no country

The sources used to compile the health and adaptation information for country profiles vary across countries. For EU Member States, information is based on their official adaptation reporting: 2021 adaptation reporting under the Regulation on the Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action (see EU Adaptation ReportingClimate-ADAPT Country Profiles) and 2019 adaptation reporting under the EU Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Mechanism Regulation. These two reporting mechanisms are together referred to here as “EU official reporting on adaptation”. Note: The relevant information has been copied from the EU official reporting on adaptation (submitted until July 21, 2021), without further elaborating the contents of the text. Some information, valid at the time of reporting, may no longer be valid today. Any necessary additions to the text are clearly highlighted.

In addition, information collated in the EEA’s analysis of Climate change and health: the national policy review in Europe (2021), the Adaptation preparedness scoreboard country fiches (2018) and the WHO study on Public health and climate change adaptation policies in the European Union (2018) are presented. Note: Some information, valid at the time of publication, may no longer be valid today. Any necessary additions to the text are clearly highlighted.

Information sources for non-EU member countries of the EEA are more limited.

Information from EEA report. Climate change and health: the national policy overview in Europe (2022)

National policies on climate change adaptation and national health strategies were analysed to identify the coverage of climate-related impacts on health (physical, mental, and social) and the types of interventions addressing them. The report provides a European overview, while the geographical coverage of various aspects of national policies across Europe can be visualized using the map viewer. The results for Finland are summarised here.

Policy documents reviewed:

Finland’s National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2022 (2014)

Climate change in the social and health sector: Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s climate change adaptation plan (2021–2031)

Aspects covered in the reviewed policy document:

Information from EU official reporting on adaptation. GovReg reporting (2021), MMR reporting (2019)

MMR reporting from 2019 is not available; the link above is for the 2017 update of MMR2015.

For the revision of the National Adaptation Strategy (NAS, 2005), a study of the impacts of the climate change and vulnerability of sectors was conducted in 2013. More detailed vulnerability studies in specific sectors or specific environments have been made and partly include health aspects like ongoing work on vulnerability of the elderly to climate change. Finland's National Climate Change Adaptation Plan 2022 (NAP, 2014) includes impacts on health and health risks.

The SIETO project (2017-2018) built a framework for coherent national vulnerability and risk assessments; it was innovative, featuring transboundary research with natural science, health, security and metrological aspects.

The Health Sector has drafted its first adaptation plan in 2021, the Action Plan for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

The Helsinki Region Environmental Services Authority is currently preparing a sustainable urban living programme for the Helsinki metropolitan area that implements the HSY’s 2025 strategic vision "Together we will create the most sustainable urban area in the world". One of the programme’s themes is climate change adaptation, hence it will act as the next regional adaptation strategy. The proposed adaptation measures are linked to four major themes in the programme: food (e.g., preparing an urban agriculture guide), urban planning (e.g., mapping and developing green and blue infrastructure), building (e.g., piloting of green urban retrofitting) and wellbeing (e.g., developing instructions to prevent impacts of hot weather in home care, daycare centres and schools).

Information from Adaptation preparedness scoreboard. Country fiches (2018)

The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) is a Finnish expert agency that provides reliable information on health and welfare for decision-making and activities in the field. THL monitors the incidence of infectious diseases through use of several surveillance systems. THL is also collecting information on impacts of weather events and climate change on drinking water security and human health, heatwave-associated health impacts and other climate-related health effects.

Information from WHO publication. Public health and climate change adaptation policies in the European Union (2018)

The aim of Finland's NAP to 2022 is to give the country the capacity to adapt to changes in climate and manage the risks associated with them. The health system needs to provide a high quality of services that allow a high level of disease surveillance – especially infectious diseases – and secure basic institutional health protection needs (such as safe water supply). The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health has provided municipalities with guidelines on how to integrate climate matters into health protection preparedness planning and how to secure thermal security (from heatwaves and cold spells), especially for those in long-term care.

Enhanced surveillance is in place for tick-borne encephalitis and legionella, with relevance to the potential effects of climate change on disease incidence.

Resources in the Observatory catalogue on Finland