Lessons Learned from Climate Risk Governance in the Hotspot of Climate Change

Understanding and adapting to climate change is one of the greatest ongoing challenges society faces. No other areas in the world experience climate changes as fast as the Arctic region. Longyearbyen, a settlement in the Norwegian archipelago Svalbard is located in the hotspot of the climate changes. This means that successful strategies for assessing and managing risks in response to climate change in Longyearbyen will serve as an important basis for future climate adaptation in other relevant parts of the world. This paper presents the main findings from the research project Arct-Risk (Risk governance of climate-related systemic risk in the Arctic), which aimed to develop knowledge and tools to understand and manage the effects of climate change on societal security. Five key lessons learned are identified: 1) Climate prognoses and data must be broken down into appropriate time and geographical units to make them applicable in risk assessments and planning work, 2) Methods for identifying and managing uncertainty will improve climate adaptation work and the handling of natural hazard events, 3) Utilizing local knowledge in various aspects of climate adaptation and natural hazard management systems will enhance risk understanding, thereby providing a stronger foundation for decision-making, 4) Use of sensor technology in warning systems to handle natural hazards and climate change as a flexible and low-cost solution for climate adapation and 5) Use of climate adaptation indicators at the municipal level for awareness and follow-up of systematic climate adaptation work

Keywords: Climate adaptation, Climate risk, Risk governance, Arctic.