African nations are among those most vulnerable to climate change. A new survey suggests they are also the least prepared.

By Edem E. Selormey and Carolyn Logan

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The largest survey exploring Africans’ views on climate change, conducted in 34 countries between late 2016 and late 2018, found limited popular knowledge alongside widespread perceptions that climate change is “making life worse.” Here is what this Afrobarometer survey revealed.

Before any mention of “climate change,” Afrobarometer asked 45,823 respondents about their own observations of changes in weather patterns. In 30 of the 34 countries, pluralities reported that climate conditions for agricultural production had worsened over the past decade — an assessment that was particularly common in Uganda (85 percent), Malawi (81 percent) and Lesotho (79 percent).

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Overall, two-thirds (67 percent) of Africans who had heard of climate change said it was making their lives worse. The negative effect was felt especially strongly in East Africa, where 9 out of 10 citizens who had heard of climate change (89 percent) said it was making life worse. Only about half as many North Africans (46 percent) saw a negative impact on the quality of life.

What do these results tell us about climate resilience in Africa? Many citizens are seeing harmful changes in weather patterns, but fewer than 3 in 10 have a basic understanding of climate change. Given the continent’s low greenhouse gas emissions and high vulnerability to climate change, consensus-building initiatives for prevention, early-warning, adaptation and mitigation measures may be among the important contributions that African nations can take to the U.N. Climate Action Summit in New York.