Transcript Presentation

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
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 on inter-regional trade,
especially countries
 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 & insufficient information affect
understanding
between
human
activities/
environment.
 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, and research finding, on health,
environment
and
economic
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 interventions of empowerment of
women
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
instruments
for
promoting
awareness:
newsletter,
radio
and
TV
programmes
 Partnerships
among
communication
practioners
to
promote
more
active
participatory public debate
 Developing field specific strategies for
communication and fund raising
 Outlining mandates, including terms of
reference for NGOs, Educators, the Media
 Develop work plans based on assigned
responsibilities.
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 how to change
attitude and behaviours.
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
presence,
thus
promoting compliance.
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 to
people who can make use of them;
 To change perception of people;
 To reach targeted audience for research
results and issue based concerns.
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 any strategy is collaboration on climate
campaign
 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 –
available to literate and
illiterate as it has no
visual
 Relatively inexpensive,
available
to
many
people
 Uses
batteries,
no
power cut problems
 Moveable, goes with
audience
 Broadcast
can
be
repeated
 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
 Weakness
 No
formal
education
needed
to
understand
what you see and hear
 Allow for demonstration
 Role models can appear
on TV acting out positive
behaviour
 May not be available
everywhere
 Too expensive for many
 Producing programs may
be more expensive than
radio and print media
 No
opportunity
for
explanation
Awareness Medium (contd.)
 Print Media:
 Strength
 Permanent record –
can be read over and
over again
 Can be passed from
one person to another
 Tends to be more
believed
 Serve as a reference
material
 Weakness
 Only useful for those
literate in the language
of publication
 Doubt of reality if
government Owned /
patronized
 Difficult
to
correct
mistakes
Awareness Medium (contd.)
 Alternative Media
 Drama, Songs, Comics, Music
 Contests – Posters, Essay, Drawings, and
paintings
 Publicity – Launch events, Pamphlets,
handbills, Posters, etc
 Participatory approaches – FGDs, Workshops,
Conferences Seminars,
 Public Meetings, Going on-line, etc.
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 packaging make more
meaning?
 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 could
coalesce various languages and dialects.
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 decisionmaking processes;
 The potential differential impacts and
vulnerabilities to gender;
 Information on social and cultural constraints
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.
Thank You for Your
Attention