Climate change is a reality. In the years to come, we can expect more extreme weather incidents such as droughts, flooding, storm surges, tornados and rising sea levels. These changes mean that society must adapt within a number of areas.
Already today, society must start preparing for a number of climate changes. Because in spite of a national and global effort to decelerate greenhouse gas emissions, it is, according to IPCC, unavoidable that the climate will change.
The effects of the climate changes are indeed already tangible. In Denmark we are experiencing weather conditions that in all likelihood are due to climate change. In recent years, for example, many heavy downpours have led to flooding of roads, homes and buildings. It is therefore important that we already now take climate change in to account in connection with our work and when planning construction of new roads, bridges or dykes.
In order to adapt society to climate, all out actions must be carried out with the future in mind. In other words, climate adaptation does not just mean adapting to the climate changes as and when they can be felt. Climate adaptation, to an equal degree, means thinking ahead, by using existing knowledge about the climate of the future in our societal planning today.
To this end, the Government has drawn up a climate adaptation strategy and created the public web portal klimatilpasning.dk, which gathers information about expected climate changes in Denmark and provides information to individuals, authorities and companies about which climate adaptation measures may be relevant to implement.