S USTA I NABLE T R ANSI TION
Sustainable environment
Sustainable transition Sustainable society
CLIMATE ADAPTATION
“Society needs to be better equipped to tackle climate change” Extreme rainfall, heatwaves and droughts will become increasingly common as the climate changes. This will impose significant strains on society. The extent of the impact will be dependent on the extent of the climate change, but also on our ability to adapt society to these changes. Local authorities will play a central role in this work, believes Hanna Matschke Ekholm at IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute. “The Swedish society needs to be better equipped to tackle extreme weather and climate change. All local authorities need to analyse how they will be affected by a changing climate and then implement measures to reduce their vulnerability.” In the summer of 2021, Sweden and many other countries were affected by both extreme rainfall as well as heatwaves and drought. This type of extreme weather will become increasingly common in the future due to climate change. The weather in Europe is expected to change significantly within just a few decades, according to the UN climate panel, the IPCC. In much of Sweden, days with extremely heavy rainfall are expected to be both more common and more intense. In parts of southern and eastern Sweden, water shortages will become an increasing problem. “Emissions need to be reduced quickly and radically, yet at the same time we need to adapt society to the climate change that is already here and the change that is to come. The extent of the future damage – and the costs – caused by climate change will largely be determined by our ability to adapt society. The local authorities have a very important role to play in this work, as they are responsible for implementing tangible measures,” said Hanna Matschke Ekholm at IVL. She has mapped the work of the local authorities regarding climate adaptation on behalf of the trade association Insurance Sweden. This mapping process, which is performed every two years, shows the needs and challenges that exist and is intended to encourage more local authorities to work systematically on climate adaptation. In the latest mapping round, presented in June 2021, nearly all
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the local authorities that took part in the survey indicated that they have been affected by climate change and extreme weather events, although fewer than half have allocated resources for climate adaptation measures. Only six out of ten local authorities have analysed the way in which they have been affected by previous extreme weather events. There are also significant differences between different local authorities. Smaller towns and local authorities in rural areas have generally not come as far as larger local authorities in their climate adaptation work. Many local authorities state that they need more support and increased resources. T H E L O C A L AU T HOR IT I E S T H AT H AV E COM E F U RT H E ST One thing that the local authorities at the top of the rankings have in common is that they have made policy decisions to work on climate adaptation. They have also integrated climate adaptation into their regular activities and allocated resources to coordinate the work. Hanna Matschke Ekholm considers that more local authorities need to work this way. “Key factors include having a mandate, for climate adaptation to be prioritised and for there to be someone who is coordinating the work, as well as for the local authority to allocate resources – this provides the conditions to be able to pursue long-term and systematic climate adaptation work,” she says.
IVL SWEDISH ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE
