Impacts of extreme climate events on megacities in West Africa: A case of the Greater Accra Region

This study investigates the perceived impacts of extreme climate events particularly floods, heatwaves, and droughts on food security, public health, energy systems, and water resources in the Greater Accra Region (GAR), Ghana. A mixed-methods approach was employed, integrating quantitative survey data from 5800 urban residents with qualitative insights from key institutional stakeholders across climate-sensitive sectors. Results reveal a strong convergence between public and institutional perceptions, highlighting hydroclimatic extremes especially flooding and heat as dominant stressors shaping urban vulnerability. Flooding was most strongly associated with food insecurity and infrastructure disruption, while heat-related conditions were widely perceived to drive increased electricity demand, water consumption, and public health risks. Notably, 46% of respondents linked climate-related health impacts to direct household economic losses, emphasizing the socio-economic burden of climate stress at the household level.

The findings further indicate that climate risks are not perceived in isolation but as interconnected pressures across urban systems, reinforcing the existence of a multi-sectoral climate vulnerability nexus in GAR. While the study does not establish causal relationships, it provides critical insight into the social salience of climate risks, which plays a decisive role in shaping adaptation behavior, policy acceptance, and institutional response. In this context, the study directly contributes to advancing Sustainable Development Goal 11 by informing resilient urban planning, and Sustainable Development Goal 13 through evidence-based climate adaptation strategies in rapidly urbanizing African cities. This study advances current knowledge by demonstrating that perception-based evidence can serve as a valuable complement to physical climate and infrastructure datasets, particularly in data-constrained contexts. Findings of the study emphasize the need for integrated urban adaptation strategies that simultaneously address energy, water, health, and food systems. Future research should couple perception-based approaches with observational and model-based datasets to better align perceived and measured climate impacts.