ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an assessment of the perceived changes and stresses that impact social vulnerability, as well as an understanding of the extent to which climate or environmental change impacts renewable resource and subsistence users and what determines their adaptive capacities. The choice of case study area and sectors is based on the fact that renewable resource industries and users are the most directly impacted by climate change, as climate change may increase natural variability and make resource availability less predictable. The forest industry traditionally plays a large role in the Arkhangel'sk Region in Northwest Russia. The socioeconomic conditions and resources of the fishing villages and forest settlements are important in evaluating their potential for adaptation to social and climatic modifications. The fishing quotas are decided in the Norwegian-Russian Fishing Commission, with each state then distributing its national quota. For fishing activities, warming of the seawater has resulted in a somewhat different distribution of fish.
