Climate change knowledge, attitude and perception of undergraduate students in Ghana

Abstract

Anthropogenic climate change is a serious global environmental issue that threatens food and water security, energy production, and human health and wellbeing, ultimately jeopardizing the attainment of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A good understanding of climate change is essential for societies to adapt to or mitigate it. Yet, studies reveal that most people have limited knowledge, misconceptions and misunderstanding about climate change. Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to experience disproportionately higher adverse effects of climate change, but there is paucity of information about climate change knowledge in the region. Here, we assessed climate change knowledge, attitude and perception of undergraduate students in Ghana and the influential factors using a cross-sectional study and semi-structured questionnaire. The study population was full-time undergraduate students at the University of Ghana, Legon. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, logistic regressions, t-test and One-Way ANOVA. The results revealed that a strong majority of the respondents believe that climate change is real and largely human-induced, and they expressed concern about it. Yet, students lack basic knowledge and had some misconceptions about the causes and consequences of climate change. The overall knowledge score of the students on climate change was average (66.9%), although majority (92%) of the respondents claimed they had adequate (75–85%) knowledge of climate change. Our data also showed that respondents’ level of education, programme of study, ethnicity, religion and mother’s occupation had statistically significant association with their knowledge, perception and attitude on aspects of climate change. Our findings highlight knowledge gaps in climate change among undergraduate students in Ghana, underscoring the need to integrate climate change science into the education curricula at all levels of pre-tertiary schools and university for both the science and non-science programme.