BALTADAPT Policy Forum "Climate Change Adaptation in the Baltic Region"

The first Baltadapt Policy Forum on "Climate Change Adaptation in the Baltic region" was held in Berlin, on 24 April 2012, as part of the Baltic Sea Days. The Policy Forum kicked off the working process on the macro-regional climate change adaptation strategy. In several workshops the participants discussed about the challenges and objectives of such a macro-regional strategy and the needed consistency within the region. The Ecologic Institute supported the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and carried out a digital-survey.

The Policy Forum was opened by the Parliamentary State Secretary of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety Katherina Reiche. Participants of this Forum were high level policy makers and representatives from relevant national ministries international and regional organizations and academic institutions from across the Baltic Sea Region. Humberto Delgado Rosa, director at DG Climate Action of the European Commission presented the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy and highlighted the synergies and the added value of a macro-regional adaptation strategy in the Baltic Sea region.

The event focused on the following topics: the challenges and objectives of the macro-regional climate change adaptation strategy and consistency within the region.Using an electronic voting system, the participants voted for objectives and elements of such a strategy and, thanks to instantaneous visual display of the survey results, discuss the answers after each question. The participants considered the following as important objectives to pursue: the development of a common knowledge base and the cooperation between science and politics. Participants also identified political perception and the integration of adaptation issues into other policy areas as important areas of focus for the strategy. In the opinion of the participants, key elements of future adaptation strategy are: the evaluation of climate vulnerability, the direct effects of climate change on different sectors, and possible adaptation measures. The findings of the forum will feed into the development of a macro-regional climate change adaptation strategy and inform the upcoming 2nd Policy Forum, planned for late autumn 2012.

At the end of the day, the participants attended the solemn ceremony linked to Baltic Sea days at the Foreign Office, where President Joachim Gauck held a speech on cooperation in the Baltic Sea region. The ceremony was followed by the "Baltic Sea Party" with a musical journey through the Baltic Sea Region.

Organizer: German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, Council of the Baltic Sea States
Team: Susanne Altvater, Franziska Stuke