Local Adaptation Policy in Norway

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Local Adaptation Policy in Norway

• Ingrid T. Norland

Program for Research and Documentation for a
Sustainable Society
A strategic university program Centre for
Development and the Environment (SUM) University
of Oslo
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Information needs for adaptation policies at
local level

• How to establish climate adaptation on the local
  policy-agenda?
• Adaptation to what?
• ? Developing local-scale vulnerability
  assessments (or tools)
• Cicero (OBrien et al., 2003) Climate change
  vulnerability in Norway Socio-economic
  perspectives on policies and impacts
• Mapping project based on a uniform set of
  municipal level indicators agriculture, forestry
  and winter tourism
• ProSus/Western Norway Research Institute
  (Aall/Norland, 2004) Indicators for the
  assessment of local climate vulnerability
• The development of a vulnerability indicator
  model for local-level assessments
• Information needs at local level
• ?
• Local level as information provider

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Uncertainty
Man-made emissions of GHG
Climate change
Possible effects of climate change (causal
knowledge)
Geographical distribution of climate effects in
time and space
Eco-system effects
Eco-system effects
Physical effects
Physical effects
Socio-economic effects
Socio-economic effects
Mitigation
Adaptation
high uncertainty less uncertainty
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Acute flooding
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A two-step indicator-based model
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Agriculture
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A two-step indicator-based model
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Local risk maps
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Policy implications

• The role of local competence
• To reduce the uncertainty linked to local effects
• To increase the capacity of local communities to
  relate to the aspect of uncertainty
• ? Increased local capacity (competence, economic
  resources etc.)
• ? Nationallocal partnership in policy-making
• ? Integrated perspectives on mitigation and
  adaptation at local level
• The importance of a supplementing social science
  perspective on climate adaptation research, to
  optain knowledge on
• climate effects on society and
• how the society can relate to climate change