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Evaluating the implementation of a
national adaptation strategy
Finland

Purpose: The inter-ministerial Coordination Group for
Climate Change Adaptation, chaired by the Ministry of Agriculture and

Forestry was responsible for the evaluation of the Finnish National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (2005). The evaluation of the Strategy’s implementation (2012/2013) assessed the level of adaptation in 15 sectors and produced recommendations for the Strategy’s revision.

Approach: The evaluation looked at the progress of adaptation measures that had been proposed in the Strategy. The evaluation assessed the adaptation level of sectors using a 5-step indicator. The indicator measures: recognition of adaptation needs, level of adaptation research, launch of adaptation measures, and cooperation with other sectors. The evaluation used information from: a self-assessment by sectors, questionnaires and interviews of sector experts, a stakeholder workshop and results from research projects. The evaluation also provided an overview of some cross-sectoral measures (such as early warning systems and communication), adaptation at regional and local levels, EU adaptation policy and the results from recent adaptation research.

Challenges addressed:

• Inter-ministerial Coordination Group to address the communication and capacity issues between relevant national institutions
• Multiple opportunities to use the ‘learning’ from the process
• Mid-term review (2009) and full review (2013) allowed for adjustments during the strategy period and recommendations at the end to feed into the new strategy
• Horizontal coordination so that sector views were taken into consideration
• Broad participation of stakeholders involved in the process
• A 5-step process provided a range of process and outcome-based measures to assess the level of adaptation in the 15 sectors.
• Approach included an overview of cross-sectoral and local measures demonstrating vertical coordination and a recognition of interdependencies and cross-sectoral elements that are not covered by sectors. 

Further details are available at: Evaluation of the 2005 National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change (2013), Report of the Coordination Group for Adaptation, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry Working Group report 2013:5 (in Finnish).