Climate resilience certificates – a standardised assessment of climate risks in real estate

In 2021, heavy rainfall in the Swedish city of Gävle caused severe flooding, affecting many properties in the area. To date, insurance companies have paid more than one billion Swedish kronor in compensation to affected property owners. The distribution of damage was uneven, making it clear that the individual preconditions of each affected property had a substantial impact on the degree of damage suffered. This sparked a discussion about the risk of natural disasters on mortgages and insurance policies in light of climate change, and whether more consideration should be given to the individual conditions of a property rather than relying on general area-based risk maps where all properties in one area are assessed similarly. In many cases, small measures can have a substantial effect on the degree of climate-related hazards tied to natural disasters. In Sweden, the responsibility to undertake measures to decrease such risk today lies with the property owner. However, many owners lack relevant information on how to assess their property’s risks to natural disasters as well as hands-on recommendations on how to mitigate those risks. At the same time, financial institutions, insurance companies and many other actors face new European and national legislation that requires them to understand, measure, remedy and account for their risks related to this area. In the case of lenders assessing the risks to their collateral at an individual property level, the ability to get an overview is limited. At best, risks can be described on an area level only, meaning that the individual conditions of the property are being not considered. In this report, we have explored whether a standardised classification system, a so-called climate resilience certificate (CRC), that outlines the individual risk exposure of a property could offer a potential solution to this problem – and if it could be both easy to use by private homeowners and meet the needs of industry stakeholders. To test our idea, we conducted a case study by applying the system to the events that took place in Gävle in 2021. We suggest further work on the feasibility of a preferably European-wide, threestep model of a CRC taking into consideration all acute and chronic physical climaterelated hazards described in EU law. The first step of the classification is based on a databased screening tool resulting in a preliminary assessment, ranging from green to yellow to red. The second step is an in-depth assessment conducted by a certified climate expert who collects data through an on-site inspection of the property and/or an examination of documentation, resulting in a classification ranging from A to G, together with suggestions on climate adaptation measures that could be taken to decrease risk. In the third step, the data is made available to the property owner and, to a limited extent, other relevant stakeholders. A CRC could facilitate and improve climate adaptation efforts made by property owners by (i) making it clear, on an individual property level, which owners should take measures (and in certain cases get support) to decrease risk and (ii) creating an incentive to take these measures from lenders, insurance companies and investors.This report is the result of a Vinnova-funded project, “Feasibility study on climate resilience declarations”.   Svensk version av denna rapport finns på: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-64052</p

Climate resilience certificates – a standardised assessment of climate risks in real estate

In 2021, heavy rainfall in the Swedish city of Gävle caused severe flooding, affecting many properties in the area. To date, insurance companies have paid more than one billion Swedish kronor in compensation to affected property owners. The distribution of damage was uneven, making it clear that the individual preconditions of each affected property had a substantial impact on the degree of damage suffered. This sparked a discussion about the risk of natural disasters on mortgages and insurance policies in light of climate change, and whether more consideration should be given to the individual conditions of a property rather than relying on general area-based risk maps where all properties in one area are assessed similarly. In many cases, small measures can have a substantial effect on the degree of climate-related hazards tied to natural disasters. In Sweden, the responsibility to undertake measures to decrease such risk today lies with the property owner. However, many owners lack relevant information on how to assess their property’s risks to natural disasters as well as hands-on recommendations on how to mitigate those risks. At the same time, financial institutions, insurance companies and many other actors face new European and national legislation that requires them to understand, measure, remedy and account for their risks related to this area. In the case of lenders assessing the risks to their collateral at an individual property level, the ability to get an overview is limited. At best, risks can be described on an area level only, meaning that the individual conditions of the property are being not considered. In this report, we have explored whether a standardised classification system, a so-called climate resilience certificate (CRC), that outlines the individual risk exposure of a property could offer a potential solution to this problem – and if it could be both easy to use by private homeowners and meet the needs of industry stakeholders. To test our idea, we conducted a case study by applying the system to the events that took place in Gävle in 2021. We suggest further work on the feasibility of a preferably European-wide, threestep model of a CRC taking into consideration all acute and chronic physical climaterelated hazards described in EU law. The first step of the classification is based on a databased screening tool resulting in a preliminary assessment, ranging from green to yellow to red. The second step is an in-depth assessment conducted by a certified climate expert who collects data through an on-site inspection of the property and/or an examination of documentation, resulting in a classification ranging from A to G, together with suggestions on climate adaptation measures that could be taken to decrease risk. In the third step, the data is made available to the property owner and, to a limited extent, other relevant stakeholders. A CRC could facilitate and improve climate adaptation efforts made by property owners by (i) making it clear, on an individual property level, which owners should take measures (and in certain cases get support) to decrease risk and (ii) creating an incentive to take these measures from lenders, insurance companies and investors.This report is the result of a Vinnova-funded project, “Feasibility study on climate resilience declarations”.   Svensk version av denna rapport finns på: https://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-64052</p

Something fishy in the Neolithic? A re-evaluation of stable isotope analysis of Mesolithic and Neolithic coastal populations.

The study of the proportions of stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen which survive in ancient human and animal bones offers highly suggestive indications of ancient diets. Among the most remarkable results from such investigations is the dramatic change in diet which is thought to have occurred between the Mesolithic and the Neolithic when people turned from maritime to terrestrial food, from fish to meat and vegetables. The three contributions which follow challenge, modify, enhance or reflect on this model. In a pivotal critique of the evidence from Britain and Denmark, Milner et al. present a range of explanations for the signals of a maritime or terrestrial emphasis in diet and conclude that the change need not have been either rapid or total. Lidén et al. show that, in southern Sweden, the preferences for fish over meat were related less to period or culture, but (reasonably enough) to location: fish-eaters live by the sea. Finally Robert Hedges takes up the question of partial marine diets and how to detect them, developing the idea that marine diets might give a fainter signal in people who were only getting small amounts of protein. Perhaps there were many such people in the new order of the Neolithic

Children and nearby nature: A nationwide parental survey from Norway

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to describe the availability of and use of nearby outdoor spaces along a nature continuum by Norwegian children. We carried out a nationwide survey of 3 160 parents with children aged 6–12 years, using a comprehensive web-based questionnaire. Results from the survey show forests are the most common outdoor space in residential areas in Norway. In all, 97% of parents state that their children have access to forests within walking or cycling distance from home. When it comes to suitability for play, 88% state that their child, in general, has good or very good opportunities for play in nearby nature. A key finding of the study is that nearby nature spaces have a much more sporadic daily use by children than outdoor developed spaces such as playgrounds and sports facilities. The paper discusses reasons for this observed pattern focusing on the play environment and opportunities for children to play in nature. A central question for future research is why children merely play in their own garden and not in the forest