Increasing house owners adaptive capacity: Compliance between climate change risks and adaptation guidelines in Scandinavia

Abstract

Climate change is expected to intensify weather related risks affecting the existing building stock. To increase the understanding of how the capacity among individual house owners to mitigate such risks can be improved, this study analyses the compliance between anticipated climate risks and existing adaptation guidelines to house owners in Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The assessment of climate risks is based on a review of climate change and building research literature. The compilation of available guidelines is based on an assessment of information from government authorities, municipalities as well as insurance companies and organizations. Results reveal a high compliance between available guidelines and risks for already experienced weather risks, while somewhat new risks from anticipated climate change impacts are less covered. To better facilitate adaptive responses, further adaptation guidelines would earn from explicitly targeting house owners, as well as highlighting relationships between anticipated climate impacts, existing weather risks and individual management practices. Public–private cooperation is identified as an important means for making information more accessible and easily available.