In the last century, heatwaves in Sweden occurred once every 20 years (the last being in 1975). Since the start of the new millennium, four heatwaves (2003, 2007, 2010 and 2018) have been already experienced. The frequency of these events is expected to further increase due to climate change; they will occur once every three to five years towards the end of the century. Heatwaves are already leading to increased mortality. Botkyrka is a municipality in Stockholm County in east central Sweden, not far from the capital with a population of 91.925 inhabitants.

The Saimaa ringed seal (Phoca hispida saimensis) is an endemic sub-species, a relict of last ice age that lives only in Finland in the fragmented Saimaa freshwater lake complex. Nowadays the population has only about 360 individuals, which poses a threat to its survival. This land-locked population is threatened by varied anthropogenic factors, such as incidental by-catch mortality, habitat loss and climate change.

This case study considers a Finnish example of replacing overhead lines with underground cabling. The same strategy is also applied in other European countries. Elenia is the second largest electricity distribution system operator in Finland. To adhere to the outage requirements of Finland’s updated Electricity Market Act, distribution system operators such as Elenia are investing substantially in underground cabling.

Klaipėda is a coastal city with almost all of its territory located on coastal lowland, and the Smeltalė river situated in the Southern part of the city, falling into the Curonian Lagoon within the city area. Regular floodings of the southern city areas due to flash floods in the Smeltalė River and Baltic Sea level fluctuations are the main problem of the Klaipėda city case study area.

The City of Växjö is situated in the southern part of Sweden, surrounded by forests and lakes. As many parts of the central city of Växjö were built upon wet and swampy areas they are vulnerable to floods after heavy rainfall events. One of the most affected parts is the street Linnégatan which is built on a previously existing small stream and which is situated much lower than the surrounding built areas. In past years, rainwater often flooded the street and the nearby buildings’ basements and cellars.