Adapting to Change: From Research to Decision-making

2014: Third Nordic International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation

Sigrún Karlsdóttir 31.3.2014

Adaptation to changes in climate is already high on the agenda in the Nordic and international societies. However, new information calls for a wider dialogue to enable adjustments of already initiated adaptation plans as well as providing the baseline knowledge for future initiatives.

The conference “Adapting to Change: From Research to Decision-making”, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark, 25-27 August 2014, seeks to advance existing common ground between scientists, practitioners and decision-makers and establish new ways forward for informed adaptation; following successful conferences in Stockholm (2010) and Helsinki (2012).

This Third Nordic Conference on Climate Change Adaptation invites contributions for oral and poster presentation. Deadline for submission of abstracts is April 15, see new information sheet.

The themes and topics to be covered are presented on the conference web page and in an older flyer available as pdf (0,7 Mb).

Main themes

IPCC AR5

By April 2014, the IPCC will have released its three Working Group Reports, which contribute to its Fifth Assessment. Some of the new knowledge that could be invaluable for informing

climate change adaptation includes information on climate predictability, observations and attribution of changing climate and impacts, emergent risks and key vulnerabilities, impacts on human and natural systems, sectoral and regional adaptation, adaptation and mitigation linkages, dealing with uncertainty, climate sensitivity.

Mainstreaming

Mainstreaming implementation strategies may well be the key for adapting to a changing climate. Facilitating adaptation decision-making and implementation of social and technical adaptation options involves both the private and public sectors and will require bridging the gaps of different disciplines and areas. Innovation is also likely to be an important driver for adaptation.

Limits and opportunities

Adaptation strategies have limitations but will also provide new opportunities. Defining and implementing strategies aiming at optimizing adaptation to a changing climate in a flexible, sustainable and timely manner is highly relevant.

Low probability / high-impact events

There is general acknowledgement of the potential importance of climate change impacts on businesses and operations, in particular when it comes to low-probability, high-impact events like storms or floods. Yet incorporating this knowledge into today's adaptation plans are severely impeded by e.g. a limited understanding of the uncertainties and a poor understanding of how to translate climate information into value chains for different sectors.

Contacts at IMO

Contacts at the Icelandic Meteorological Office are Sigrún Karlsdóttir and Halldór Björnsson. Adaption conference web-sites since 2012 and NONAM pages are still available at IMO's web.

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