Ghanaians say the government and ordinary citizens share responsibility for fighting climate change, the latest Afrobarometer survey shows.
While fewer than half of citizens have heard of climate change, a majority of those who are aware of the phenomenon say it is making life in the country worse and requires urgent government action.
Citizens also call on other key stakeholders - including business and industry, developed countries, and ordinary citizens - to do a lot more to limit climate change.
Key findings
- Among Ghanaians who are aware of climate change:
- Six out of 10 (60%) say it is making life worse, a 12-percentage-point increase since 2020 (Figure 2).
- More than three-fourths say that ordinary citizens can help curb climate change (77%) and believe that the government needs to take immediate action to limit climate change, even if it causes some job losses or other harm to the economy (87%) (Figure 3).
- Views are divided as to whether the government (43%) or ordinary citizens (42%) have the primary responsibility for fighting climate change and limiting its impact. Far fewer place this responsibility mainly on business and industry (9%), rich or developed countries (3%), and traditional leaders (2%) (Figure 4).
- But a slim majority (53%) say the government is performing "fairly badly" or "very badly" in handling climate change (Figure 5).
- Strong majorities say the government (81%), business and industry (74%), developed countries (69%), and citizens (67%) "need to do a lot more" to limit climate change (Figure 6).
