The Surfrider Foundation is stoked to share some climate optimism with the release of the 2025 State of the Beach Report. Despite the fact that more than 50% of our beaches are projected to be lost by 2100 — a figure that is upwards of 70% in places like California — Surfrider and its powerful network of volunteers from coast to coast are honing in on local solutions to address the most pressing impacts of climate change.

A Time-Tested Approach

Surfrider’s approach to addressing the climate crisis along our shores is rooted in nature-based solutions through our Climate Action Program, community-driven coastal planning, and science-driven policy campaigns at the local and state level. Our beaches are experiencing greater erosion and beach loss due to worsening coastal hazards stemming from climate change, and federal leadership is withdrawing funding and support for desperately needed solutions. That’s why the Surfrider network is leaning into decades of experience successfully organizing and activating at the local level to protect the beaches and coastal areas we love most.

Frontline Impacts, Local Climate Action

The report features nine case studies from beaches and coastal areas across the country, including successful coastal restoration in Queens, New York, community-driven planning to identify solutions on beaches experiencing some of the worst erosion rates along the North Shore of O’ahu, comprehensive policy changes to protect Oregon’s iconic beaches, and Surfrider’s gold standard managed retreat and coastal restoration project at Surfers’ Point in Ventura, California.

Many of these case studies center the work of our newly launched Climate Action Program. Building on the coastal restoration work our chapter network has led in their local communities for decades, Surfrider formalized this program in April 2024. In the first year since launching the program, our volunteers have:

  • Hosted or participated in 68 restoration events
  • Engaged more than 2,000 volunteers
  • Planted over 55,000 native plants
  • Removed over 10,000 pounds of invasive species
  • Restored more than 20 acres of coastal habitat

Read the full article about the 2025 State of the Beach Report by Emma Haydocy at Surfrider Foundation.