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The BBC World Service Trust is the BBC's international development charity. It uses the creative power of media to reduce poverty and promote human rights.
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Ghana Talks Climate
What do people think about climate change in Ghana? Can communication and media strategies be tailored to support Ghana's response to climate change?
In May 2009, the BBC World Service Trust conducted research in Ghana to gauge public understanding of climate change.
The research consisted of 12 focus group discussions with Ghanaian citizens, as well as 18 in-depth interviews with opinion leaders from government, religious institutions, the private sector, the media and civil society.
Findings included:
Changes in climate are not noticed by Ghanaians in isolation from broader environmental changes. People in Ghana are keenly aware of environmental degradation and natural resource depletion. They make little distinction between environmental degradation and climate change.
Drought and crop failure are causing frustration and despair. Farmers and pastoralists do not have a sense of how they would cope if the problems became worse. other issues that people are worried about include bush burning, deforestation, flooding, pollution and poor sanitation. opinion leaders are particularly concerned for rural communities and the urban poor.
There is a strong tendency for Ghanaians to hold themselves individually and collectively responsible for local changes in the weather. They believe that their own activities, such as cutting down trees and burning the bush, have directly brought about these changes. There is little awareness that climatic problems – now or in the future – are likely to have causes that extend beyond Ghana.
Opinion leaders recognise that climate change is a global problem and that industrialised countries are most responsible for causing it. As such, opinion leaders feel industrialised countries should do more to help Ghana adapt to the potentially devastating effects of climate change.
Climate change terminology is poorly understood and does not have standard translations in Twi and Dagaare. The language of climate change is not accessible to most Ghanaians; opinion leaders agree that climate change terminology is a barrier that prevents public engagement.
The media in Ghana, together with schools, are people’s main source of information on climate change; opinion leaders agree that the media has an important role to play in raising public awareness. However, journalists feel that it is difficult to report on climate change because of a lack of information and technical expertise within the media sector.
Ghanaians draw on existing knowledge and beliefs to explain the effects of climate change. For example, many think that deforestation in their local area reduces local rainfall and some incorrectly believe that smoke from cars and factories damages the ozone layer, making it hotter. Many Ghanaians link their country’s growing population to climate change, both in terms of the strain it places on natural resources and the creation of ambient heat through higher population density. Some also believe that changes in the weather are the will of God.
Ghanaians emphasise that preservation of the environment is often hampered by poverty. Many people rely on the exploitation of Ghana’s natural resources to make a living and cannot see any other viable means of survival.
Opinion leaders agree on the need to raise awareness of climate change. Yet there has been a tendency to focus on addressing the causes of climate change rather than adapting to its impacts. Several opinion leaders emphasise the need to prioritise the provision of information that will enable the most vulnerable people to adapt.
Many people criticise government at all levels for a lack of visible action on climate change and the environment. Those government representatives interviewed say that more will need to be done to tackle the impacts of climate change on Ghana’s rural poor; to regulate carbon dioxide emissions; and to reduce bush fires and deforestation. They suggest that the major challenge is one of financial resources.