Manu Thomas

This report constitutes The Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute’s (SMHI) summary analysis of 51 government agencies’ climate adaptation efforts during 2024. According to the Ordinance (2018:1428) on Government Agencies’ Climate Adaptation Work (the Ordinance), these agencies are required to initiate, support, and evaluate climate adaptation efforts within their respective areas of responsibility. The work must be reported annually to SMHI through the web tool Klira. SMHI is then required to submit a summary analysis to the government by April 15 each year. This report is based on the submissions from agencies regarding their activities in 2024.

Most agencies have carried out their assignments according to the Ordinance, but there are significant variations in implementation. More agencies than in any previous year have responded negatively to the questions about having an up-to-date climate and vulnerability analysis or action plan. Many agencies are at a stage where they need to update these analyses and plans but express a lack of resources for this work.

The work of the County Administrative Boards has been affected by the discontinuation of climate adaptation funding since January 1 2024. The consequences vary among the different boards, with some being significantly affected, while others have prioritized maintaining their climate adaptation efforts.

More national agencies and County Administrative Boards than previous years are collaborating with EU actors in climate adaptation efforts and securing funding for projects, for example, through EU funds.

To strengthen future efforts, there is a need for increased collaboration, long-term financing, access to updated and tailored knowledge bases, and better integration of climate adaptation into agency operations. Both national agencies and County Administrative Boards express a need for additional financial and human resources to work more long-term with climate adaptation in order to fulfill the assignments outlined in the climate adaptation ordinance.

Based on this year’s analysis, SMHI has four recommendations for the Government. The justifications for these recommendations can be found in Chapter 8.

The Government is recommended to consider

revising the climate adaptation ordinancereviewing the long-term financing of climate adaptation efforts for county administrative boards and national agencies covered by the climate adaptation ordinanceinstructing regulatory agencies to collaborate with other national agencies and County Administrative Boards in developing and disseminating tailored knowledge basesassigning regulatory agencies to coordinate climate adaptation efforts within regional collaboration groups to address major challenges.