Learning from climate change perceptions in southern African cities

Abstract

Scholarly understanding of an individual’s climate change risk perception in the African context, is limited, including amongst those who have an influence on policy making. This discussion paper goes some way towards filling this gap in understanding by providing preliminary findings on concern and the psychological distance of climate change amongst policy influencers in three southern African cities (Blantyre, Harare and Gaborone). We posit that climate change is psychologically close amongst those consulted in each city and this is correlated with increased levels of concern. As psychological distance of climate change has been shown to be an indicator of willingness to act on climate change, we posit that willingness to act on climate change may be enhanced in these southern African cities and, indeed, in many African cities facing similar risks from climate change. This information should be used to nuance the way in which we engage in tackling the climate change challenge in urban Africa, recognising the potential receptiveness to act on climate change and the contextual need for concrete, solutions-based climate information.