Civil protection and preparedness
The Governor of Svalbard has a central role in maintaining safety and preparedness levels in Svalbard. With the extensive responsibility and diversity of tasks this entails, there are demands placed on competence, planning, exercises and, not least, coordination, both internally and with external actors.
The Emergency Preparedness Council is composed of key public, voluntary and private organisations that have specialist knowledge of emergency preparedness work in each
The council is a forum for sharing information about emergency preparedness work, and the council will be the central coordination body in a crisis situation. The establishment of the emergency preparedness council is authorised in the “Instructions for the county governors’ and Governor of Svalbard’s work relating to civil protection, emergency preparedness and crisis management”.
In Svalbard, The Governor of Svalbard is the head of the council. According to Section 5 of the Svalbard Act, The Governor has the same authority as a county governor.
The Governor is responsible for maintaining an overview of risk and vulnerability in Svalbard. We establish this overview by preparing a risk and vulnerability analysis, also called SvalbardROS.
The overall goal of SvalbardROS is to form a common platform for preventing unwanted incidents in Svalbard. It will also strengthen the coordination of regional work on civil security, emergency preparedness and crisis management.
In the work on the analysis, there has been broad involvement from actors responsible for civil security and emergency preparedness in Svalbard. Locally and regionally, both local communities and actors from the Svalbard Emergency Preparedness Council have been involved where it has been natural. Several specialist directorates have also contributed to the work.
The analysis covers the three risk areas of natural events, major accidents and intentional acts. In the report (in Norwegian) you can read more about risk and vulnerability related to nuclear events, acute pollution, accidents at sea, fire, landslides, floods, stormwater and rain on snow, strong winds and cyber attacks.
The Governor of Svalbard shall submit ROS analyses each year together with the annual report to the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, cf. the requirements in the main instructions to the Governor of Svalbard.
The SvalbardROS can be downloaded from our Publications webpage.
From 1 November to 31 May, The Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate prepares daily avalanche warnings for Nordenskiöld Land. In addition to the regional warning, the risk of naturally triggered avalanches that could threaten the exposed buildings in Longyearbyen is also assessed.
The warnings are prepared by Skred AS. These warnings will be based on general weather and avalanche warnings, local weather forecasts, local avalanche observations and knowledge of avalanche paths in the Longyear valley.
Forecasts and local observations that show an increased danger of avalanches towards houses in Longyearbyen will trigger a warning to The Governor of Svalbard and Longyearbyen Local Council. Once the warning is received, The Governor will assess the situation and whether action should be taken.
Information on local avalanche risk assessments can be found on The Governor's website and on social media. In the event of evacuating avalanche-prone areas in Longyearbyen, residents in the relevant areas will be notified.
Here you find the avalanche warning for Nordenskiöld Land (varsom.no)
The Emergency Pollution Response Committee (UA Svalbard) will take action in the event of a spill if the person responsible is unable to handle the situation themselves. UA Svalbard is led by the Governor. In the event of major incidents, the Norwegian Coastal Administration will manage the action.
Emergency preparedness against acute pollution is regulated in the emergency plan. The plan consists of agreements, instructions and templates for use in an action, as well as notification lists and overviews of vessels and equipment. The state emergency includes:
• several vessels
• depot with oil spill response equipment in Longyearbyen
• depot with oil booms in Ny-Ålesund
• depot force that will take action in the event of an incident
The emergency response is built up by a set of agreements between the Norwegian Coastal Administration, the Governor and businesses in Svalbard that have been given an order to be on alert.
The emergency response organization in Svalbard can handle smaller, coastal spills depending on weather, sea, ice and darkness. In addition, several Coast Guard vessels operate with oil spill response equipment in the waters around Svalbard. In the event of major incidents, the Norwegian Coastal Administration will bring in resources from the mainland.
The Norwegian Coastal Administration is the responsible authority in the event of acute pollution or the risk of acute pollution, but in individual cases, the authority is normally delegated to the Governor. The Governor nevertheless has operational responsibility with the obligation to take action if an incident occurs.
Businesses in Svalbard and vessels operating in the area have their own responsibility for emergency preparedness against acute pollution.