Finland’s National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2022.

Finland’s National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change adopted in 2005 aims to reinforce and enhance the capacity to adapt to climate change in Finland. The focus of the adaptation strategy is the national level and the approach is sector-based. The key objective of the adaptation strategy is to incorporate adaptation as a cross-cutting perspective into the planning, activities and follow-up within the sectors. The strategy deals with the impacts of climate changes and proposes measures to be introduced immediately as well as lines of action to be followed over longer term. Incorporation of climate change adaptation into national development plans is promoted. The objective is to reduce poverty, improve food security, promote the sustainable use of natural resources, increase the amounts of water and cultivable land available and access to sustainably produced energy, support social stability and equality and, through all this, prevent uncontrollable migratory flows both within counties and across borders.
The Finnish society has the capacity to manage the risks associated with climate change and adapt to changes in the climate. Based on the aim the following objectives are set until the year 2022: Adaptation has been integrated into the planning and activities of both the various sectors and their actors. The actors have access to the necessary climate change assessment and management methods. Research and development work, communication and education and training have enhanced the adaptive capacity of society, developed innovative solutions and improved citizens’ awareness on climate change adaptation. The objectives and measures of the National Climate Change Adaptation Plan extend until the year 2022, but the aim extends far into the future. The international repercussions of climate change are taken into account in the national work.
The most significant means to prevent and reduce the adverse impacts of climate change is by mitigating greenhouse gas emissions on a global scale. The uncertainty associated with the magnitude or exact impacts of climate change should not be an obstacle to launching practical actions. The adaptation plan does not make any detailed assumptions on the type of climate we need to adapt to in the near future. However, there is serious cause to launch the measures that should be taken independent of the magnitude of climate change and how quickly it proceeds. Adaptation actions aim for flexibility, with alternative potential pathways taken into account in the planning and implementation of the measures and anticipation and further reassessment of the measures as more detailed information becomes available on climate change. The measures are targeted for adaptation to both the climate change and natural climate variability.
Fields of action and measures: 6. CLIMATE RISK ASSESSMENT AND MANAGEMENT IS IMPROVED a) The current risk assessment and management procedures are reinforced in order to take better account of the impacts of climate change, including its international repercussions. b) The knowledge base on the risks and vulnerabilities relating to climate change is supplemented especially with regard to sectors where more information on the impacts of climate change is needed. c) Methods for the assessment of the impacts of climate change (incl. both costs and benefits) suitable for use by sectors, local and regional actors and enterprises and methods for risk and vulnerability studies are developed. In this work attention is given to promoting openness and participatory approach and broad applicability of the methods. d) Risk assessment and management competence and related education and training of actors in support of climate resilience assessments are promoted. 7. Instruments Applicable to the Management of Financial Risks Caused by Climate Change are Developed: a) The sufficiency and development needs of financial risk management instruments such as insurance policies are studied. b) The development of the necessary management instruments for the financial risks caused by climate change is promoted.