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for Civil Protection, 2015a). Hence, it is important to acknowledge that giving a
municipality the responsibility of conducting risk and vulnerability analysis related
to climate change does not solve the challenges related to climate change adaptation
if the relevant municipality does not carry out the analyses.
Several studies have shown that risk analysis and other emergency plan
strategy documents are often produced to meet the legal requirements, but not
necessarily implemented to ensure that safe, optimal safety decisions are made. This
has led to such documents being labelled “fantasy documents” (Clarke, 1999). To
ensure the best possible decisions are made in building resilience to climate change,
a better knowledge foundation needs to be established in how to deal with the
consequences of climate change and how they could affect local communities.
However, there is also a need to develop risk and vulnerability analysis and
emergency plans that take into account which resources are actually available to
meet these threats. Increased awareness is needed regarding which resources are
lacking. Furthermore, emergency preparedness plans should involve an analysis of
vulnerabilities and what measures can reduce these vulnerabilities. Such documents
need to be updated in accordance with the latest knowledge, including that learned
from the experiences of natural disasters that have occurred.
Conclusion
Adaptation for tackling future natural hazards involves acknowledging that the
climate is changing, understanding how such change may affect nature and society,
and making choices that will minimise the negative aspects of the impacts, while at
the same time taking advantage of possible opportunities that arise from a changing
climate. Knowledge about future climate change – how fast and to what extent the
climate will change – is neither complete nor certain. Current climate change
research does not provide any definite answers. Accurate predictions and estimates
cannot be provided but, in most cases, informative risk descriptions can, and this has
to be recognised. This means that in order to build resilience against future natural
disasters, there is a need to gather knowledge about the impacts of climate change,
how this change will impact communities on a local level, and how these
communities can achieve societal security for their citizens.
Knowledge sharing and
involvement should be implemented at all levels, and should include government
bodies across sectors. These stakeholders should aim to gain experience and share
lessons learned from adaptation actions and results in their attempts to increase and
maintain capacity building at various levels. To include black swan events in the risk
analysis, and to build better resilience, might lay the foundation for better climate
change adaptation.