Towards Building Public Awareness for the UNFCCC in Africa By Damian Ihedioha, PhD Programme Director, Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST) [email protected] Being paper presented at the African Regional.
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Towards Building Public Awareness for the UNFCCC in Africa
By Damian Ihedioha, PhD Programme Director, Nigerian Environmental Study/Action Team (NEST) [email protected]
Being paper presented at the African Regional workshop on the Implementation of Article 6 (Public Awareness, Education and Training) of the UNFCCC, Banjul, Gambia, 27 -31 January, 2004.
SHORT-PUT
“ Experience has shown that public awareness initiatives have not yielded the required impacts. Awareness raising on issues that impact on humanity, MUST have a ‘human face’ in its dissemination.” – Damian Ihedioha, 2003.
Introduction
Climate change resulting from emissions of GHG by man is one of the biggest global environmental problems.
Its effects on agriculture, social structures, forests, the economy & the ecosystem would be far-reaching.
Herein lies the need for public awareness to serve both as education and information tool for knowledge.
Building awareness requires active collaboration with appropriate stakeholders .
Climate change campaigns should have a scientific foundation, clear platform, boundaries and objectives.
The Objectives include
Increased knowledge of the causes of the accelerated greenhouse effects (focusing on emissions of carbon dioxide by humanity); Increased knowledge of what the effects of accelerated greenhouse effect can cause Increased knowledge of and attitudinal change towards the amount of influence individual & groups can have on reducing emission; and Information dissemination on how people adapt to these impacts.
Why Public Awareness on Climate Change.
All human economic, social activities, ecological processes are dependent on climate & These changes vary along ecosystems with impacts on Agric., human health & settlements, energy, marine & fresh water ecosystems.
Greater vulnerability for developing countries.
Sectoral implications for climate change, include:
Marine Ecosystems:
Risk from sea level rise and Salt water intrusion
Invasion and destruction of mangrove ecosystems,
Human displacement & disruption of sources of livelihoods,
Prohibitive cost of protecting coastal infrastructure
Why Public Awareness (contd.)
Human Health and Settlement:
Possibility of emergence of new disease vectors in some areas
Increased cardio-respiratory mortality (IPCC, 1995)
Ill health from increased intensity and duration of heat waves
Disruption of human settlements by environmental refugees
Reduction in underground water levels due to more persistent drought
Reduction in size of carbon sink arising from loss of forest cover
Why Public Awareness (contd.)
Industry, Energy and Financial Services:
Disruption in industry productivity due to possible crises in the energy sector
Disruption in the supply of raw materials from agriculture, fisheries and forestry
Potential impact especially countries on inter-regional trade,
Disruption in rainfall patterns would affect energy supplies
Possible increases in the number and intensity of thunderstorms and lightening would disrupt public power supply
Higher risk of property insurance
Why Public Awareness (contd.)
Wetlands and Freshwater Ecology:
Loss of biodiversity
Pollution of freshwater resources
Disruption of fishing activities
Reduction in underground water levels
Drying up of river courses resulting from forest losses in headstream areas
Why Public Awareness (contd.)
Agriculture, Food security, Forestry, etc:
Harvest failures from improper adaptation strategies
Malnutrition, hunger and starvation,
Reduced biological productivity and loss of forest
Progressive loss of non-timber forest products (NTFPs)
Land degradation and loss of crop-able land
Reduction in livestock size and threat to food security and nutrition
Awareness & Reporting On Climate Change
Lack of awareness derive in part from the nature and manner of reportage of the issues.
Giving human face to climate change impacts otherwise looks esoteric & removed from reality.
Inaccurate understanding environment.
& insufficient between information human affect activities/ Mass education give people ethical awareness, values and attitudes; education is the foundation Communication – when it involves message, channel, and feedback improves understanding and reduces conflicts
Awareness Reporting On Climate Change (contd.): Article 6
Article 6 of Climate Convention enjoins Parties to:
Promote and facilitate awareness at various levels;
Promote implementation of public awareness programmes on climate change and its effects;
Public access to information on climate change and its effects;
Public participation in addressing climate change and its effects and developing adequate response mechanisms;
Awareness Reporting On Climate Change (contd.): Article 6
Training of scientific, technical and managerial personnel;
Cooperate in and promote, at the international level, where appropriate, using existing bodies;
The development and exchange educational and public awareness materials on climate change and its effects;
Development and implementation of education and training programmes, strengthening of national institutions/exchange or secondment of personnel to train experts in these fields
Basic Components of Public Awareness
Information: providing sufficient evidence, database, environment and research and finding, economic on health, benefits/costs through:
Identification and evaluation of interventions
Health implication of indoor air pollution
Opportunities for CDM investments in power generation, transport and waste management,etc.
Database on energy policy, energy resources, and appropriate energy technologies
Tested women interventions of empowerment of
Basic Components of Public Awareness: (Contd.)
Education:
Highlighting benefits of training that helped others Encouraging all sectors of society to train people
Develop and engage extension officers to give local communities some training
Bringing indigenous people’s knowledge, experience, know-how, into public limelight
Introducing climate change/environmental education into school curriculum
Basic Components of Public Awareness: (Contd.)
Communication through:
Developing awareness: programmes instruments newsletter,
Partnerships among practioners to promote participatory public debate for radio promoting more and TV communication active
Developing field specific strategies communication and fund raising
Outlining mandates, including terms reference for NGOs, Educators, the Media
Develop work responsibilities.
plans based on for of assigned
Media And Climate Change Issues
Media include all methods of awareness raising that reach large groups of people; In genera it:
Create awareness
Provide information
Educate people
Shape ideas& bring issues to the public agenda
Help people change attitude and behaviour
Assist in attitudinal and behavioural change; and,
Help people understand attitude and behaviours.
how to change
Why Awareness At All
Public awareness facilitate the following:
Influence policy of government
Raise support for projects by raising public interest, funding, and competitive edge
Raise public profile and discussion of projects
Help in access to data and case studies for further research
Help focus thinking and sharpen research agenda
Creates enforcement promoting compliance.
presence, thus
Public Awareness Strategy
Plan of action that anticipates barriers and resources to achieving the objectives of working with media and stakeholders to:
To effectively transfer knowledge – enhancing public understanding of the issue involved;
Communicating findings and concerns people who can make use of them;
To change perception of people;
To reach targeted audience results and issue based concerns.
for to research
Public Awareness Strategy (Contd.)
For targeted audience, it is important to:
Identify and segment the target group for awareness in exactly the same way you would for any other project;
Use of target group helps to determine effective messages, through FGDs or message pretest;
Use words and/or images that make meaning and are familiar to the target group;
Approach and use an awareness programme e.g local languages, etc) that is most relevant to the target group
Key to campaign any strategy is collaboration on climate
More important, is integration and coordination of the messages and target groups
Present threatening pictures that depicts impacts and consequences of inaction.
Choosing an Awareness Medium
Radio: Strength
Language flexibility visual – available to literate and illiterate as it has no
Relatively inexpensive, available to many people
Uses batteries, power cut problems no
Moveable, audience goes with
Broadcast repeated can be
Weakness
Not useful for teaching, as it has no visual
Affords no explanation, but allows people know where to get more info
Some people do not have it
Awareness Medium (contd.)
Television:
Strength No formal education needed to understand what you see and hear
Allow for demonstration Role models can appear on TV acting out positive behaviour
Weakness May not everywhere
be available Too expensive for many Producing programs may be more expensive than radio and print media
No opportunity explanation for
Awareness Medium (contd.)
Print Media:
Strength
Permanent record can be read over – and over again
Can be passed from one person to another
Tends believed to be more
Serve as a reference material
Weakness
Only useful for those literate in the language of publication
Doubt of government patronized reality Owned if /
Difficult mistakes to correct
Awareness Medium (contd.)
Alternative Media
Drama, Songs, Comics, Music
Contests paintings – Posters, Essay, Drawings, and
Publicity – Launch handbills, Posters, etc
Participatory approaches Conferences Seminars, events,
Public Meetings, Going on-line, etc.
Pamphlets, – FGDs, Workshops,
Public Awareness Starting Point
Based on studies, and analysis for a successful campaign:
Which organizations are involved and their motives and strength?
Perception of the media hold and deal with;
What information meaning?
packaging make more
what future trends might affect the views of people?
Knowledge of organizations about climate issue;
Experiences gained previously
CONSTRAINTS OF PUBLIC AWARENESS
Climate change terms are quite technical Absence or lack of indigenous knowledge systems and what works at the community level Difficulty of couching climate change language to suit various interest groups Difficulty of sustaining public interest and spur the community to action Fear of the stigma of bad publicity Difficulty of dictating the form in which people need information in a heterogeneous society Tendency for authorities and industries, leaders of communities to conceal information.
CONSTRAINTS OF PUBLIC AWARENESS (contd.)
Repression of the media by legislation and various forms of censorship Lack of proper training for specialized journalist and stakeholders Fear of research findings being misquoted or misrepresented; Tendency to satisfy its commercial interest at the expense of social and scientific interest; Distortion of climate issues Problem of editing and the urgency to meet deadlines; and Absence of a generic language that coalesce various languages and dialects.
could
PUBLIC AWARENESS AND GENDER ROLES
Gender refers to the socially constructed roles and responsibilities of women and which are learned, changeable and variable.
Gender analysis would provide information on:
The differential perspectives, roles, needs and interests of men and women;
Information on the relationships between and among gender, pertaining to access to, and control over resources, benefits and decision making processes;
The potential differential vulnerabilities to gender; impacts and
Information on social and cultural constraints and opportunities;
Conclusion
Public Awareness is key to knowing the impacts of climate change on human.
There is every need to engage the media and other stakeholders in this regard.
The collaborative and cooperative dimensions of public awareness had been touched My conclusion then, remains a poser, which is: how do we couch our awareness campaigns such that people would feel that this campaign concerns me?
That is, how do we give a human face to our gathering here to have value added to awareness raising.