Communicating climate change impacts to Australian coastal and marine communities

Climate change is an issue that is causing a wide range of impacts along Australian coastlines including sea level rise, density of development and infrastructure, exposure to extreme weather, algal blooms, oil spills, availability of affordable property insurance, governmental policies, and regulations. Solutions will require the navigation of complex inter-relationships to facilitate the building of effective policy. Development of effective communications is essential to deployment of effective adaptations. This paper reports the results of a narrative review on how to communicate climate change impacts to marine and coastal communities. Results show communications must be tailored to the right audience at the right time and delivered by trustworthy messengers. A best practice communications strategy is suggested.

Automated summary

This paper examines how to effectively communicate climate change impacts to marine and coastal communities and suggests a best practice communications strategy that emphasizes the importance of tailoring messages to specific audiences and delivering them through trusted messengers.