include both mitigation and adaptation activities within the Barents area, Sorvali (2015) analyzed current strategies for each Barents area country and found that the implementation of adaptation measures has received less attention than emission reduction measures. 9.2.2 Organization of adaptation policies and governance This section describes adaptation policies and governance by country in order to highlight the different ways that adaptation is currently organized within the Barents Region. Table 9.1 outlines the different national adaptation strategies and vulnerability assessments. In addition to national policy focus on adaptation, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council (BEAC) has addressed climate change regionally through ‘the Action Plan on Climate for the Barents Cooperation’ (climatesmart.fi). This initiative is designed to develop regional strategies for mitigation and adaptation to climate change in theBarentsRegionand to improve the exchange of ideas and experience between countries.Activities and themes relevant to adaptation that are to be realized under different BEAC working groups include water management, transport, reindeer husbandry and protected areas.See Chapter 3 for amore extensive outline of regional cooperation in the Barents area. 9.2.2.1 Norway Climate change adaptation in Norway is organized in a similar way to that in Sweden and Finland, in that responsibilities are delegated to sectoral institutions but with themain responsibility for climate change adaptation falling to the municipalities, loosely coordinated by the regional level (county governor). A governmental commission on adaptation delivered an Official Norwegian Report to the Ministry of the Environment in 2010 (NorwegianMinistry of the Environment,2010),which built on a range of peer reviewed scientific reports and papers on current and projected impacts of climate change inNorway.As a follow- up theNorwegianWhite Paper onAdaptation (2013),focused on climate change challenges and on howNorway could handle such changes in order to becomemore resilient (NorwegianMinistry of the Environment,2013).The core principle is that responsibility for adaptation is placed with the actor responsible for the task or function impacted by climate change (Norwegian Ministry of the Environment, 2013). It follows that key responsibilities for adaptation lie with the municipalities because they are responsible for overall societal development, infrastructure, and spatial planning. The Government has commissioned several scientific reports on projected climate change and impacts since the Official Norwegian Report of 2010 (Norwegian Ministry of