16 Feb 2026 Climate adaptation for empowerment, inclusivity and justice

I. Arul Aram

The new interpretation of climate adaptation is not just to protect human lives and economies but also to put mechanisms in place for a better future.¹

This statement emphasises the importance of adaptation and resilience-building to empower communities and countries, the integration of adaptation into national development plans, and the urgent need for climate finance to support these efforts. It sees climate adaptation as a transformative process for enabling people, especially vulnerable groups, to live safe and dignified lives amid environmental upheaval.

Many countries face some of the most severe climate impacts – from rising sea levels threatening island nations (such as the Maldives, Tuvalu and Kiribati) and coastal megacities (Jakarta, Bangkok, New York, Miami, Manila, and Mumbai), to extreme weather events such as floods, droughts, and tropical cyclones affecting and disrupting the lives of millions. The urgency of effective climate adaptation is undeniable. However, true adaptation must extend beyond infrastructure or economic measures. It involves empowerment through inclusive climate justice and strong, clear communication to ensure that adaptation plans are realistic, equitable and actionable.

Communication overlooked

Despite the critical importance of communication and climate justice, major global climate action agendas – including the one prepared for COP30 – often give only passing mention to these elements. The “Pact for the Future” adopted at the 2024 UN Summit of the Future stresses sustainable development and innovation but falls short of emphasising the role of communication, independent journalism, and public engagement in climate adaptation and resilience.

Climate justice demands that the voices of marginalised and affected communities – many of whom are in the Global South – are heard and integrated into solutions. Achieving equity requires transparent awareness-raising, accurate information dissemination, and platforms for communities to share their lived experiences, needs, and solutions that may be adaptable for similarly affected groups. Effective communication is the bridge that connects policy with people, while turning government commitments into real-world resilience.

Narrative framing plays a crucial role in shaping how audiences understand and respond to climate change. When information is presented in ways that emphasise clarity, relevance, and proportionality, it becomes easier for the public to interpret risks and responsibilities meaningfully. Audiences engage more deeply when climate messages help them make sense of impacts in relation to their own lived contexts rather than through abstract or exaggerated depictions.

The challenge is compounded by diverse cultures, languages, and media access inequalities in the Global South. Many local communities rely on traditional media, local networks, or emerging digital platforms, which may or may not be effectively focusing on climate coverage.

Challenges of climate communication

There are many barriers hindering climate communication and justice. One includes a fragmented media landscape, where widely varying communication channels pose not just conceptual but also applicative challenges. While urban centres tend to have digital access, rural and remote communities often lack it, creating an information gap. Furthermore, many languages and cultures require tailored communication strategies that respect local contexts and traditions while effectively conveying scientific knowledge about climate change.

A balanced communication approach is essential in climate discourse, as overly dramatic or technical messaging can alienate audiences. Research suggests that communication which acknowledges both risks and possibilities enables a more grounded understanding of environmental change. Such an approach prevents emotional overload while still conveying the seriousness of climate impacts. By combining scientific accuracy with accessible framing, communicators can support more sustained public engagement without confusion or disengagement.

The rise of digital platforms also brings challenges of climate misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories that can undermine public trust and climate action efforts. Although tech innovation is diffusing, digital divides remain, particularly in rural or poorer regions. Limited digital literacy restricts the use of advanced tools, such as AI or GenAI, in spreading climate awareness and supporting adaptation. AI is becoming an indispensable tool for addressing climate adaptation and resilience. AI applications range from improved climate modelling and disaster risk prediction to targeted communication, data analysis, and the design of community-support tools. However, its role remains largely unrecognised and is also often undermined in global climate governance.

AI enhances the accuracy and timeliness of climate impact forecasts by analysing massive data sets. For instance, AI models can help predict flooding events in the densely populated Ganges Delta or drought patterns in Central Asia, enabling better preparedness and responses. AI-driven platforms can support local decision-making by translating climate forecasts into locally relevant advice or alerts in native languages. In some countries, mobile apps powered by AI provide farmers with real-time information on weather and crop conditions, improving and safeguarding livelihoods even as climate risks escalate.

AI in journalism and combating misinformation

AI tools can also assist independent journalists by providing data-driven insights and quickly verifying facts, which is crucial for combating climate misinformation. Moreover, AI can be deployed to detect and mitigate the spread of false content on social media, thereby preserving public confidence in climate information.

However, to harness AI’s benefits equitably, the Global South must address ethical concerns, data biases, infrastructure gaps, and capacity-building needs. Ensuring that AI-driven climate solutions respect privacy and inclusiveness is a fairly convoluted administrative challenge underlined by the UN’s Global Digital Compact within the Pact for the Future.

Journalism carefully explains scientific uncertainty, debunks myths, and builds trust through transparency and data literacy – critical in a domain where misinformation spreads almost literally like a wildfire. In fact, AI tools are widely used to detect misinformation, particularly those propagated through social media.

Constructive journalism

Climate change unfolds slowly, often without the dramatic visuals that make other crises newsworthy. Constructive journalism helps overcome this challenge by shifting from alarmist, fearmongering, episodic coverage to sustained, solution-oriented storytelling with relatable narratives and adoptable measures that engages audiences rather than overwhelming them. There have been instances where solutions-based narratives in climate coverage not only aided the audience fight helplessness but also inspired them to participate in climate action.²

Constructive journalism highlights local, everyday impacts – heat stress, changing monsoon patterns, coastal erosion, water scarcity, etc – making slow-moving climate risks feel real and relevant. This narrows the psychological distance that often makes climate change seem abstract or far away.

Traditional climate reporting can cause “climate fatigue” or helplessness through its problem-centric focus. Constructive journalism balances the seriousness of the problem with evidence-based solutions, showing what communities, scientists, and governments are doing, and what actually works. This encourages audiences to feel empowered rather than being helpless, while also inspiring them to adopt or even adapt similar measures.

When floods, wildfires, or heatwaves are framed as one-off events, people fail to connect the dots or grasp that these may all be different disasters but connected effects of climate change. Constructive journalism consistently links such events to long-term climate trends, helping audiences understand why the “creeping” nature of climate change matters. Because climate change is slow and layered, constructive journalism’s commitment to long-term follow-up reporting ensures that the issue does not disappear between disasters. It treats climate change as a continuous beat, not a seasonal topic.

Coverage of adaptive strategies such as coastal zoning policies, heat action plans, drought-resistant crops, renewable energy innovations, and flood-resilient architecture helps confirm that climate action is not just possible but also adoptable and adaptable. Constructive journalism emphasises lived experiences from those affected: farmers, fisherfolk, urban workers, women’s groups, informal settlers, scientists, etc. When people see stories of individuals like themselves navigating and overcoming climate pressures, the issue feels proximal, relatable and immediate.

Collaboration: Governments, private sector, and local communities

The complex challenge of climate communication and justice can only be solved through coordinated efforts at all levels. The broader media ecosystem –spanning traditional outlets, digital platforms, and community networks – plays a decisive role in determining public exposure to climate issues. Different platforms vary widely in their reach, depth, and framing of environmental stories, which influences how audiences perceive both urgency and relevance. Ensuring coherence across these platforms can help reduce misinformation and create more consistent pathways for awareness-building. This interconnected media environment underscores the need for communication strategies that recognise the diversity of channels through which people encounter climate-related information. Global South governments must place communication and justice firmly within climate adaptation policies. This includes:

• Supporting independent journalism and climate education
• Investing in ICT infrastructure to close digital divides
• Creating multilingual, culturally appropriate communication strategies
• Promoting transparency and accountability in climate finance and adaptation projects.

For example, the Philippines government strengthened its climate communication networks post-Typhoon Haiyan in 2013, working with media and community groups to deliver timely warnings and adaptation information.

Corporations, particularly in tech and media sectors, can play a crucial role. This includes the development and deployment of AI tools for climate prediction, misinformation control, and adaptive communication. Funding climate journalism and capacity-building in vulnerable regions is vital now more than ever. Therefore, it is necessary to innovate and propagate affordable digital access models for underserved communities.

Asian tech giants in South Korea, India, and China are pioneering AI research that could be tailored for climate resilience applications, but partnerships with governments and civil society are key for a broader reach and greater chances of adoptability.

Community engagement can ensure the relevance of climate adaptation measures reaches the people and is shared among themselves. Indigenous knowledge and local expertise can not only enrich scientific data but also improve adaptation strategies. Community media outlets and grassroots networks are critical in areas with limited access to formal media and by empowering the youth and women as climate communicators can further strengthen the inclusivity of climate action.

In Bangladesh where nearly half of the country is flood-prone, local community radio stations have been pivotal in educating rural populations about flood risks and adaptation by merging traditional knowledge with scientific data.

Success stories

India’s climate resilience initiatives include integration of communication strategies into massive rural adaptation programmes, such as AI-supported weather alerts for farmers and participatory platforms where marginalised groups can voice their adaptation needs.

Indonesia leverages digital platforms through AI-supported digital climate hubs to offer climate information in local languages, specifically targeting remote island communities that are extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise.

Independent media outlets in countries such as Vietnam and Myanmar are increasingly focusing on climate justice stories, though their work faces obstacles from political pressures and resource constraints.

Communication challenges

Climate communication and justice have become extremely critical but continue to remain underemphasised, as observed during the COP30 climate conference. There are economic, political, and cultural barriers faced by vulnerable and indigenous groups in exercising their communication rights and having their lived experiences recognised in policy debates. This marginalisation leads to a climate governance system that is disconnected from the realities of those most impacted, while undermining trust and relevance in global processes.

Furthermore, COP30 agendas have largely overlooked the indispensable role of independent journalism and communication justice in amplifying local voices and insights essential for equitable climate adaptation and mitigation. Additionally, the transformative potential of emerging technologies like AI in supporting adaptation, resilience, and capacity-building through predictive analytics and data-driven decision-making remains insufficiently integrated.

To overcome these obstacles, governments, the private sector, and local communities must collaborate in innovative ways. Governments need to create enabling policies and finance mechanisms that support inclusive communication platforms and independent media amplifying marginalised voices. The private sector can leverage its resources and technology, including AI tools, to enhance early warning systems, risk assessment, and climate-resilient infrastructure, while partnering with community media and NGOs to ensure localised needs are addressed. Local communities should be actively engaged not only as beneficiaries but also as co-creators in climate communication strategies, ensuring respect and inclusivity for indigenous knowledge and grassroots solutions. Cross-sector partnerships based on shared values and collaborative engagements can build trust, enhance transparency, and foster climate justice by recognising communication justice as integral to climate action.

Contemporary scholarship warns that relying on doomsday-oriented apocalyptic frames can undermine the very communication goals that climate action demands. Repeated exposure to catastrophic, end-focused narratives can intensify public fear to the point where the distinction between reasonable concern and irrational anxiety becomes blurred, sometimes even linking such heightened apprehension with harmful behavioural outcomes.³ Disaster-centric media environments magnify perceived risks far beyond scientific assessments, contributing to a wider “culture of fear” that fosters paralysis rather than constructive civic engagement with environmental challenges.⁴

Towards an equitable future

The COP30 climate summit held in Belém, Brazil, in November 2025, included a commitment for the Global North to triple adaptation finance for the Global South by 2035, while it avoided a clear roadmap to phase out fossil fuels. COP30 decided to reverse deforestation and forest degradation in an equitable manner, in tropical countries particularly Brazil and Indonesia.

The UN’s Pact for the Future and Global Digital Compact provide a critical framework for integrating science, technology, human rights, and multilateral cooperation. However, actual progress in climate adaptation will depend heavily on addressing communication and climate justice gaps, especially in the diverse and vulnerable contexts of the Global South.

Empowering communities through transparent, inclusive, and innovative communication – supported by AI and flourishing independent media – can transform climate adaptation from a survival strategy into a path for growth and sustainability. Governments, private actors, and local communities must proactively collaborate, backed by the Pact’s ethical and practical commitments, to build a climate-resilient world.

References

1. Stiell, S. (2025, October 21). Speech at the launch of the National Adaptation Plans Progress Report by the UN Climate Change Executive Secretary delivered in Brasília.

2. Said, N. & Wölfl, V. (2025). Impact of constructive narratives about climate change on learned helplessness and motivation to engage in climate action. Environment and Behavior, 57(1-2), 75–117.

3. O’Donnell, M. (2013). Apocalypse Now: why the movies want the world to end every year. The Conversation.

4. Mills, M. F. (2018). Preparing for the unknowns: “Doomsday” prepping and disaster risk anxiety in the United States. Journal of Risk Research, 22(10), 1267–1279.

I. Arul Aram (PhD) is the Chief Academic Officer of the ICAT College of Design and Media. He is a former Chief Sub-Editor with The Hindu newspaper, Chennai. He specialises in communicating climate change.