The report is concise and accessible for the policy maker as well as the community person. It is also presented in an easy-to-read manner. As the climate crisis unfolds in multifaceted ways, dithering is not an option. This is the time for Africa to take needed actions by investing in distributed and socialised renewable energy supply. The above data lead to a range of conclusions and recommendations.
Regarding general climate attitudes, climate change, and the environment are moderately salient across the three countries. Between 16% and 29% of the public believe that it is a top priority for their country, with people in Senegal being particularly likely to name it as a top issue. While almost everyone in the three countries believes in climate change, only one-quarter to one-third of the public believes that climate change is primarily driven by human activity. Across the three countries, belief in climate change is associated with education level – the more education someone has attained, the more likely they are to believe that climate change is caused by human activities. Worry about climate change is high across the three countries, with three-quarters to nine in ten members of the public being worried or very worried about climate change, with Senegal again standing out as the country where people are most worried. Across the three countries, people working in agriculture are more likely to be very concerned about climate change than people outside the sector.
When it comes to attitudes towards different Conclusions and recommendations for energy sources, the public of the three countries tends to have more positive than negative attitudes towards all energy sources asked about. The only exception to this general pattern is nuclear energy in Senegal. Otherwise, the public of the three countries also tends to have more positive attitudes towards renewables and solar specifically than towards different hydrocarbons. One exception to this is attitudes towards wind power in Nigeria, which is substantially lower than in the other two countries under study. These attitudes tend to vary little across different social, economic, and demographic groups in the three countries.
The survey shows that people tend to be more positive than negative about the installation of energy infrastructure in their communities, with the key exception being nuclear energy, again in Senegal. Although people tend to be positive about different forms of energy infrastructure, they are more positive about the installation of renewable electricity sources, and solar specifically. As with attitudes towards wind power in general, people in Nigeria are less positive about windmills being installed in their communities. Taking action on climate change Across the three countries of this study, a large majority of the population is willing to take civic action in support of their views on climate change. Who was willing to take action varied by a number of social and demographic characteristics across the three different countries, but nonetheless willingness tended to be high across all social and demographic groups.
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