Climate change adaptation occurs within a complex interplay of science, media, politics, policy, and the public. Using comparative longitudinal data (2012–2021) from online newspaper articles, parliamentary debates, policy documents, and social media, we analyze agenda-setting dynamics in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. Vector autoregression models, incorporating scientific output as an exogenous variable, reveal traditional agenda-setting effects in both countries. In the Netherlands, however, social media positively influences traditional media, while in the United Kingdom, traditional media negatively affects social media. These findings enrich our understanding of the factors shaping public awareness and policy responses to this critical global issue.