To succeed, climate change adaptation plans must be anchored in science and local conditions. How climate change adaptation is locally framed, whether through risk or security logics, carries implications for the actors involved, tools employed, and resources mobilised.

While the securitisation of climate change is well-documented at national and international levels, the way securitisation affects local-level governance and adaptation is much less known. The RISKSEC 2.0 project seeks to bridge this gap by analysing opportunities for complementarity between international, national and local adaptation efforts. This involves both positive dynamics, such as shared understandings and coherent action, and negative dynamics like conflicting perspectives and local disempowerment.

In addition to a literature review, the RISKSEC 2.0 project examines climate change adaptation in four European municipalities: Dordrecht (the Netherlands), Halmstad (Sweden), Stavanger (Norway) and Bergen (Norway). The aim is to explore whether local strategies are driven by risk or security narratives.

With this understanding, decision-makers at all levels of governance can make more informed decisions and identify the best adaptation approaches for their community.