Helsinki Metropolitan Area Adaptation Strategy Susanna Kankaanpää Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority

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1 Helsinki Metropolitan Area Adaptation Strategy Susanna Kankaanpää Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority ECCA conference Hamburg

2 The larger picture: Helsinki Region - adaptation across municipal borders Helsinki Metropolitan Area - 4 cities 14 municipalities + cross municipal organisations 1.3 milj inhabitants 2 Regional authorities (Environmental and Transport) Flood risk management working group Uusimaa Region, 28 municipalities Helsinki Region 10 surrounding municipalities Metropolitan area 4 cities 50 km 50 km European Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2013 Susanna Kankaanpää HSY 2

3 Urban environment is vulnerable to extreme weather events and climate impacts Photo: HSY

4 Storm Water flood classification 4

5 Storm water flooding and town planning Unused land reserves in city of Vantaa area classified by chance of storm water flooding flood class % 0 12,3 1 2,5 2 2,6 3 9,2 4 3,7 5 7,6 6 22,7 7 20,8 Bedrock Areas 18,7 Surface Water 0,0 overall 100, m² 5

6 Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (2012) A joint regional strategy of the cities of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority (HSY) and other regional authorities and actors The targets are: to identify impacts and risks of climate change in the region to prepare for them and to extrenal weather events to reduce the vulnerabilities and enhance resilience of the area Focus on: Regional issues Urban and built environment The central issues are: Co-operation between cities and sectors Cross-border impacts and measures Adaptation strategy available at: Pages/default.aspx European Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2013 Susanna Kankaanpää HSY

7 Adaptation to climate change Strategic framework EU EU legislation, White Book, Adaptation strategy (coming) Flood directive Finland Helsinki Metropolitan Area National Adaptation strategy, Legislation, Updating of strategy City and regional preparedness plans Helsinki Metropolitan Area Adaptation strategy Cities programmes and strategies

8 Actors in the field of adaptation to climate change at EU, national, regional and local levels Safety Investigation Authority National Emergency Supply Agency Regional State Administrative Offices Emergency Services Departments City Preparedness Managers HMA Adaptation projects (e.g. Helsinki/BaltCICA), City Action Plans (Espoo), administrative climate change working groups (Vantaa) Finland EU Coordination group: Ministries of Agriculture and Forestry, Environment, Social and Health, Employment and Economy, Interior Cities of Tampere and Helsinki HSY, HSL, Uusimaa Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment, Uusimaa Regional Council Finnish Environment Institute, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Aalto University

9 Typology for Adaptation Constraints Governance (Institutional) Institutional structures and practices within one government or hierarchical relationships between actors, operational policy issues (practical difficulties) Financial (Resources) Costs of action and inaction, needed resources Knowledge (Cognitive and Informational) Beliefs and perceptions, informational aspects (science, modeling) Social (Cultural and Political) Values and accepted ways of behavior that are shared by majority Based on Adger et al., 2007, Grothmann and Patt, 2005

10 Constraints of adaptation Helsinki Metropolitan Area Governance So far little national steering and support Few forums and practices for regional cooperation Strong administrative borders New and traditional actors in adaptation (climate change) Conflicting and/or unclear responsibilities and practices between government levels and sectors/departments Social Coastal locations are of high value Lack of awareness and skills of individual adaptation / strong reliance on authorities Long tradition of coping with weather false sense of safety? Excuse for inaction? European Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2013 Susanna Kankaanpää HSY

11 Drivers of adaptation Helsinki Metropolitan Area Governance Increased policy relevance Adaptation increasingly integrated and combined into current policies Institutional collaboration - current vulnerabilities have shown the gaps New actors and networks Legal directives and regulations emerging Social Values as policy drivers Policy support from the community emerging? Long tradition of coping with weather extremes European Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2013 Susanna Kankaanpää HSY

12 Lessons learned Plans are nothing, planning is everything (Dwight D. Eisenhower) Need to focus on the processes of how to get changes happening: adaptation actions Awareness is important but not enough we need changes in behaviour (how to get them?) Commitment of management and support by decision makers is key to implementation (and success) It is important to engage new actors - and to find new approaches to the problems and new ways of action Role of (state level) govenrment: regulatory framework in implementation, guidance, coordination, resources European Climate Change Adaptation Conference 2013 Susanna Kankaanpää HSY

13 Adaptation is A novel and complicated environmental policy problem. As we are committed to at least some level of climate change, adaptation is 1. Living with uncertainty Newest information for planning and decision making Identifying options and learning from experiences 2. Risk management What kinds of consequences do we accept and what action do we take? What is the responsibility of the citizens and of the authorities? 3. A process Proactive and coping with consequences Local solutions and cooperation Decreasing vulnerability in current climate enhances adaptation

14 Thank you! susanna.kankaanpaa(at)hsy.fi Photo: HSY