A regional adaptation strategy to climate change has been drawn up for Kymenlaakso

The Kymenlaakso Region and the region's municipalities, the welfare region and the Southeast Finland Vitality Centre have drawn up a joint strategy to strengthen the region's adaptive capacity to climate risks caused by climate change. The Finnish Environment Institute Syke also participated in the work.

According to a recent study by the Finnish Environment Institute on adaptation to climate change in Kymenlaakso, the key climate risks in Kymenlaakso are related to:

• temperature rise, 

• increased precipitation and flood risks, 

• increasing heat and drought, and 

• to the milder winters. 

These have various impacts on human health, business life and the nature of the province. 

"It is essential to influence both vulnerabilities and climate risks. Vulnerabilities can be managed by consistently improving biodiversity and safeguarding the well-being and health of the population."

Kaisa Leino, Kymenlaakso Region Council

The adaptation implementation program prepared in connection with the strategy includes more than 50 measures for various actors in the region and a plan for financing them.  

Kymenlaakso is well prepared for various accident risks caused by climate change. But also slowly progressing climate risks, such as the decline in biodiversity and the health risks of heat waves, require systematic preparation and active adaptation. The economic and demographic structure of the region deepens the effects of these risks. 

Kymenlaakso is the first region in Finland to have prepared a regional adaptation strategy, and the work now done updates and deepens the first Climate-Resilient Kymenlaakso adaptation plan prepared in 2022.  

The strategy and plan have been developed within the Pact4Resilience (P4R) project under the Pathways2Resilience project, which has received funding from the European Union. 

For more information: Kaisa Leino, environmental planner, Kymenlaakso Region Association, kaisa.leino@kymenlaakso.fi, tel. +358 44 747 8518

The strategy is based on up-to-date information on the region's climate risks and vulnerabilities, which are described in a separate adaptation baseline report (Rekola et al. 2026). 

Further information: Johan Munck af Rosenschöld, expert, Climate Solutions, Policy and Risks, Syke, firstname.lastname@syke.fi, +358 29 525 1513