Adaptation to climate change impacts needs to be strengthened

The intensifying climate change and its impacts call for rapid efforts to adapt, as once again reiterated by the latest assessment report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 2022. This Special issue of FMI’s Climate Bulletin Research Letters brings together a diverse set of articles addressing climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation from a variety of disciplinary perspectives.

The articles here demonstrate research activities conducted as part of the Atmosphere and Climate Competence Center (ACCC), which is a flagship funded by Academy of Finland, at the moment for the years 2020-2024. ACCC is based on a partnership of INAR at the University of Helsinki, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Tampere University, and University of Eastern Finland. As a leading “ecosystem” of interdisciplinary research and innovation, ACCC provides beyond state-of-the-art scientific knowledge on two of the most urgent global grand challenges, climate change and deteriorating air quality. It aims to co-create science-based solutions and provide analyses and recommendations for policy to guide the world toward climate neutrality and beyond. Active interaction with policymakers, private sector and civil society is a cornerstone of ACCC’s work.

ACCC comprises a community of around 800 researchers and technical experts, working in a number of disciplines: physics, chemistry, meteorology, forest sciences, biology, microbiology, ecology, geography, computing sciences, economics, statistics, engineering, law, and political sciences. The research work under ACCC takes place under three interconnected Research Programs. This Special issue presents the work relating to ACCC Research Program 3 focusing on climate change impacts and adaptation.

TUULA HONKONEN Researcher

YAMINEVA Special issue editor

HILPPA GREGOW Editor in chief

This broad theme is examined from several different but related angles:

• Quantification of the impacts of Arctic change on high-latitude societies and ecosystems, and improving predictions of e.g., extreme weather events, vegetation changes and insect and wildfire outbreaks.

• Quantification of key ecological, social and economic impacts (including air quality) of land-use changes.

• Development of a new generation of impact modelling tools to support rapid adaptation.

• Assessment of adaptation pathways in relation to dynamic climate risks and implemented adaptation.

• Mapping the adequacy of existing legal frameworks for meeting Paris targets and developing recommendations for new climate policies.

The articles of this Special Issue presenting some highlights from RP3 natural sciences reflect challenges in carbon balance in an afforested wasteland (by Suvi Orttenvuori et al.) as well as nitrogen retention by biochar (by Kenneth Peltokangas et al.). New indicators and preliminary results are presented to be considered in the development of improved early warning systems. E.g., indicators that act as precursors of extreme convective weather are presented for Nordic countries (by Meri Virman et al.). Combined knowledge on aerosols and carbon dioxide concentrations were found useful when informing citizens of the breathable COVID-19 risks (by Hilppa Gregow et al.). Further, the Special Issue reflects on legal and governance issues. At the national level, more and more countries adopt adaptation laws and policies. At the international level, the Paris Agreement places a strong focus on adaptation and, in addition to that, various international and transnational institutions increasingly issue related guidance and standards. Global normative landscape on climate adaptation is clearly transforming; however, these changes have not yet been captured and explained by academics, and conceptual and empirical work to understand these phenomena is still to be done. The Special issue includes two short articles contributing to this debate. They discuss in particular: urban climate resilience in the context of the Finnish Climate Change Act (by Tuula Honkonen) and gender-responsive climate adaptation in international climate law (by Raihanatul Jannat).

DOI: 10.35614/ISSN-2341-6408-IK-2023-04-RL

Received Dec 8, 2022, accepted Mar 15, 2023, first online Apr 13, 2023, published May 15, 2023