AF2025: The Art of Adaptation - How Comics Are Changing Climate Conversations in Asia

Picture this: a world so hot that stepping outside feels like opening an oven door. The air stings your skin, and the heat hums in your ears. Floods and fires are no longer rare — they’re as common as sunrise. It sounds terrifying, and it is. But instead of giving in to despair, a growing number of researchers are choosing creativity. They’re turning climate science into comics, stories, and games that make young people stop scrolling and start caring.

At the recently concluded 8th international Adaptation Futures Conference (AF2025) in Ōtautahi Christchurch, that creative spark was easy to spot. Amid the graphs, policy talks, and data-heavy slides were two projects that spoke a different language — one from Japan, the other from India. Both proved that sometimes, a comic strip can do what a research paper cannot.

Midori Nemoto presenting at the Adaptation Futures Conference (AF2025) in Ōtautahi Christchurch. Image supplied/AMC

 Japan: A weather report from the year 2125

In Japan, Midori Nemoto, Climate Change Adaptation Coordinator at the National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES), has been quietly reimagining how to talk about climate change. Over the years, she has travelled the country, meeting farmers struggling with unpredictable rain, shop owners adapting to heatwaves, and families facing stronger typhoons. Each encounter helped her turn science into stories that people can see and understand.

At the Center for Climate Change Adaptation (CCCA), Midori leads a small team that blends research with design. It includes Ikuji Tomoka and Mariko Yoshida from NIES, alongside Masashi Sato (designer), Satoko Nakano (writer), and Hiromi Nagashima, a well-known manga artist. Together, they’re making climate adaptation not just a technical term, but something people can feel.

An audience member reads the comic 'Weather Forecast: 100 Years Into the Future' at the Adaptation Futures Conference. Image supplied/AMC

Since 2020, the group has produced illustrated booklets and comics about living with climate change. Their most well-known work, Weather Forecast: 100 Years Into the Future, looks like a regular TV broadcast — but the date on the screen reads “2125.” In this imagined forecast, Japan faces fierce heat and stronger storms. Streets shimmer under 50-degree summers, cherry blossoms bloom too early, and families discuss how they’ve learned to adapt — planting heat-tolerant crops, using reflective building materials, and helping elderly neighbours through long hot days. The scenes feel ordinary and unsettling all at once, showing how every choice today shapes tomorrow’s weather.

“Our team wanted to create a way to help people, especially young audiences, imagine how climate change could affect their daily lives in the future,” Midori said. “We collaborated with a popular manga artist to turn climate data into a story that is engaging, visual, and emotionally relatable.”

The comic sits within Japan’s A-PLAT platform, a one-stop online hub that lets users explore maps, quizzes, and interactive tools showing how their own towns might change. Sixty-eight local adaptation centres across Japan use these materials in schools and youth clubs — science, translated into the language of curiosity.

A page from Midori's comic. Image supplied/AMC

“The results from fiscal year 2024 showed that younger people mostly get their information from social media or school,” Midori said. “But many said they didn’t know what steps they could take. That motivates us to make adaptation feel tangible and real.”

The project began in 2021, three years after Japan passed its Climate Change Adaptation Act. Since then, it has grown into a suite of creative tools — from interactive web games to the #Let’s Adapt youth campaign. The team also designed Future Earth Gacha, a real-life, interactive tool, used at environmental learning events where participants can experience climate science in person.

Their reach extends well beyond Japan. Midori’s team collaborates with partners including the Korea Adaptation Center for Climate Change (KACCC), the National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR) in Taiwan, and Climate Adaptation Services (CAS) in the Netherlands. “Since 2018, the CCCA has been sharing information with international organisations that operate adaptation platforms,” she said. “We aim to share our experiences and learn from the initiatives of other countries.”

Midori addresses a packed room at the Conference. Image supplied/amc

For Midori, adaptation is not about fear — it’s about possibility. “Even for those who feel disconnected from climate issues, adaptation inevitably concerns us all,” she said. Her advice to others working in climate communication is simple: “Climate change affects everyone. It’s important to communicate with respect and use language people can relate to. Real change happens when we work together and stay committed.”

 India: A curious girl and her goat

In central India, a 12-year-old girl and her quick-witted goat are helping readers make sense of the planet’s biggest challenge. They are Bhoomi and Goju, the heroes of a comic created by Jubeena Judi Joe, a master’s student at the Indian Institute of Forest Management (IIFM) in Bhopal, and Elphin Tom Joe, a researcher in climate adaptation and PhD candidate at Penn State University in the United States.

A page from the comic. AMC photo

Before beginning her master’s, Jubeena co-founded DesignTree, a design consultancy based in southern India’s Kerala — a state celebrated for its literacy and creativity. One of her major projects was a mural for the Government of Kerala’s Arteria initiative, which uses art to brighten cityscapes and invite reflection. The comic, she says, grew from the same instinct: to make complex ideas feel close and alive.

“Growing up, I was influenced by Calvin and Hobbes,” she said. “I wanted to channel that same energy while creating Bhoomi and Goju. The two characters use curiosity to unpack a serious topic like climate change. They’re my way of showing that conversations about the planet don’t always have to be heavy.”

Bhoomi, the young protagonist, sees the world with open eyes. Goju, her goat companion, adds humour and perspective. “Goats are resilient and adaptable, just like the spirit we wanted for Goju,” Jubeena said.

Jubeena at the Conference. Image supplied/AMC

To make sure the stories were grounded in fact, she worked closely with Elphin. “Research was crucial,” she said. “Elphin’s academic work and on-ground experience in climate adaptation gave the comic a strong scientific foundation. We combined his scientific lens and my storytelling to create content that’s both factually sound and emotionally resonant.”

The Adventures of Bhoomi and Goju unfolds in three parts. In the first, they notice small but worrying changes in their village — hotter days, shrinking trees, and floods that no one expected. In the second, they take different paths: Bhoomi looks for local solutions, while Goju explores how communities in other countries are adapting. In the final chapter, they reunite to share what they’ve learned, linking the local and the global in a way young readers can grasp.

Elphin with his poster at the Conference. Image supplied/AMC

“The response at Adaptation Futures was incredibly encouraging,” Jubeena said. “Experts and participants were amazed by how the visuals brought complex ideas to life. Teachers told me they see real potential for classrooms and workshops. Even though it was designed for a younger audience, adults connect with it just as much.”

She hopes to bring the comic into schools soon. “We plan to collaborate with educational organisations to introduce it into awareness programmes. Our goal is for Bhoomi and Goju to help young readers grasp climate adaptation in an engaging way.”

For Jubeena, storytelling is about connection. “It helps people see themselves in the story,” she said. “It turns climate change from something distant into something that touches their everyday lives.”

She believes Asia is the right place for this kind of creativity. “Asia is at the centre of climate change challenges,” she said. “A comic like this can make these complex issues accessible. Many people don’t have the time or language to read long reports like those from the IPCC. Presenting adaptation visually makes it easier to understand and relate to.”

Although Bhoomi and Goju is still in its early stages, Jubeena already has plans to expand. “Collaborations with organisations like Japan’s CCCA and A-PLAT can open opportunities to exchange ideas and explore how creative storytelling can support climate communication globally,” she said.

And if the comic ever crossed borders, she knows how she’d draw it. “If Bhoomi and Goju were to visit New Zealand, I’d draw inspiration from Footrot Flats,” she said. “The stories could explore rising sea levels, coastal conservation, or the Māori idea of kaitiakitanga — guardianship of the land. Goju might even take on a local twist, maybe as a sheep or a kiwi bird. The idea is to make their adventures feel rooted in local culture while keeping the message universal.”

Her next step? “I’m developing new volumes of Bhoomi and Goju and working on a ‘pictionary’ — a visual glossary that explains key climate concepts in a fun, simple way,” she said. “Visual storytelling can be a bridge between science and everyday understanding, and that’s exactly where I see Bhoomi and Goju continuing to grow.”

 Why comics and clickable tools work

Put the two case studies side by side and a pattern appears. Both begin with how young people already learn — through screens, images, and stories. They scroll and swipe. They remember feelings more than facts. And both projects meet them where they are.

Midori’s weather forecast from the future and Jubeena’s comic about a curious girl and her goat show that science doesn’t have to stay locked in data. In Japan, students use comics and online tools to see how their choices shape what’s ahead. In India, Bhoomi and Goju start conversations that connect global science to local lives. Neither project talks down to its audience; both invite people in.

The takeaway

If we want the next generation to adapt, adaptation itself must feel like theirs. That’s what Midori’s Weather Forecast: 100 Years Into the Future and Jubeena’s Bhoomi and Goju are doing. They turn distant risks into relatable moments and give young people a role beyond worry.

As Midori put it, “Adaptation is a new opportunity to shape the future that our communities aspire to.”

The world is heating up, but in classrooms and comics across Asia, imagination is quietly doing its work. A girl, her goat, and a weather forecast from 2125 are all asking the same question: what kind of future do we want to draw?

-Asia Media Centre