Climate Exchange

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Making climate change
information available online
Juha A. Karhu and Reija Ruuhela, Climate Service Centre, Finnish Meteorological Institute
The site provides scientific background
information on climate change as well as the tangible
means for mitigation and adaptation. Available in three
languages, the material has been prepared by Finland’s leading
climate researchers and experts. The Finnish Meteorological
Institute (FMI), the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE)
and Aalto University share responsibility for the contents and
updating of the website. The contents will be
supplemented and developed gradually.
The site aims to:
• Raise awareness about global climate change and its implications
for Finland
• Communicate scientific information in an understandable way
to the general public on climate change, its impacts and options
for adaptation and mitigation response at the community level
• Offer guidance to local decision makers, especially at the
municipal and regional level, on integrating climate change
information into their planning and decision-making processes
• Assist the Finnish municipalities and regions
in meeting their national and European Union
responsibilities for sustainable development,
including targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Improve the adaptive capacity of Finland’s
environment and society to avoid the adverse effects of
climate change and to make use of its potential benefits
• Enhance the networking of key national institutions
working to disseminate climate change information
and to raise awareness
• Create a common platform for different institutions
to deliver climate change information in an
integrated manner to various target groups and the
general public.
Meeting the need for quality information
There is a large and growing body of information about
climate change available on the Internet. However,
the quality of this information is highly variable, with
reliable, peer-reviewed research results to be found
alongside other material that is less rigorous and in
some cases highly misleading.
The problem is that for the layperson without scien-
tific training, including many decision makers, it can
often be very difficult to access reliable and relevant
information. Moreover, even the reliable sources are
often widely dispersed and may be too scientifically
orientated to be applied in practical planning and deci-
sion-making.
Many important decisions and practical mitigation
and adaptation measures are carried out at the local
level. In Finland there are nearly 400 municipalities and
it is difficult to reach all their decision makers for face-
to-face discussions or consultation. Therefore, tailored
climate services via effective media are needed.
Various types of climate information
addresses these problems by offering a
common, one-stop national website for Finland where
citizens and decision makers can easily find reliable
and up-to-date climate change information (left). It
also serves as a platform through which key national
research institutions and projects can disseminate their
information in a user-friendly way.
The concept of the portal is unique. It is the first to
provide information equally on all aspects of climate
Capacity Development
Home page of the portal
Source: Finnish Meteorological Institute