A major opinion survey across Africa has shown that many people place primary responsibility for climate action on their national governments.
Carried out by a gloabl team of researchers between 2021 and 2023, the survey, among other things, covers 39 countries and more than 50,000 people. It was published this week in the journal Communications Earth and Environment.
Although the continent has contributed relatively little to global emissions, the continent is enduring some of the worst effects of climate change, according to findings from the survey. Its authors focused on the 26,735 respondents who said they had heard of climate change. They were asked who should bear the responsibility for limiting it and reducing its effects.
Nearly half – 45 percent – said their national government should take the lead. Just 13 percent named rich countries, while only 8 percent pointed to businesses and industry.
Read also: Environment minister says tree planting key to combating climate change
“There is clearly a desire among many respondents to see their government take more action to protect them and address the problem of climate change,” study co-author Talbot M Andrews, a political scientist at Cornell University said.
The view that governments should take the lead was especially common in West Africa. In Nigeria, Liberia and Niger, close to three out of four people gave this response.
“It was surprising for us to see that many people placed so much responsibility on their own government, and that there was so little responsibility attributed to historical emitters, namely industrialists and wealthy countries,” Andrews said.
Although Africa has contributed little to global warming – just 3 percent of historical CO2 emissions since 1750 – its populations are among those most exposed to its impact. The United States alone accounts for nearly a quarter of emissions.
Around 30 percent of those surveyed said that ordinary people in their own countries should carry the most responsibility for responding to climate change. This view was most common in Uganda, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar and Zambia.
Four small island states – Cape Verde, Mauritius, the Seychelles and São Tomé and Príncipe – were among the countries where respondents were most likely to name historical polluters.
Story was adapted from rfi.
