This “Polish National Strategy for Adaptation to Climate Change by 2020 with the perspective by 2030” (SPA 2020) is a multi-sectoral national strategic policy document for the period 2013–2030. The major objective of SPA is to ensure sustainable development and efficient functioning of the economy and society in the conditions of climate change. SPA 2020 indicates the objectives and directions of adaptation actions to be taken in the most vulnerable sectors and areas within the period by 2020: water management, agriculture, forestry, biodiversity and protected areas, health, energy, building industry, transport, mountain areas, coastal zone, spatial development and urban areas. The document covers the area of natural resources and the environment noting that they provide eco-system that are crucial to people's livelihoods and wellbeing. Actions for communities are highly dependent on the quality and availability of ecosystem include: Dissemination of property insurance in areas at risk (Applies to all areas of permanently endangered i.e. by floods, droughts, landslides, erosion of banks, flooding in the coastal zone); Strengthening the social welfare system in order to effectively prevent and combat the effects of climate change among the most vulnerable groups of society; etc. Further, the document seeks to strengthen the food security and enable the agriculture and fishery more productive and sustainable. Under the Objective 2 efficient adaptation to climate change in rural areas, priority actions include: Development of systems for monitoring and early warning of possible consequences of climate change for plant and animal production; Improving the system of creating and managing reserves of food, seed material and feed in case of crop failures; protection of biodiversity and forest management in the context of climate change; adaptation of the coastal zone to climate change; etc. In terms of climate change and disaster management, the SPA 2020 indicates that efforts to adapt to the climate change should be taken in parallel with actions carried out by Poland with regard to limiting greenhouse gas emissions. The objectives, action lines and specific actions have been proposed in the context of adaptation. Current and future climate change impacts has been taken into account and analyzed, including climate change scenarios for Poland by 2030 which showed that in this period the greatest threat to the economy and society will be extreme weather events (torrential rains, floods, flooding, landslides, heat waves, droughts, hurricanes, landslips, etc.), which result from climate change. The document include various groups of adaptation actions, covering both technical projects (e.g. the construction of the necessary flood and coast protection infrastructure) and regulatory changes (e.g. changes in the spatial planning system limiting a possibility of building in areas at risk of flood, flooding and landslides, more flexible procedures for rapid response to natural disasters), the implementation of monitoring systems related to individual areas and wide dissemination of knowledge on the necessary shifts in economic behaviours. More specifically, it includes the following outcomes: development of flood risk management plans and landslide risk maps, enhanced monitoring system of the impact of weather conditions on results of plant and animal production with consideration to the element of early warning against potential results of climate change to plant and animal production, in particular in supply of water (drought), a number of environmental technologies supporting adaptation to climate change, etc.
Poland · 2013-01-01