Part 2
Governance system for climate change adaptation
4 Framework for integrated and coordinated action
Figure 4.1
4.1 Climate change adaptation – a wicked problem for society
All sectors and areas of society are affected by climate change, or will be. It impacts both directly and indirectly and across sectors, industries and national borders. Different actors, sectors and areas of society are affected in different ways, to different extents and at different times. Thus, the efforts and measures needed vary greatly; climate change adaptation can range from practical solutions for stormwater management to the management of species threatened by climate change and security policy assessments.
How the climate will change and what the consequences will be are uncertain. As such, climate change adaptation can be described as a ‘stubborn problem’ or a ‘wicked problem’. These terms are used to describe tasks that are complex, without simple or easily defined solutions and that span organisational boundaries, and administrative areas and levels.1 In order to handle such a challenge, it is particularly important to have a common framework that covers the wide range of topics and issues, and facilitates systematic and well-coordinated efforts.
Climate change adaptation is part of the holistic transition to a sustainable society. In order to achieve climate-resilient development, climate change adaptation efforts must be viewed in the context of policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard nature and other environmental assets, and ensure social and economic sustainability.
Textbox 4.1 Climate-resilient development
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s definition, climate-resilient development ‘combines strategies to adapt to climate change with actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to support sustainable development for everyone’.
Source: IPCC (2022a).
4.2 National goal for climate change adaptation
The Government:
will expand the national goal for climate change adaptation to ‘society and ecosystems must be prepared for and adapted to climate change’
The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report highlights the connection between the state and development of nature and society’s vulnerability to climate change. The report states that securing resilient ecosystems and biodiversity globally will require effective conservation2 of 30 to 50 per cent of the Earth’s land, freshwater and marine areas. If ecosystems and biodiversity are safeguarded, nature can contribute to climate change adaptation, uptake of greenhouse gases and other important ecosystem services. Conserving ecosystems is thus fundamental to climate-resilient development. The Government therefore proposes to expand the national target for climate change adaptation to include ecosystems. The change is based on the knowledge that ecosystems in good condition play an important role in reducing the impact of climate change on both society and nature.
4.3 Different actors’ responsibility for climate change adaptation
Climate change affects all areas of society and all sectors. Everyone is responsible for adapting to climate change – governments, private companies and individuals. Public authorities have a particular responsibility to ensure that nature and society are prepared for and adapted to a changing climate.
The Government is responsible for the overarching climate change adaptation policy. All ministries are responsible for assessing whether and, if applicable, how the consequences of a changed climate affect their respective sectors, and for implementing actions to reduce vulnerability. The Ministry of Climate and Environment coordinates the ministries’ work and is responsible for the Government’s overall efforts to prepare and adapt nature and society to a changing climate. The Norwegian Environment Agency provides support to the Ministry of Climate and Environment in coordinating these efforts.
The municipal and county authorities have key tasks when it comes to adapting to climate change. Climate change affects many of the municipalities and county authorities’ responsibilities. The principle of responsibility implies that the municipal and county authorities must take climate change into account in areas such as land-use planning, pollution, nature management and civil protection and emergency preparedness.
Much of the adaptation work in the municipalities takes place through social and land-use planning pursuant to the Planning and Building Act. Climate change requires greater attention and more effective and targeted social and land-use planning. Facilitating good adaptation to climate change through planning work also requires extensive cooperation across sectors and actors. As planning authority, each municipality must facilitate the participation of the relevant authorities and actively contribute to planning processes.
The municipality’s responsibility for civil protection and emergency preparedness pursuant to the Act relating to Civil Protection is also key to the local adaptation work. The municipality must involve different actors in prevention, emergency preparedness and crisis management. Good cooperation with external social security actors, including NGOs, is important in the municipality’s civil protection efforts.
In addition to the role of planning authority with responsibility for civil protection and emergency preparedness, the municipality has several roles where climate change considerations must be taken into account. The municipality is the owner of buildings, roads and other infrastructure and a supplier of services in areas such as water and sewage, education and health. The municipality also plays an important role as a local community developer and facilitator for the business community.
At the regional level, county governors and the Governor of Svalbard are responsible for important tasks. The county governors coordinate central government governance signals to the municipalities and contribute to the local follow-up of national policy. Providing advice and guidance on municipal planning and coordination of the work on civil protection and emergency preparedness are key tasks for county governors in the area of climate change adaptation. The Governor of Svalbard is the Government’s highest representative on Svalbard. One of the Governor’s tasks is to assess the impact of climate change, taking into account its consequences for the administration of Svalbard.
As regional planning authority, each county authority plays an important role, including through its responsibility for regional development. In order to ensure effective and coordinated efforts, it is important that the county governors work with the county authorities to determine how climate change adaptation can be addressed in the municipalities’ planning work.
The business community and NGOs are important contributors and valuable partners for the authorities in their work on climate change adaptation, nationally, regionally and locally. The business sector plays an important role in developing technology and other solutions and making it attractive to invest in climate change adaptation. NGOs contribute, among other things, to ensuring that different groups and stakeholders’ interests are safeguarded in the adaptation work, and are an important channel for engaging and mobilising people in the work. They also contribute operationally, including in emergency preparedness and by developing and disseminating knowledge.
4.4 Systematic efforts and better coordination at the national level
The Government:
will implement an improved governance system for its national climate change adaptation efforts
will prepare a national climate change vulnerability analysis every four years
will introduce procedures for updating the Government’s climate change adaptation policy, and present a new white paper on climate change adaptation in four years’ time
The Government will introduce an improved governance system for national climate change adaptation efforts. Since there is uncertainty about how the climate will change and what impact it will have, it is important that climate change adaptation work is based on the most recent knowledge about vulnerability and learning about what actions and efforts are effective. The governance system therefore has a cyclical approach with procedures for developing national climate vulnerability analyses, updating climate change adaptation policy, reporting and regular evaluation of the efforts. The Government currently reports annually to the Storting on its climate change adaptation work in accordance with the Climate Change Act. Every four years, a more comprehensive report is submitted to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. These reporting procedures and obligations will be retained.
The new approach is based on the current framework for climate change adaptation work. The governance system is based on climate change adaptation being a continuous and iterative process, as the circle in Figure 4.2 illustrates. The activities will partly follow each other in time and partly take place simultaneously. This framework is in line with international guidelines on how climate change adaptation should be organised and with the practice in several European countries (see Box 4.3).
Figure 4.2 Framework for the national climate change adaptation work.
Figure 4.2 illustrates the framework for the national climate change adaptation work, with climate vulnerability analyses, procedures for updating policy, reporting and evaluation, which are carried out in a cycle. The governance system is based on climate change adaptation being a continuous and iterative process, as the circle illustrates. The activities will partly follow each other in time and partly take place simultaneously.
Source: Ministry of Climate and Environment.
The changes in the governance and coordination system are based on the work of the central government authorities. However, the Government deems it important that more systematic and coordinated efforts nationally contribute to a better framework for municipal authorities’ and other actors’ climate change adaptation work. The governance system presented in this white paper is intended to increase predictability in climate change adaptation work and clarify the division of responsibilities. The system is under development, and changes may be relevant as more experience is gained of the organisation and procedures.
4.4.1 National climate change vulnerability analysis
The Government will prepare a national analysis of society’s vulnerability to climate change (climate change vulnerability analysis). The analysis will form an important part of the basis for policy development in the field of climate change adaptation and in order to prioritise efforts and measures.
The Norwegian Environment Agency is responsible for developing national climate change vulnerability analyses, in cooperation with relevant sector authorities and other actors. The first analysis is expected to be completed by the end of 2026. The Norwegian Environment Agency details the organisation of the work, including the content, scope and structure of the analyses, as well as the process and involvement of other actors. This is done in dialogue with the Directorate Group on Climate Change Adaptation and in consultation with the Ministry of Climate and Environment and other relevant ministries.
The climate change vulnerability analysis is intended to provide an overview of current knowledge about the consequences of a changing climate for society. The analysis should include risks that span national borders and areas of society. Interaction between climate-related risk and other social development drivers should also be addressed. Relevant cross-cutting topics include the potential consequences for security, economy and welfare, calculations of economic costs and benefits including distribution effects, gender equality perspectives and factors addressing children and young people, the elderly and other vulnerable groups in particular, and consequences for indigenous people in Norway. The climate change vulnerability analysis should also include geographical differences in risk and vulnerability.
In the first instance, national climate change vulnerability analyses should primarily focus on vulnerability at a more overarching level. However, the analysis may also include topics that impact individual sectors in particular and may be used as a starting point for sector-specific and thematically-defined analyses. Findings from the climate change vulnerability analysis should be widely disseminated. It should be possible for municipalities, businesses, NGOs and others to use the analysis.
Uncertainty about the consequences of climate change and the interaction with other developments in society suggest that the climate change vulnerability analysis should be updated relatively frequently. The Government therefore intends to update the analyses at least every four years, in accordance with the current reporting requirements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. If events or special circumstances so warrant, the analysis may be updated in whole or in part outside the regular procedures. The frequency of updates may also change going forward if reporting procedures or other relevant conditions change.
4.4.2 Procedures for updating the national climate change adaptation policy
The Government will introduce procedures for updating the national climate change adaptation policy, so that its efforts can be adjusted if new knowledge about risk and vulnerability or other relevant considerations so indicate. The Ministry of Climate and Environment will coordinate the work of updating policy. This work will be carried out in collaboration with the sector ministries, which are responsible for addressing climate change in their respective areas. In line with the procedures for updating climate change adaptation policy, the Government has now announced that a new white paper on climate change adaptation will be presented in 2028.
Chapters five and six of this white paper present the Government’s plan for the work to prepare and adapt nature and society to climate change for the period 2024–2028. The plan provides a common basis for the Government’s overall work on climate change adaptation and it will act as a governance tool for the Ministry of Climate and Environment in its coordination of the work.
Under these procedures, a status report and an account of plans and actions in the sectors, as well as any action points for cross-sectoral climate change adaptation work, must be provided in the Government’s annual climate status and plan.
Textbox 4.2 Climate status and plan
In 2022, the Government introduced the climate status and plan, which is presented annually together with the proposal for the national budget. The plan covers reporting under the Climate Change Act, including climate change adaptation. It also describes the emission effect of the national budget and presents a governance system for emission reduction efforts. The climate change governance system will contribute to ensuring that climate considerations are addressed in a predictable and systematic manner in relevant decision-making processes. The climate status and plan will provide information on how Norway is positioned to achieve its climate targets, highlight where greater efforts are needed and present the Government’s plan to meet the climate targets.
Figure 4.3 Climate status and plan.
The climate status and plan was first presented in 2022 by Minister of Climate and Environment Espen Barth Eide.
Photo: Martin Lerberg Fossum, Ministry of Climate and Environment.
4.4.3 Reporting and evaluation
The current procedures for the Government’s annual reporting to the Storting in accordance with the Climate Change Act are to be retained and slightly expanded. The Government’s annual climate status and plan will provide an account of the status of the work on climate change adaptation in the sectors, including reporting on how the plan for national climate change adaptation work is followed up. The climate status and plan will also contain an overview of the ministries’ plans for the work on climate change adaptation in the future.
Every four years, Norway reports on climate change adaptation to the UN Framework Convention on Climate change. The Government proposes that climate change adaptation work in Norway should be evaluated in connection with this reporting. The evaluation will cover the cross-sectoral work and the sectors’ contributions. Its goal is to provide insight into the development of risk and vulnerability in light of the work on climate change adaptation, so that efforts can be adjusted as needed, in order to reduce vulnerability. The national climate change vulnerability analysis, together with annual reporting on the work on climate change adaptation will form important elements in the basis for evaluation.
Through Recommendation No 218 to the Storting (2021–2022) to Report No 40 to the Storting (2020–2021) Mål med mening – Norges handlingsplan for å nå bærekraftsmålene innen 2030 (Norway's action plan for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030), the Storting has decided to create a comprehensive system for measuring and evaluating the effect of climate change adaptation at the national, regional and local level. The Government will follow up this decision and look at the work on evaluation procedures in connection with the other elements of the climate change adaptation governance system.
Climate change adaptation has strong links to and potential for synergies with other cross-cutting issues, including sustainable development (the UN Sustainable Development Goals), emission reductions, nature and the environment and security and emergency preparedness. Evaluation of climate change adaptation, including methods, data basis and any indicators, must therefore be viewed in the context of similar systems in other areas.
Assessing goal attainment work in climate change adaptation work is methodically demanding. The Government relies on dialogue with various actors and expert communities to organise the work on climate change adaptation in an optimal manner. The Government is therefore keen to facilitate participation and cooperation in the evaluation of the work, and will, in addition to research groups, also involve municipal and county authorities, NGOs, Sami interests and business representatives in this work.
Textbox 4.3 Examples of climate change adaptation work in other countries
Work on climate change adaptation is organised in different ways in the various European countries. However, some countries share certain key elements: Coordination responsibility is clearly assigned at the national level, governing documents such as strategies and/or plans are regularly updated, expectations of sector authorities are rooted in strategy or law, and procedures are in place for regular reporting. Moreover, most countries have a national knowledge base that highlights risk and vulnerability in the face of climate change.
Sweden: In Sweden, sector authorities report to the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI), which summarises this reporting annually to the government. The national climate change adaptation strategy, evaluation reports and sectoral climate risk and vulnerability analyses are updated regularly and at least every five years. Sweden’s work on climate change adaptation is coordinated by the Ministry of Climate and Enterprise and involves many sectors. A national council of experts for climate change adaptation evaluates the efforts and provides input on how the work should be adjusted to achieve the national goals. The council submitted its first evaluation report to the Swedish government in 2022.
The UK: The UK employs a five-year cycle in its work on climate change adaptation. The national work is coordinated by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and several ministries are responsible for climate change adaptation in their sectors. As part of the work, the ministries must define sector-specific goals and implement actions to achieve the goals. A national climate risk analysis is updated every five years and provides a broad picture of developments in climate-related risk. The assessment of the findings in the analysis is used, among other things, to adjust the work under the national action plan. The UK has established an independent Climate Change Adaptation Committee that produces knowledge, assesses the progress of national efforts and makes recommendations to the government on further work. Reporting procedures have been established, among other things to monitor developments in the implementation of actions.
Finland: Finland’s climate change adaptation work is based on the national climate change adaptation strategy being updated at least every other election period and regularly updated climate risk and vulnerability assessments. The government monitors the implementation of the strategy and reports the status of the work to the parliament annually. The work is coordinated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry. Other ministries are responsible for climate change adaptation in their areas. The cycle involves continuous learning and regular adjustment of policy. A wide-ranging group of representatives from different parts of the public administration and various expert communities monitor the implementation of the national strategy. In addition, an independent national climate panel assesses adaptation efforts and provides scientific advice on policy design, which is used to update the national strategy.
Source: Western Norway Research Institute (2023) and European Environment Agency (2021).