At a glance
- This guidance is about the science communication of climate change, which fits within an effective community engagement strategy.
- Communicate risk, not predictions: Frame climate change as increasing and evolving risk, using ranges and scenarios rather than single outcomes.
- Be explicit about uncertainty: Clearly distinguish what is well established, what varies locally, and what remains deeply uncertain. Also explain why.
- Link science to decisions: Connect impacts and uncertainty to adaptation pathways, thresholds, and staged choices rather than fixed solutions.
- Build trust through transparency: Use clear, neutral language, explain assumptions and limits, and be upfront about how advice may change as knowledge evolves.
Communicating climate change for coastal adaptation
Effective coastal adaptation depends on clear and credible climate communication. Climate change creates complex, long‑term risks that interact with local environmental, social and economic systems, making communication essential to informed planning and decision‑making.
Communication supports adaptation in multiple ways — explaining climate science and projections, supporting discussion of options and trade‑offs, and maintaining trust as knowledge and conditions change. Because climate science underpins all stages of adaptation, practitioners need clear guidance on how to communicate risk and uncertainty, particularly where issues are contested.
This guidance focuses on communicating climate change science to support coastal adaptation, including how to explain what is known, what is uncertain, and why this matters for decisions. It does not address community engagement or participatory processes (see box below).
The range of complementary resources on community engagement in CoastAdapt including:
- a page on Engaging the community
- an Information manual: Community engagement
- a case studies in Working with the community
- resources in Explainers, templates and 'how to' pages
- Explainer: IAP2 approach and community particpation
Communication about climate change typically includes these reasons
why comunicate
Communication about climate change typically includes these reasons
Why climate change communication has often been ineffective
Communication about climate change has often been effective, which has
- Unclear purpose: Communication has often not been tailored to its specific aim (e.g. explaining risk versus supporting decisions), nor to audience needs, leading to inappropriate messaging.
- Overly technical, abstract, or moralistic language: Heavy use of scientific jargon or normative framing can distance audiences from the issue and reduce understanding, particularly when it fails to connect with lived experience.
- Global or distant framing: Emphasis on global impacts or remote symbols (such as polar regions) has made climate change feel abstract and irrelevant to local coastal communities.
- Fear‑based or crisis‑only messaging: Communication that focuses solely on overwhelming threats, without explaining options or agency, can lead to disengagement, fatalism, or denial.
- Polarising framing: Partisan or ideological narratives have contributed to conflict and resistance, and decline in trust in science.
- Failure to recognise climate change as a wicked problem: Linear, one‑off communication approaches have struggled to address complex, long‑term and value‑laden decisions.
- Capacity and confidence constraints: Coastal practitioners may feel uncertain about leading difficult conversations, particularly where property values, cultural identity, or iconic places are affected. Elected officials may also lack understanding, support, or willingness to engage with politically sensitive issues.
- Inadequate preparation for misinformation and disinformation: Organisations have often been reactive rather than proactive, allowing misleading or false claims to shape the agenda and erode trust.
These challenges underline the need for more deliberate, evidence‑based approaches to communicating climate science.
more information in CoastAdapt on misinformation and disinformation and what steps you can take to be better prepared.
Communicating more effectively
There are now many evidence-based guides on climate change communication. The following sections outline key findings for communicating climate science, risk and uncertainty for coastal adaptation. These focus broadly on how to explain climate change clearly and credibly, which requires:
- explaining what is changing and why
- communicating risk, probability and uncertainty
- linking science to adaptation choices over time
Box 1 is a synthesis of broad findings from the international guides that include consideration of coastal climate science listed in Table 1. Box 2. Outlines more specific tips
Framing tips
- Place comes first: Coastal communication works best when it starts with beaches, tides, flooding and homes, rather than not global averages and the gool ole 'hockey stick graph'.
- Dialogue beats delivery: Participatory and community‑led approaches outperform 'educate and persuade' models. Creativity is really important too!
- Opennes about limitation and limits helps build trust: Be clear. Discuss that protection has limits and that some transformation (such as managed retreat) may eventually be necessary.
More specifically:
- Communicate science as a system, not a series of facts: Coastal climate impacts arise from interacting processes (sea‑level rise, storms, tides, erosion, subsidence). Communicating these as disconnected facts leads to misunderstanding. Also consider compounding risks - especially as it is likely your community has experienced these in recent times!
- Frame climate impacts as isks not predictions: Risk framing improves usability for planners and reduces misinterpretation of uncertainty. Use risk language (likelihood × consequence), not deterministic outcomes that appear to be forecasts. Compare future risks to current planning standards (e.g. “events that were rare are becoming frequent”). Emphasise that risks increase over time, even if exact timing is uncertain.
- Be explicit and structured about uncertainty: Uncertainty is intrinsic to climate science, especially for long‑term coastal change. Explain the sources of uncertainty. Glossing over it it erodes trust; overstating it paralyses action.
- Anchor the science in local progression, not global end points. Coastal adaptation decisions hinge on near‑ to mid‑term change and cumulative impacts Use progressive narratives (2030 - 2050) rahter than distant endpoints like 2100.
- Pair impacts with adaptation pathways: Introduce adaptation pathways (protect, avoid, accommodate, retreat) as options that change over time. Explain trade‑offs, residual risk and limits, as well as benefits. Link science to decision triggers (e.g. flood frequency thresholds).
- Balance neutrality with empathy: credibility rests on clarity, transparency and consistency which requires neutral tone and language and authorative presentation. However, it is also important to acknowledge that you are dealing with lives and livelihoods.
| Guide | Core audience | Key communication messages | Distinctive coastal emphasis |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCC (AR6 IPCC Comms Handbook) | Policymakers, planners, practitioners | Communicate risk and uncertainty clearly; pair impacts with response options; integrate local and Indigenous knowledge | Strong guidance on communicating uncertain but escalating coastal risks over long timeframes |
| UNFCCC Technical Guide on Sea‑Level Rise | Governments, practitioners | Communicate loss, damage and adaptation with dignity; emphasise choices and justice | Strong on framing relocation, protection and accommodation pathways |
| Climate Outreach – Principles for Effective Communication | Scientists, policymakers, communicators | Start with values not facts; avoid deficit model; tailor to audience worldviews; be honest about uncertainty without overwhelming | Useful for framing sea‑level rise and erosion without triggering denial or paralysis |
| NOAA Digital Coast – Coastal Adaptation Planning Guide | Coastal managers, councils | Begin engagement early; use visual tools; explain pathways not end‑states; revisit messages over time | Makes sea‑level rise and inundation tangible through mapping and scenarios |
| Compendium of Best Practice for Managing Coastal Change | Coastal practitioners, local authorities | Be transparent about limits; manage expectations; prioritise trust; communicate change as ongoing | Explicitly addresses difficult conversations about retreat and loss |
| “Sailing Through Change” – Current Conservation | NGOs, trainers, community practitioners | Start from lived experience; link local observations to climate drivers; prioritise dialogue | Emphasises fisheries, erosion, storms as entry points to climate discussion |