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South Africa: How can citizens engage with climate change issues?

South African citizens need stronger leadership in understanding and responding to the challenges of climate change, finds major new research report.

 
As Africa’s ‘superpower’, South Africa is the continent’s biggest economy and its largest emitter of greenhouse gases but is perceived by its citizens to lack the will to tackle climate change in a cohesive and committed manner, finds a groundbreaking research report from the BBC World Service Trust and the British Council.
 
South Africa is positioning itself as a key player in the international climate change arena, but there is a severe disconnect in how its public perceives the issue, as many citizens have little awareness of the projected economic and social costs of climate change to their country.
 
These are some of the findings of South Africa Talks Climate, a report which is part of the pan-African research initiative, Africa Talks Climate.
 
The research finds that many South Africans do not see climate change as having any special relevance to their lives and consider it to be a distant and abstract threat, or as an interest only for the urban elite. Just as a lack of understanding, practical information and resources hindered attempts to combat the HIV and AIDS pandemic, now millions of people whose lives are directly impacted by climate change do not have access to relevant, appropriate information that helps them respond to challenges they face.
 
The research also suggests that HIV and AIDS dominate government and NGO agendas, at the risk of over-shadowing climate change issues.
 
“People think the only problem we have is HIV and AIDS”, says a woman from Soweto.
 
Many South Africans acknowledge the difficulties in balancing these two major concerns, but feel that the government, NGO and private sector should take stronger leadership to enable citizens to engage with climate change issues.
 
Among the opinion leaders interviewed – from media and government representatives to religious and community leaders – many highlight the information gap and identify the media as playing a key role in communicating climate change:
 
“[Only the media is able to] challenge the government, challenge the churches, challenge the business people, to say: we are in it together”, says Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town.
 
BBC World Service Trust Executive Director Caroline Nursey says the role of the media in strengthening information provision is crucial:
 
“The initial global response to communicate effectively about the HIV and AIDS pandemic was slow and often inappropriate to local needs: the media have had a critical role in helping combat HIV and AIDS in Africa and must be supported do so again in the case of climate change.”
 

Africa Talks Climate is the first step in developing long-term strategies for sharing information about climate change. It aims to support all those charged with communicating on climate change, whether they be international organisations, governments, the media, NGOs or community leaders.