Climate change adaptation in water law: International, EU and Finnish perspectives

Abstract

Climate change is expected to significantly alter hydrological regimes globally as well as locally. The impacts will encompass both long-term changes in hydrological trends and short-term extreme weather events. The need to anticipate and adapt to future changes will challenge legal rules and institutions, as these are bound to the past. This article analyses whether water law at international, EU and national (Finland) levels can deal with these hydrological changes. To this end, the analysis draws on a case study of the Finnish-Russian transboundary Vuoksi River. We discuss the main substantive and procedural challenges of water law and outline some necessary legal changes. Our analysis shows that while water law at these levels includes some legal mechanisms for managing varying hydrological circumstances, these will prove insufficient in the light of the scale of anticipated hydrological changes.