The Role of Businesses in Climate Change Adaptation in the Arctic

The Arctic is a developing region and a new frontier for extractive resources and business. It has been affected by important drivers of change such as climate change, modernization, and the transformation of its economic systems. This change requires adaptation on different societal levels. The overall aim of this chapter is to analyze the role of business in the adaptation to Arctic climate change and to investigate how to assess risks in the field in order to create adequate adaptation mechanisms and enhance adaptation methods and capabilities. This is done by exploring the impacts of climate change in the Arctic, by explaining the uniqueness of the region’s economic structure and the economic aspects of doing business in the Arctic, and by examining business structure and adaptation in the Arctic. This allows us to draw conclusions on business’s contribution to climate change adaptation in the Arctic and to propose a conceptual framework showing how Arctic economies are embedded within the institutional, environmental, social, and cultural context, including the elements of business adaptive capacity. The conceptual framework proposed has implications for the academia as well as for policymakers and the business sector by recognizing the essential elements supporting the business role in climate change adaptation in the Arctic.