Climate Sense

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Adaptation and Mitigation S trategies
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data relevant to adaptation – including a climate adap-
tation web portal ). In order to
ensure that the strategy is based on the best available
science and will sufficiently address anticipated climatic
changes, Denmark has also established a Coordination
unit for Research on Climate Change Adaptation. This
coordination unit will promote cooperation and knowl-
edge sharing among national and international research
centres and provide climate data and state-of-the-art
climate research results to the Information Centre in
order to keep the climate adaptation web portal users
up to date. This will include research related to the
atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, cryosphere and
technosphere.
Although planning for anticipated adverse effects
of climate change is invaluable, socioeconomic struc-
tures and ecosystems require time to adapt to new
conditions. However, there is hope in the fact that 192
very diverse countries agree that humanity is facing a
serious problem and are willing to collectively confront
the challenge and find solutions. Since its inception in
1992, UNFCCC has been the cornerstone for interna-
tional action on this topic. For nearly 20 years, these
countries have set goals and taken steps to avoid and
to adapt to dangerous climate change. However, as
science continues to advance and our understanding
improves, it has become clear that our goals need to
be farther-reaching to address the challenge we face
today. In 2007 in Bali, Indonesia, all 192 Parties to the
Convention collectively agreed to start a process to
determine what is necessary to mitigate climate change,
how to enhance action on adaptation, and determine
what financial and technological means are necessary
to fulfil these common goals. Since that time, Parties
have worked diligently with the aim of agreeing the
essential elements by December 2009, when they will
meet for the 15th time, in Copenhagen. This meeting
will provide the tools necessary to make the world a less
hazardous place to live in the future.
Climate change knows no borders, nor does it discrim-
inate, but the impacts carry a social imbalance. Weak
and poor people are harder hit by extremes compared
to more affluent groups of society. And like the butterfly
effect, in our global civilisation where our livelihoods
and economies are interwoven, climate impacts that
affect human beings in one place, have an impact and
effect on those in another. Courage and truly global
concerted action is needed to address climate change
and to build adaptive capacity in developing countries
so that we can all cope with the adverse climatic impacts
now and in the future. We must uniformly recognize
the sense of urgency for adaptation that has been high-
lighted by the IPCC, by SIDS, and by the many voices
in developing and least developed countries, and we
must respond accordingly. Leading up to and beyond
COP 15, we must all move forward together and create
a world that is truly sustainable for our own generation
and all those to come. To do anything less, we would be
burning the bridge between our rise and fall.
governmental process to come to terms with the need to adapt to,
and best manage, climatic change. Existing climate information and
extensive modelling capacities enabled Denmark to predict future
climatic changes, which include increased precipitation (particularly
during winter), milder winters, warmer summers, sea-level rise,
stronger winds and an increasing occurrence of extreme weather
events. Thereafter, an inter-ministerial working group was set up
to draft a science-based government strategy and conduct public
consultations with all relevant stakeholders. After careful delibera-
tion involving all sectors of society, and finally a public hearing, the
strategy was adopted by the Danish Parliament. The importance of
close partnerships, alliances and participation by many stakeholders
in achieving the overall goal cannot be understated.
The Danish strategy encompasses all vulnerable sectors and stresses
the importance of early action – both autonomous and at the national
level – to implement adaptation measures to climate change. But any
national strategy can only be as good as the information upon which
it is based. Timely and relevant information at the appropriate scale is
crucial. As such, the Danish strategy is flexible enough to incorporate
new knowledge and information on future climate change into each
stage of planning and development. Flexibility is important so that all
stakeholders have the best possible foundation for considering their
adaptation options and to learn from lessons and experience gained.
To raise awareness and support action at the national and local
level, Denmark has undertaken several initiatives. A cross-ministerial
Coordination Forum on Adaptation has been established to evaluate
progress in implementing the strategy, as well as to monitor and share
knowledge and experience about climate adaptation between sectors
and authorities at all levels. An Information Centre on Adaptation
was created to communicate the strategy, current knowledge and
Image: Karen Chappell
Approximately 40,000 medium to large sized icebergs calve annually in Greenland,
many of which travel as far south as 47o north latitude. These icebergs have
travelled for up to two years, finding their way to the coast of Newfoundland, Canada