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Policy
Briefing

SVEN TORFINN/PANOS PICTURES

POLICY BRIEFING #3 OCTOBER 2009

Least responsible,
most affected,
least informed:
public understanding of climate change in Africa

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LEAST RESPONSIBLE, MOST AFFECTED, LEAST INFORMED: PUBLIC UNDERSTANDING OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN AFRICA

Introduction The information flow on climate change to date has
principally been from the rest of the world to Africa.
African citizens are least responsible for generating the It needs to be replaced by a sustained dialogue and
greenhouse gases that are causing the global climate to two-way flow of information that empowers African
change. Yet they are already suffering, and will continue citizens and ensures publics and politicians in countries
to suffer, some of the most devastating consequences of mainly responsible for causing climate change are better
climate change. This policy briefing, rooted in detailed informed of African realities and perspectives.
research carried out across six African countries, argues
that African citizens both need and have the right to In December 2009, more than 15,000 people will gather
information on how human-induced climate change will at the 15th United Nations Framework Convention on
impact on their lives and how they can adapt. It also Climate Change (UNFCCC) conference known as the
argues that African citizens have a major role in educating Conference of Parties (COP 15) in Copenhagen for what
those principally responsible for climate change about many hope can be a definitive moment in human history:
its true impact. to reach a revised global agreement on tackling climate
Front cover image change by reducing greenhouse gases and providing
Teshoma Abera stands African citizens are at humanity’s climate change resources for countries to adapt where possible to the
in his barren and frontline, yet according to this research they are also impacts. The degree to which these negotiations are
infertile field. After just among the least informed about human-induced global successful is likely to determine how many people will
two days of rain in the climate change, its causes and its consequences. Broader have their lives wrecked or ended by climate change.
year, his crops have public understanding of a range of climate change issues African citizens are among those who have most at stake
failed dramatically is required if Africa is to respond and adapt to climate at the negotiations.
Below Bayissa Urgessa change. Better public understanding will also be neces-
conducts a focus group sary to enable those most affected by climate change Throughout 2009 the BBC World Service Trust, with the
with agro-pastoralists, to communicate their perspectives and experiences to support of the British Council, has been asking African
Ethiopia, May 2009 those most responsible for causing it. citizens for their knowledge and perspectives on climate
SELAM AYALEW/BBCWST

2 BBC WORLD SERVICE TRUST POLICY BRIEFING #3 OCTOBER 2009

change as part of a broader research and communica- factors complicating meaningful action on environmental
tion initiative, Africa Talks Climate. This groundbreaking degradation and climate change in Africa.
research has systematically gathered the views of farmers
and fishermen, pastoralists and business people, women • There is a trend for some African citizens to attribute
weather changes (in part or in full) to God, gods or
and men, rich and poor, rural and urban. The findings
fate. The potential role of religious and faith leaders in
draw on focus group discussions with more than 1,000
informing and catalysing responses to climate change
people in Nigeria (pilot), Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria,
would appear to be substantial.
Senegal and Uganda (phase one); and DR Congo, South
Africa, Sudan and Tanzania (phase two). This briefing • It has taken western publics and politicians more than
is based on research findings from the first six of these 20 years (some would argue much longer) to begin
countries. An Executive Summary and 10 country reports to develop the political response to the climate crisis
from Africa Talks Climate will be published separately, and which the evidence warrants. Environmental issues,
will be available from the Africa Talks Climate website however, tend to impact far more urgently on people’s
(www.africatalksclimate.com). lives in the countries in which this

Summary of policy conclusions
research was conducted, and the
potential may exist for African “ The information flow
political and public opinion to on climate change to date
• African public awareness of the environment – and leapfrog the tortuous evolution
particularly of environmental degradation – is strong, of western public (and perhaps has principally been from
principally because environmental issues impact so political) responses to climate the rest of the world to
immediately on the daily lives of African citizens and change.
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Africa. This needs to be
have done so for many years.
• There is a near universal sense across all the people Climate Change (IPCC) places replaced by a sustained
interviewed – from pastoralists to politicians, fisher- Africa at special risk from climate
folk to urban commuters – that the “weather” is change, in part because of its lack dialogue that empowers

”
changing (the term “climate” is rarely used, or is used of capacity to adapt to chang-
interchangeably with “weather”). ing environmental realities. African citizens
Sufficient support to enable African governments and
• There is a strong tendency for Africans to hold
citizens to adapt to climate change will be a key ingre-
themselves individually or collectively responsible
for changes in the environment and the weather which dient of any successful international treaty. A major
they blame on environmental degradation caused locally. policy conclusion of this report is that meeting the
Deforestation, localised pollution, and overpopulation information and communication needs of African
citizens should be considered as a critical component
are all factors perceived as causing changes to the
of adaptation strategies around climate change.
weather. Sometimes governments are blamed, some-
times industry or other communities or sectors are • Providing African citizens with the information they
blamed, and sometimes factors beyond human control need to respond and adapt to climate change is just
are invoked (especially God). But when considering one component of probable forthcoming debates
the idea of human responsibility, Africans hold them- around climate change in Africa. A central issue is
selves significantly responsible and accountable for the one of environmental justice. African citizens will be
environmental degradation and changes in the weather among the most affected by climate change but are least
they experience. responsible for the greenhouse gases that have caused
it. They cannot make just demands on the rest of the
• There is little awareness that the climatic problems world, or determine properly their own political and
facing Africa – now or in the future – are likely to have other responses to this emerging crisis, without being
causes that extend beyond their own continent. informed about its causes and its consequences. African
African lives will be severely impacted by carbon dioxide citizens need better information on climate change, but
emissions generated overwhelmingly by the rest of the they also need far better ways of communicating their
world. When this realisation takes hold their response reality and perceptions on the issue to those principally
is unpredictable. responsible for causing it.
• African citizens are among the least informed about • The media in Africa, together with schools, are critical
human-induced global climate change, its causes and sources of information on climate change. More con-
its consequences. This lack of information is severely certed, better organised and researched information
inhibiting the capacity of African citizens both to adapt and communication efforts will be essential if
to climate change, and to exert influence both inter- African citizens are to have the capacity and opportunity
nationally and on their own governments to ensure an to respond effectively to climate change. It is hoped that
appropriate and urgent response to the scale of the this policy briefing, and the broader research initiative
threat they face. on which it rests, will constitute a useful contribution
• Once public understanding of the severity of to such efforts.
climate change impact develops, and awareness The main findings of this briefing are summarised in the
increases that international factors beyond their control points above. The remainder falls into three parts:
are responsible, a rational response may well be one of
anger directed at those responsible. The first provides some background placing current public
understanding of climate change in a historical context.
• A window of opportunity exists for the international The second outlines how Africa is least responsible, most
community to persuade African citizens that the rest of
the world is serious about mitigating the worst of the affected and least informed about climate change.
devastating potential impacts of climate change on the The third draws some conclusions and implications for
continent. If that window is closed, blame, recrimination the Copenhagen summit and other international policy
– and possibly despair – may become major additional debates from the research.

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COURTESY OF AP PHOTO / REBECCA BLACKWELL

Horse cart drivers transport
goods and passengers through
deep flood waters in Sicap Mbao,
Dakar, Senegal, September 2009

1
Earthscan/International
Environmental degradation “Africa has taken too much from its land”, argued a
1985 report from Earthscan/International Institute for
Institute for Environment in Africa Environment and Development (IIED). “It has overdrawn
and Development (IIED) its environmental accounts and the result for much of Africa
(1985), Lloyd Timberlake, This briefing seeks to focus specifically on climate change,
rather than the environment. Yet a major challenge for the has been environmental bankruptcy. The big farm schemes
Africa in Crisis: the causes,
the cures of environmental research on which it is based was extricating insight into of the Northern experts, and the small efforts to stay alive of
bankruptcy the issue of climate change from more generalised public the rapidly growing rural populations have overcultivated,
perspectives on the environmental problems facing Africa. overgrazed and deforested the soil”, it concluded.
2
Club du Sahel/CILSS, This is unsurprising. The externally generated impacts of More than a decade earlier, the appalling droughts that
(September 1981) climate change already affecting Africa take place against afflicted the Sahel from 1968–72, killing between 50,000
“The Sahel Drought a backdrop of long-standing internally generated natural and 250,000 people2 (contemporary estimates varied
Control and Development resource degradation. greatly) and millions of animals, were triggered by a lack
Programme, 1975 of rain. Whether drought was an early symptom of climate
– 1979” put the figure Acute environmental degradation in Africa is not a
recent phenomenon and is a product of years of abuse change or of natural climatic variation is a subject of scientific
at around 50,000
of natural resources reaching back to the colonial era. dispute. Its effects, however, were greatly exacerbated by
– 100,000. The UN
Conference on It was already a focus of significant research and analysis human activity. According to most of the research at the
Desertification (1977) more than a quarter of a century ago. Africa’s environ- time, drought was not principally responsible for people
estimated as many as mental capital has already suffered major withdrawals dying – it was overcultivation and overgrazing of the land
150,000 had died. over recent decades and was in many areas overdrawn that left no margin when drought arrived.3
3 years ago. Sometimes environmental degradation has prompted
See for example, The 1984-5 Ethiopian famine claimed the lives of up to acute crises by triggering floods, droughts and famines.
Earthscan (1982), Alan one million people. It was attributed not only to drought, Sometimes it has been chronic in nature, taking the form
Grainger, Desertification: misgovernance and a lack of aid, but to “environmental of water and air pollution, uncollected rubbish or open
How people make
bankruptcy” caused by years of deforestation, soil erosion sewers. It has resulted from poor governance, overpopula-
deserts, how they can
and overexploitation of other natural resources1. tion, an inequitable international trading system and – as
stop and why they don’t.


was the case in South Africa during Apartheid – from naked People who are severely impacted by climate change
racial injustice forcing too many people onto too little land will be better able to adapt if they are informed about
in the interests of a small minority. the issue. Farmers need to change the varieties of the
seeds they plant, the crops they grow and the times
Ultimately however, pre-existing, long-standing and
they sow and reap. Water and other resources need to
increasingly devastating environmental degradation
be husbanded far more carefully, floods and droughts
provides the backdrop to the relatively recent narrative
to be anticipated and planned for,

“
of climate change in Africa. Substantial governmental,
livelihoods and businesses need to
intergovernmental and non-governmental efforts have
change and adapt. Significant planning
There appears to
been made to address such degradation internationally
and resources are already beginning be a clear demand for
dating back at least to the 1972 UN Conference on the
to be spent on adapting to climate
change in Africa, but these will need information that enables
Human Environment, and the follow-up Earth Summits in
Rio de Janeiro in 1992 and Johannesburg in 2002.
Climate change is an increasing and intensifying factor
to be greatly scaled up in future.
people to adapt to

”
The experience of the industrialised
world is that political and public environmental change
potentially threatening the habitability of significant parts
of Africa. It needs to be viewed against a backdrop of
serious ongoing environmental degradation reaching back action on climate change takes many
several decades. years, arguably many decades, to translate scientific
understanding of the issue to a stage where meaningful
Our research suggests that this is how many African citizens action is contemplated. It has taken politicians and publics
regard it – not least because they experience the direct this long in industrialised countries, despite multi-million
impact of environmental degradation on their lives day in dollar research centres, highly sophisticated media and
and day out. communication infrastructures, high standards of educa-
tion and rich reservoirs of civic and political action. The
Does it matter that people know about climate prospects for serious political and public action in Africa
change? might therefore seem bleak. This is all the more the case
An assumption might be made that African citizens have far given the many other pressing calls upon the time, money
more urgent issues to worry about than their environment and resources of the most affected populations and their
or climate change. In fact, much of our research suggests governments.
that people are deeply concerned about their changing
environment. In general, the poorer people are, the more Many of the findings of our research imply the opposite.
they understand just how vulnerable they are to shifts in The acute impact of environmental change on the lives of
the life support systems that sustain them, and how poorly African citizens suggest that there is already a far more
protected they are from the extreme consequences of a urgent interest in these issues than there is in other parts
change in climate. of the world, especially the west. There appears to be a
clear demand for information that enables people to adapt
The potential appears to exist to translate this intense
to environmental change, particularly if it gives people
sense of environmental awareness fostered by vulnerability
realistic options of how to do so.
to environmental change into a broader concern around
human-induced climate change. If this is the case, why There is much less apparent demand for information on
and how does it matter that citizens have better access the causes of those changes. This is largely because there
to information on climate change? is little notion of where that responsibility principally lies.

Bayissa Urgessa interviews
agro-pastoralist, Ethiopia,
May 2009
SELAM AYALEW/BBCWST

5


Least responsible, most are in Africa, collectively emitted less than 0.7% of
total carbon emissions … Altogether, African countries
affected, least informed emitted only 4% of all carbon – 2.6% if South Africa
is excluded.”4
Least responsible: “If all countries were to pollute
so little, there would be no climate change” “If all countries were to pollute so little, there would be
4 no climate change”, it continues.
Thirty out of the 40 lowest per capita emitters of carbon
Global Humanitarian
dioxide in the world are African countries. The 50 least Figure 1 (below, top), taken from the report, illustrates
Forum (2009) Human
Impact Report: developed countries in the world – the majority African graphically just how little responsibility Africa his-
Climate Change, – contribute less than 1% of global carbon emissions. torically bears for the climate change which will affect it.
The Anatomy of a Silent A 2009 report from the Global Humanitarian Forum, Figure 2 (below, bottom) further shows the disproportion-
Crisis, introduction by chaired by Koﬁ Annan, states: “The top 20 countries ate degree to which African nations suffer from health
Kofi Annan most vulnerable to climate change in 2004, 15 of which burdens related to climate change.

Above Figure 1: World map reflecting carbon emissions
(Annual aggregate national carbon emissions 2000) © Copyright 2006 SASI Group (University of Sheffield) and Mark Newman (University of Michigan).
Reproduced in Anatomy of a Silent Crisis, Global Humanitarian Forum 2009

Above Figure 2: World map reflecting mortality related to climate change
Source: Climate Change and Global Health: Quantifying a Growing Ethical Crisis, 2007, Jonathan A. Patz, Holly K. Gibbs, Jonathan A. Foley, Jamesine V.
Rogers, and Kirk R. Smith reproduced in Anatomy of a Silent Crisis, Global Humanitarian Forum 2009


Key impacts
Agriculture and food security Environmental degradation causes resource scarcity,
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate reducing the supply of usually renewable resources of
Change (IPCC), by 2020, yields from rain-fed agricul- food and fresh water, and non-renewable resources
ture could be reduced by up to 50% in some African such as land.
countries. Food prices, which have already risen in
The links between environmental degradation and
recent years (due to a range of economic, environ-
increased political tension and conflict have been
mental and other factors) and are having devastating
highlighted for many years: “In the complex web
effects on people living in poverty in many African
of causes leading to social and political instability,
countries, can be expected to increase further.
bloodshed and war, environmental degradation is
In 2008, extreme drought in Uganda, where more playing an increasingly important role - this is the
than 80% of the population depend on rain-fed ‘Greenwar factor’”, argued a 1991 report from the
subsistence farming, reduced agricultural output by as Panos Institute, Greenwar: environment and conflict.
much as 30%, according to the Global Humanitarian
Climate change is, however, predicted to greatly
Forum. In late 2009, extreme drought is wreaking
exacerbate conflict in Africa and is, in some cases,
havoc in Kenya, leaving four million people dependent
already doing so. Examples of climate change-related
on food aid.
conflicts already happening provided by the Global
Food aid and other food imports may also become Humanitarian Forum include “fighting between
scarcer as major predicted impacts of climate change pastoralists and farmers in the Oromia and Ogaden
materialise. The mid-west United States, one of regions of Ethiopia, inter-clan fighting in Somalia, and
the main grain producing areas in the world and the increased fighting during drought periods in Nigeria”.
source of substantial current food aid, is also expected
It is worth noting however, that the capacity for
to be heavily affected by climate change.
large-scale conflict caused by environmental degrada-
tion has been highlighted over many years and has not
Water: too little and too much
so far materialised to the extent predicted. In 1985,
Climate change makes the hydrological cycle which
Egypt’s then Minister of State for Foreign Affairs (and
drives our weather patterns more powerful. Droughts
later United Nations Secretary General) Dr Boutros
become more intense and more frequent. So do
Boutros-Ghali, warned that “the next war in our
floods. Rainfall patterns in many parts of Africa have
region will be over the waters of the Nile, not politics”.
already changed markedly.
Conflict over water resources has been a particular fear
“Rainfall has decreased by 4% on average each but there are longstanding examples – such as around
decade since the 1970s in western Africa, and 2.4% sharing water reserves of the River Nile – where peace-
per decade in tropical rainforest regions”, says the ful negotiation and cooperation have so far succeeded.
Global Humanitarian Forum. “Complicating the
picture, in some dry areas like Morocco, seasonal rain
showers will likely become more intense, which can
produce unusually severe and damaging flooding.”
Poverty: the cruellest irony
It is a cruel irony that the countries that will be
most affected by climate change are those where
people are in the worst position to adapt to it. The
“It is a
cruel irony
The IPCC predicts that “by the 2080s, many millions
more people than today are projected to experience
Global Humanitarian Forum has focused its analysis that the
particularly on the human impact of climate change and
floods every year due to sea level rise. The numbers
concludes that “because the poor tend to live in geo-
countries
affected will be largest in the densely populated and
low-lying megadeltas of Asia and Africa while small
graphical and climatic regions that are naturally most that will be
vulnerable to climate change, their capacity to adapt
islands are especially vulnerable”.
is easily overwhelmed by the impact of the changing most affected
Health: climate change has already had an impact
conditions. They have the fewest assets to rely on in
the event of a shock – whether it be a weather related
by climate
Africans are already dying as a result of climate
change. The World Health Organization (WHO)
disaster, a bad harvest or a family member falling ill”. change are
estimates that at the turn of the millennium, 2%
of all diarrhoeal disease-related deaths and deaths
The same report argues that more than ten million
people worldwide have fallen into poverty today
those where
from malaria and malnutrition worldwide could be because of climate change. people are
attributed to climate change, the vast majority of them
in Africa. What good news? in the worst
The prospects for the future are much graver,
Not all the climate change-related impacts on Africa
will be negative. Climate change is projected to bring
position to

”
however. Up to 80 million more people will be
exposed to malaria in Africa if warming extends to 4
some benefits in temperate areas, such as fewer adapt to it
deaths from cold exposure, and some mixed effects
degrees for example. Malnutrition is expected by the
such as changes in range and transmission potential
IPCC to become more common, and declining crop
of malaria in Africa. Heavier concentrations of carbon
yields are likely to leave “hundreds of millions without
dioxide in the atmosphere helps plants grow, so it is
the ability to produce or purchase sufficient food,
possible that the many negative agricultural impacts
particularly in Africa”.
will be partially offset by some increased fertility.
Conflict and Instability Unfortunately, very few scientists believe that such
The causes of conflict in Africa, as elsewhere, are factors will significantly outweigh the dramatic
complex and various but, as elsewhere, a principal negative effects of the expected climate change
driver of conflict is over control of resources. impacts on Africa.



Most affected: how climate change will impact Africa The different countries were chosen to reflect a range of
Africa, together with the Arctic and some parts of Asia, regions, cultures and experiences. Research participants
will be among the regions most impacted by climate ranged from rural pastoralists through to cabinet ministers,
change in the world, according to scientific consensus. It urban town dwellers through to fisherfolk.
is especially vulnerable because of “low adaptive capac-
In each country, fieldwork locations were selected in
ity and projected climate change impacts, and because
consultation with a national advisory network to represent
its megadeltas – such as the Niger delta – have “large
areas experiencing environmental challenges which have
populations and high exposure to sea level rise, storm
been linked to, or are predicted to be, exacerbated by
surges and river flooding.”5
climate change. Geographic, ethnic, linguistic and urban/
The science of climate change makes grim reading. Dr rural diversity were also considered. The citizen focus
Rajendra Pachauri, Nobel Prize-winning chair of the IPCC groups were single sex, and involved approximately eight
argues that a 2 degree Celsius rise in global temperatures people. Participants in each focus group were of a similar
by 2050 is inevitable even if humanity emits no further age and socio-economic class or profession. Moderators
emissions of carbon dioxide, the main were of the same gender and spoke the same language

“People are intensely
gas driving climate change. as the participants. For the opinion formers, one-to-one
According to the Global Humanitarian interviews were conducted with policy-makers, religious
environmentally Forum, “more than one third of the leaders, business people, journalists and civil society
leaders.
aware and perceive an world’s population change … people
vulnerable to climate
are physically
In each case, verbatim local language and English transcripts
increasing and deeply living in low-lying areas, the semi-arid were produced for each focus group and interview. These
land belt along the Sahel that separates were systematically coded by a team of international
disturbing deterioration Africa’s arid north from more fertile researchers using a common list of codes to group and
in their environment
”
areas, easily flooded regions on the cluster the data. Codes were then analysed to identify the
Equator, and glacier regions are most insights and emerging themes. Fieldwork was conducted
likely to be affected.” The same report in two phases and was carried out between May and
argues that sub-Saharan Africa is at the October 2009.
most immediate risk of climate change-induced floods
and droughts. Public action and engagement with climate change in Africa
at the civil society and governmental level has increased
Several of the most respected climate change scientists markedly in recent years and months. This briefing, how-
have become progressively more pessimistic in recent ever, focuses explicitly on broader public understanding of
years and months and believe that climate change is the issue rather than on civil society and political action.
happening “faster than many people thought possible.”6 It draws principally on research from the focus groups
Most continue to believe that, providing tough and binding rather than one-to-one interviews. Conclusions reached
commitments are reached to rapidly reduce global emis- were drawn from research from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya,
sions, it will be possible to stave off global temperature Nigeria, Senegal and Uganda.
increases beyond 2 degrees (an increase which in itself
will have disastrous consequences for some places). If an Main findings
agreement is not reached soon to limit carbon dioxide
emissions, increases of 4 degrees and more become likely. Intense environmental awareness
At its worst, such a scenario would see large parts of Africa People are intensely environmentally aware and perceive
become uninhabitable. an increasing and deeply disturbing deterioration in their
environment. Environmental degradation is seen as an issue
Least informed: how citizens in Africa perceive of personal and often profound individual impact. Farmers
climate change see their crops failing through increased temperatures,
“A set of exploratory studies and mental model drought and flood, urban dwellers experience increased
interviews were conducted in order to characterise public pollution, garbage and sewage problems, fisherpeople
5 understanding of climate change … [people tended] to report declining fish catches. No-one who participated
Intergovernmental confuse stratospheric ozone depletion with the greenhouse in this research considers the environment as unimportant.
Panel on Climate effect and weather with climate … Additionally, the Almost all see it as something that deeply affects their own
Change (IPCC) (2007), ‘greenhouse effect‘ was often interpreted literally as the circumstance.
Fourth Assessment cause of a hot and steamy climate”
Report (AR4) Climate Much environmental degradation is a result of soil erosion,
“What do people know about climate change?”
Change 2007 (p. 52) overfishing, deforestation and other non climate-related
Journal of Risk Analysis USA, Vol 14 No 6, 1994
factors and there is a keen understanding of this:
6
The quote above reflects the state of public understanding “The changes in the air and the soil erosion in the mountains
Hans Joachim
of climate change in the United States in the 1990s. The have made it difficult to grow trees, they just dry up as soon
Schellnhuber
— Founding Director, limited research carried out on this issue in other countries as we plant them.”
Potsdam Institute for has tended to reflect similar findings, dependent on how Male farmer, Amhara, north western Ethiopia
Climate Impact Research much the issue has been a policy or media priority. It has
(PIK); Member, been neither in Africa over recent years. “Even our fathers were fishermen – we are following in their
Intergovernmental footsteps, but nowadays you go fishing and just come back
The research was designed to explore public under- with a small catch. But when we were young, when we
Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) quoted
standing and perspectives of climate change in Africa. went with them, it was a catch that Jesus used (laugh) long
in Global Humanitarian Africa is a continent of 52 distinct, highly diverse coun- long ago – but nowadays you find that the waters of Lake
Forum (2009) Human tries, and the research on which this is based took place Victoria have gone down a long way.”
Impact Report: in only six of them (research in a further four countries Fisherman, Ahero, western Kenya
Climate Change, is underway). Some caution needs to be exercised
The Anatomy of a therefore in drawing universal conclusions across the “You find that due to cutting down of trees there is soil
Silent Crisis continent. erosion which ends up carrying away the fertile soil. Also the


forest contributes to bringing the rainfall and you find that

SAM OTIENO / BBC WST
people are cutting down trees and you will automatically start
seeing the land changing because there have been no rains.”
Male, Nairobi, Kenya

The weather is changing
A universal reflection across all people interviewed in all
countries participating in this research is a perception
that their weather patterns are changing. Droughts are
perceived as happening more frequently and with greater
intensity. Food is becoming less reliably available and
more expensive, a factor which people associate with
changes in the weather. This perspective is generally
epitomised by a sense that the seasons are no longer
predictable:
“Our weather has changed a lot. Before you could know and
predict when the rain will start and when it will stop... now
it is uncertain.”
Male, Lagos, Nigeria

“We lost our cattle due to drought. I sold some of them and
the rest are dead due to the long winter and lack of rain.”
“Earthly things have changed, and it is because we have Above Patrick Maina
Male agro-pastoralist, Oromia, southern Ethiopia
started cutting down trees everywhere. Now strong winds moderates focus group
“...Ten years ago we are not in this place. We migrated come and take our things away, and the rain too does not discussion, Isiolo,
come regularly.” central Kenya
from one village near Niger, because of shortage of food to
feed ourselves and our animals, our animals are dying, no Female, Jirapa, south western Ghana
water, everywhere is dry that is the reason why we
migrated from our place to settle here” “Toxins [affect the environment]. In Kampala we have cars,
Herdsman, Jigawa, northern Nigeria industries, so the air in Kampala is not fresh, the vegetation
is not natural.”
“On the road leading to Bignona the mangrove used to be Male, Kampala, Uganda
dense, but now it has completely disappeared, probably
due to the lack of rain.” “The forest coverage has decreased. The weather has
Male, Ziguinchor, south western Senegal changed and there is an increase in temperature. When we
were young there was plenty of rain and more trees.”
“We have not had enough rain for the last four years and Female, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
the animals we have get little or no grass. They begin to get
diseases that are related to famine and die.” Some implications of this key finding are outlined in the
Female pastoralist, Isiolo, central Kenya last section of this briefing.

Issues of governance
Environmental degradation is seen as having There is also a significant association of environmental
overwhelmingly local causes degradation with either poor governance or absence of
The causes of these changes are considered to be largely governance, and few expect any environmental issues to
local, and specifically climate-related changes (which are be addressed – climate related or not – without substantial
described as changes in the weather) are not distinguished improvements in political governance.
from broader environmental changes.
“There is a structural problem in Africa”, argues one
Crucially, changes in the weather, such as decreasing senior African media figure also interviewed as part of the
rainfall or floods, are blamed overwhelmingly on local research. “You cannot see the impact of climate change
factors such as pollution and – above all – deforestation. in isolation from the political systems that are prevailing
The association between the weather and trees – and the in Africa. To combat climate change, it needs democracy;
felling of them – is pronounced across all the research in it needs peace; it needs government committed to socio-
all the countries. economic transformation; a government committed to
African citizens interviewed for this research largely lay the exploit the potentials in Africa”.
blame for their environmental problems at their own door. Expectations of government responsiveness tend to vary
Sometimes they blame their own behaviours, sometimes – as might be expected – greatly between countries, but
that of other communities or sectors or businesses. also between rural (where there are often low expecta-
There is extremely limited understanding that some of tions of government action) and urban (where demand
the changes to their weather or climate may have causes for government action was often higher):
beyond their own experience or country. The notion that “The water problem is brought about by our leadership
international pollution and other external factors may now starting from those at the helm. The president is the one who
or in the future be partly or increasingly responsible for should be solving our problems and he should empower those
drought, floods or other climate-related problems in Africa below him to come and assist us to solve the problem of
is barely reflected in the research: water. Our lives have been destroyed because of lack of water.
“A lot of problems happened due to that deforestation. For Our cattle are dying because of lack of water. When there was
example, there was rain before, but now after the deforestation, water in the river, life was very good and even when there was
the rain became scarce. Then drought happened.” drought, cattle always had grass that grew at the river banks.”
Male agro-pastoralist, Oromia, southern Ethiopia Female pastoralist, Isiolo, central Kenya



The will of God? providing insight into what is likely to happen to their
While the principal perception is that changes to the societies and environmental life support systems is carried
weather were caused by local factors and local behav- out by research centres outside of Africa. Nearly all the
iours, another dominant response is that measures proposed to address international climate change

“ You cannot see God – or gods, fate or other such factors
– are responsible for such changes. When
the impact of climate changes in the climate are attributed to
external factors, these tend to be focused
are devised and debated at international fora which – at
least until very recently – have barely been reported in
Africa, and are conducted in language unlikely to resonate
with the vast majority of people on the continent.
change in isolation on issues of God, faith and fate. Another
There are greater numbers of urgent life-threatening crises
theme is that mankind has damaged the
from the political nature given to them by God.
claiming the attention of African citizens and politicians alike
than anywhere else in the world, and weaker capacities
systems that are Such perceptions tend to be specific to to address all of them. Civil society in Africa is increasingly
prevailing in Africa
”
some countries and localities and not strong and focused on the issue, but climate change is
to others, but to the extent that these being debated more on Africa’s behalf rather than by and
perceptions do exist, the finding suggests a within Africa itself.
strong potential role of faith leaders in generating greater
knowledge, understanding and action around climate An important repercussion of this is that a problem that
change: will affect Africa more than any other continent is being
framed in language and terms that are largely divorced
“It looks as if God has changed his calendar.” from African reality.
Male, Accra, Ghana
“Climate change is an esoteric and initially confusing con-
cept to many”, argues Saleemul Huq of the International
“The secret is with Allah. Allah brings the rain. The one Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
who causes the drought, who sends us the drought is “Communication about it must use a community’s own
Allah.” language and terms they can understand. This means not
Female pastoralist, Afar, north eastern Ethiopia only translating scientific texts into local languages but
also giving up on the written word altogether and using
“The changes [in rainfall] is nature, human beings can’t traditional means of communication such as art and theatre,
cause it. We are in the rainy season so it can rain at or modern methods such as video.”9 The research on
7 anytime. If we are in November/December and it rains which this briefing is based supports such claims.
Less than half (47%) of then we can say that our sins caused it. We have not The HIV/AIDS epidemic may provide some useful lessons.
journalists interviewed sinned enough for God to destroy the world with rain HIV was identified, highlighted and conceptualised in early
in a recent study of because he has promised not to destroy the earth with rain policy responses in the west in the 1980s. Its effects were
400 media practitioners again but he can use fire”. most acute in Africa (and other developing countries) but
across 20 countries in Female farmer, Rivers State, south eastern Nigeria
Africa claimed to be
the language and communication methods were generated
knowledgeable about by experts from outside of the continent. Much of the early
The challenge of language media reporting of the issue in Africa focused on highly
climate change. From
A major purpose of the research on which this briefing is scientific language which provided little insight into the
research conducted by
the BBC World Service based was to explore what information African citizens already apparent reality of the disease on the continent.
Trust’s Research and need if they are to respond to and adapt to climate For many years, much of the early debates around HIV/
Learning Group on change. The results suggest that a central challenge in AIDS were conducted in terms that were technical in
behalf of the such responses will revolve around language, something nature and often untranslatable into terms or languages
International Food that is reaffirmed by African journalists7. that were capable of resonating with those most affected.
Policy Research
Institute (IFPRI) “We don’t have a term to describe climate change in our Mass education campaigns were carried out (and still
summer 2009 language”, says Claudie Tsheya Iikela, General Manager are) and the best ones provided life-saving information
of TV Programmes at the Namibian Broadcasting to millions. However, the real sea change in Africa’s
8 Corporation8. “We have many words for particular response to HIV/AIDS came when those most affected
Speaking at UNESCO weather conditions – such as wind – but it takes us at by the virus exposed the true reality of the impact – social
International least four times as long to describe an issue of climate and economic as well as medical – on their lives, and
Conference on as it would in English … it means it can be quite boring demanded access to treatment and resources. It was the
Broadcast Media and for the listener”. increasingly vocal, sophisticated and organised response
Climate Change: from African civil society that transformed international
A Public Service Remit, The research reflects this. The term ‘climate’ is not public and policy responses to the pandemic. African
Paris (4-5 September generally recognised across the range of countries and citizens became the agents of change, not the subjects.
2009) people involved in the research. The term ‘climate The same may well prove true of climate change:
change’ is little known and people frequently interpret
9 it to mean changes in the weather. The term ‘global “The media talks about development; it doesn’t give us
International Institute warming’ is more widely recognised, either because it much information on the environment.”
for Environment and Male ago-pastoralist, Oromia, southern Ethiopia
has been taught in schools or, more commonly, because
Development (IIED)
briefing Community
people have heard about it from the media (television,
Based Adaptation, radio, magazine and mobile telephones are all men- “The media should bring us programmes of places that
Saleemul Huq tioned). However ‘global warming’ is often inaccurately have been in similar situations, and show the way they
www.iied.org/ conflated with phenomena such as the ozone layer or handled the issues.”
climate-change/key- tectonic movements and earthquakes or other largely Female farmer, Ahero, western Kenya
issues/community- unrelated issues.
based-adaptation/
community-based- African governments and citizens are currently in a position “On TV and Radio, I have heard about temperature increasing
adaptation-iied- where they are largely reactive, rather than proactive in in some countries and decreasing in others.”
briefing their responses to climate change. Nearly all the science Female, Afar, north eastern Ethiopia


Copenhagen: A closing window the public will become both better informed and more
demanding about its causes.
of opportunity The international community has a window of opportunity
This research provides us with some insights into the to demonstrate to African citizens that it is serious about
information and communication needs, realities and slowing and ultimately stopping climate change. If it grasps
aspirations of African citizens confronting yet another that opportunity – most importantly at the UN summit
massive shock to a continent already reeling from multiple in December 2009 – the inevitable public attribution of
concurrent crises. blame for climate change may at least be channelled into
constructive responses.
An obvious conclusion is that there is a need for greater
education about climate change in Africa if its citizens If that window closes and if the international community
are to adapt to it. As a British organisation operating fails to take serious action on climate change, the long-
from the home of the industrial revolution, however, term public response in Africa could be unpredictable.
we offer a more fundamental conclusion. Without Clearly however, the likelihood is that a set of problems
better public understanding in Africa of the causes and which African citizens currently consider to be largely
consequences of climate change, those most affected by their responsibility to address will be transformed into
the impacts of climate change cannot hold those who a realisation that little local action is likely to succeed
caused it to their commitments and responsibilities in without global action. Without such global action, people
confronting it. may decide that taking any action at all is pointless, and
blame and recrimination may increasingly dominate public
The extent to which current shifts in the weather or responses.
experience of environmental degradation – to which
most people were responding – can be attributed to There is another window of opportunity that may also be
climate change is a matter of scientific and political suggested by this research. The intense environmental
debate and clearly depends on local context. There is awareness affirmed by the research suggests there is
almost no serious scientific doubt that now, and in the a reservoir of public demand for more serious efforts
future, international carbon and other greenhouse gas to tackle the environmental crises and problems facing
pollution will increasingly drive climatic changes, further Africa.
cause environmental degradation and undermine human The issue could become a catalyst for far more concerted
development on the African continent. governmental and public action on the environment. A
The research carried out over recent months by the reinvigoration of efforts to reverse environmental degrada-
BBC World Service Trust Research and Learning Group tion in Africa seems possible if credible steps are taken
reveals little attribution of blame by African publics for internationally to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and
their growing climate-related problems on the industr- if industrialised countries commit credible resources to
ialised world. There is a strong sense that environmental enable countries most affected to adapt to climate change.
degradation is a localised issue for which responsibil- This only seems feasible, however, against a backdrop of
ity lies with Africans themselves – as governments, clear international commitments to stem global climate
individuals and communities – to redress. Even where emissions.
environmental problems are climatically related, this is Meaningful action on climate change will require unprec-
frequently attributed to highly visible, localised factors edented international cooperation and political will. It will
such as deforestation. require profound behavioural, economic and social change
There is an obvious irony here. Those international across nearly all sections of society in nearly all societies. The
behaviours which may have the most profoundly damaging demands on financial and human resources will be acute.
effects on Africa in the future are those which Africans This briefing suggests that the information and communica-
are least aware of. tion needs of those most affected by climate change should
be a more prominent priority in the international response
This will almost certainly change in the future. As to climate change. Unless they are met, African citizens
climate-related problems become more marked, and as cannot adapt to climate change. Nor can they educate
government, civil society and media attention increases, those who have the greatest responsibility for slowing it.

“Those international behaviourson Africa in havefuture
most profoundly damaging effects
which may
the
the

are those which Africans are least aware of
”



Acknowledgments
This briefing is based on research carried out by the BBC World Service Trust This policy briefing is one of a series published by the BBC World Service
Research and Learning Group in partnership with the British Council. Trust’s Policy and Research Programme with funding from the UK
Researchers were Apune Jacob Alfred, Selam Ayalew, Miriam Burton, Department for International Development (DFID). None of the views
Anna Godfrey (Research Manager), Mercy Kimaro, Perest Kujang, Emily reflected here should be taken as reflecting those of any funding
LeRoux-Rutledge, Leah Matthews, Tunga Mbia, Patrick McCurdy, Anu organisation. The BBC World Service Trust is an independent charity
Mohammed, David Musiime, Lucy Neville, Allan Oniba Alana, Sam Otieno, established by the BBC, but no views expressed here should be taken to
Ed Pauker, Ruman Ronald Moi, and Kayshinee Rye Ramchurn. Substantial reflect those of the BBC
input into this briefing was provided by Miriam Burton, Grace Davies, Anna
Godfrey, Emily LeRoux-Rutledge and Ed Pauker. Invaluable comments on Africa Talks Climate is a groundbreaking, African-led research and communication
the text were provided by Kit Vaughan, Caroline Nursey and Gerry Power. initiative exploring the public understanding of climate change in Africa. Further
The briefing was written by James Deane, head of policy at the BBC World information, and all Africa Talks Climate publications including an Executive
Service Trust who is responsible for any errors. Summary are available from www.africatalksclimate.com

The BBC World Service Trust is the BBC’s international development charity. It aims to reduce poverty and promote human rights in developing countries
through the innovative and creative use of the media. Access to information, empowerment and ‘voice’ are at the heart of all we do.
The BBC World Service Trust is an independent charity funded by external grants and voluntary contributions, mainly from the UK’s Department for
International Development (DFID), the European Union, UN agencies and charitable foundations. Registered charity number: 1076235
©BBC World Service Trust
BBC World Service Trust, Bush House, Strand, London WC2B 4PH, UK
Tel +44 (0) 20 7557 2462
Fax +44 (0) 20 7397 1622
Email ws.trust@bbc.co.uk
Web bbcworldservicetrust.org

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