Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Arctic (VACCA): An analysis of the scoping study data.

Abstract

The Declaration from the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting held in Salekhard, Russia in
 October 2006 states that the Ministers:
 Request the SAOs to direct the SDWG, drawing on the expertise of other
 Working Groups, experts and stakeholders,
 •to identify and share adaptation expertise and best practices and possible actions,
 unique to the needs and conditions of the Arctic, so that indigenous and other
 residents can better adapt to climate change,
 •and to report on the status of this activity at the 2008 Ministerial meeting,
 •and to make publicly available any results or lessons learned from this
 undertaking.
 Reducing vulnerability and implementing adaptation to climate change in the Arctic
 represents a significant challenge for the region given the predictions in the Arctic Climate
 Impact Assessment (ACIA, 2005) as well as other work such as the Intergovernmental Panel
 on Climate Change (IPCC, 2007). Although ACIA did not specifically assess vulnerability or
 adaptation needs in the Arctic, it highlighted the climate trends and projected their impacts on
 Arctic environments and people. ACIA provides basic information that can inform the
 planning of vulnerability reduction and adaptation measures including at the local level.
 This Arctic Council project, VACCA (Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change in the
 Arctic) was approved by the Arctic Council in 2007 and was designed to provide practical,
 useful knowledge and information sharing at different governance levels and for different
 sectors so that this learning can be incorporated into policies and decision making. VACCA
 has direct and indirect links to several SDWG priority subject areas, and activities of other
 working groups, including follow-on to the Arctic Human Development Report (AHDR,
 2004); management of natural resources; Arctic human, community, and environmental
 health; energy; marine shipping; and information and communication technologies.