Public risk perception of climate change in Egypt: a mixed methods study of predictors and implications

Abstract

Understanding public risk perception of climate change is vital in informing policy and developing effective risk communication strategies. There is a lack of research on public risk perception of climate change in developing countries. Yet, these countries are among the most susceptible to the impacts of climatic changes. The current research provides a novel contribution to the literature by using mixed methods (an online survey and semi-structured interviews) to examine climate change risk perceptions in a sample of the Egyptian public. Findings show that the Climate Change Risk Perception Model (CCRPM) explained 19.2% of the variance in risk perception. Experiential factors (affect and personal experience) were the strongest predictors of climate change risk perception, while socio-cultural factors (value orientations) were the weakest predictors. Interviews highlighted that negative feelings featured prominently when people spoke about personal experiences with the impacts of climate change, in particular experience with flash floods. Results also showed that while participants were concerned about climate change, they appeared to have misconceptions about its causes. These quantitative and qualitative results offer important recommendations for policy and for climate science communication.