Climate change is expected to have a profound impact on natural resources, and thus on the primary industries (agriculture, forestry and fisheries) in the Nordic countries. Climate change induces risks but also creates possibilities for new production systems on land and in the ocean. Climatic changes also represent great challenges for policy-making and management regimes. The current knowledge base on natural resources in the Nordic region needs to be expanded to fully address the impacts of climate change. In particular it is important to address the need for improved policies and new policy instruments. The research programme Climate Change Impacts, Adaptation and Mitigation in Nordic Primary Industries is a coordinated set of thematic research networks with the objective to create a Nordic knowledge base on climate change interactions with primary industries in the Nordic region.
The report states that it is expected that climate change will have significant impact on living natural resources on land and in the sea, and thereby have significant impacts on fisheries, agriculture and forestry in the Nordic region. Climate change impacts present serious threats to ecosystems that need to be addressed, but on the other hand the anticipated changes present opportunities for new land and marine based production systems within the framework of the sustainable bioeconomy. The foreseen climate changes furthermore pose serious challenges for political decision making processes and natural resource management.
The report Climate change and primary industries: Impacts, adaptation and mitigaton in the Nordic countries and policy recommendations provide a baseline and a way forward, a focus for the activities that can help the Nordic region to address the threats and opportunities of climate change for our primary production systems.