Atlantic Canadian communities will receive a combined $8.2 million.

The money will fund an initiative called the Atlantic Climate Adaptation Solutions Project and will target issues such as coastal erosion, flooding and ground water resource management.

The initiative will involve 64 partners across the Atlantic region in local projects. The partners include federal, provincial and municipal governments, industry, academia and aboriginal and non-governmental organizations.

The federal minister for the Atlantic Gateway, Keith Ashfield, joined provincial environment ministers at Cape Jourimain, N.B., on Friday to make the announcement, with the Confederation Bridge as the backdrop.

Ashfield said Ottawa is kicking in $3.5 million of the funding to help communities deal with a number of issues.

"The project will advance adaptation, planning, decision making in the areas of reduction of risk to coastal and inland waters, revision of infrastructure standards protection of ground water resources and enhancement of community planning," said Ashfield, the member of Parliament for Fredericton.

P.E.I. Environment Minister Richard Brown said climate change is one of the most critical environmental issues facing his province.

He said P.E.I. is particularly vulnerable when it comes to coastal erosion.

"Over the last 11 years, Prince Edward Island has applied to the federal government for $24 million worth of disaster assistance claims submitted as a result of storm events and related to flooding erosion and wind damage and wash out, " said Brown.

Nova Scotia Environment Minister Sterling Belliveau said many communities are experiencing serious impacts due to extreme weather events.

The Atlantic Canadian provincial representatives agreed that the effects of climate change are already costing millions of dollars each year, suggesting it's better to find solutions than to continue to pay for clean-ups.