Strategies for Enhancing Climate Change Knowledge, Attitude and Practices

Examining the Views of Experts

Abstract

Unlike other public health challenges which humans depend on pharmaco-medical interventions as solutions, climate change (CC) is something different. Its solution requires that individuals and institutions should reduce their per capita emissions to the barest minimum, and plan to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of CC. Regrettably, studies have shown that most people have poor or lack of knowledge of the causes and health risks it portends, as well as what they need to do to mitigate it and/or adapt to its impacts. Hence, what is urgently needed is a robust capacity building programme which focuses on promoting CC knowledge, attitude and what are required to mitigate or adapt to its effects. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to examine the views of experts on the requisite strategies for building the capacities of the public on knowledge, attitude and practices relating to climate change mitigation and adaptation. Descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. Using convenience and voluntary sampling 84 experts (professors) were selected from the Departments of Geography, Geology, Science Education, Guidance and Counseling, Psychology and Human Kinetics and Health Education in public universities in South-Eastern Nigeria. A 24-item Climate Change Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Enhancement Strategies Questionnaire (CCKAPESQ) was the instrument used for data collection. The reliability of CCKAPESQ was established using Cronbach Alpha which yielded coefficient of .97. Mean and standard deviation were used for data analyses. The results show that all the outlined strategies were deemed appropriate by the experts (X >2.5). Among other things, the study recommended that the government and NGOs should quickly adopt these strategies for promoting CC knowledge, attitude, and practices among the public.