Report: Authorities in Norway not prepared for the effects of climate change
Local and national authorities in Norway lack enough knowledge about where homes could be threatened by landslides and floods due to climate change, a report found on Thursday.
Norway's municipalities have been criticised for their lack of knowledge about which areas will see increased landslide and flooding danger as a result of climate change, a report from the Office of the Auditor General stated.
"This is serious, and it can affect people's safety," Auditor General Karl Eirik Scjøtt-Pedersen stated in the report.
The Office of the Auditor General is responsible for holding government and authorities to account. Since 2019 the auditor general has been assessing how well municipalities are adapting to and preparing for climate change.
The report also found that authorities have not implemented necessary measures to protect existing homes and buildings from climate change in areas that may see an increased risk of flooding and landslides.
As part of the report, the country's municipalities were surveyed on whether they've assessed the risk of natural disasters and the vulnerability of buildings to climate change beyond the next 12 years. Over half said they hadn't, and only 38 percent said they looked into how the climate will affect the risk of natural events in 50 years.
At a governmental level, the Office of the Auditor General said that there wasn't a good enough overview. The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, responsible for preparing maps that show areas at risk of flooding and danger, has only mapped risk areas for today's climate, without considering how global warming will affect the risk of natural disasters.
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Norway's municipalities have been criticised for their lack of knowledge about which areas will see increased landslide and flooding danger as a result of climate change, a report from the Office of the Auditor General stated.
"This is serious, and it can affect people's safety," Auditor General Karl Eirik Scjøtt-Pedersen stated in the report.
The Office of the Auditor General is responsible for holding government and authorities to account. Since 2019 the auditor general has been assessing how well municipalities are adapting to and preparing for climate change.
The report also found that authorities have not implemented necessary measures to protect existing homes and buildings from climate change in areas that may see an increased risk of flooding and landslides.
As part of the report, the country's municipalities were surveyed on whether they've assessed the risk of natural disasters and the vulnerability of buildings to climate change beyond the next 12 years. Over half said they hadn't, and only 38 percent said they looked into how the climate will affect the risk of natural events in 50 years.
At a governmental level, the Office of the Auditor General said that there wasn't a good enough overview. The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate, responsible for preparing maps that show areas at risk of flooding and danger, has only mapped risk areas for today's climate, without considering how global warming will affect the risk of natural disasters.
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