Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Arctic (VACCA): An analysis of the scoping study data.

Abstract

The Declaration from the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting held in Salekhard, Russia in October 2006 states that the Ministers: Request the SAOs to direct the SDWG, drawing on the expertise of other Working Groups, experts and stakeholders, •to identify and share adaptation expertise and best practices and possible actions, unique to the needs and conditions of the Arctic, so that indigenous and other residents can better adapt to climate change, •and to report on the status of this activity at the 2008 Ministerial meeting, •and to make publicly available any results or lessons learned from this undertaking. Reducing vulnerability and implementing adaptation to climate change in the Arctic represents a significant challenge for the region given the predictions in the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment (ACIA, 2005) as well as other work such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007). Although ACIA did not specifically assess vulnerability or adaptation needs in the Arctic, it highlighted the climate trends and projected their impacts on Arctic environments and people. ACIA provides basic information that can inform the planning of vulnerability reduction and adaptation measures including at the local level. This Arctic Council project, VACCA (Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Arctic) was approved by the Arctic Council in 2007 and was designed to provide practical, useful knowledge and information sharing at different governance levels and for different sectors so that this learning can be incorporated into policies and decision making. VACCA has direct and indirect links to several SDWG priority subject areas, and activities of other working groups, including follow-on to the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR, 2004); management of natural resources; Arctic human, community, and environmental health; energy; marine shipping; and information and communication technologies.