A survey breaks it down

Climate change is a major threat to food production and is displacing people and increasing health risks around the world. Addressing climate change requires vast resources, including financial investment to decarbonise economies and sustainably produce food. Above all, it requires international cooperation and commitment, based on a precise understanding of the relevant issues.

However, less developed countries also have competitive challenges. In South Africa, for example, poverty, inequality, violence, and access to education and employment tend to overshadow efforts against climate change.

In 2022, the South African government began thinking about how to incorporate environmental challenges into the national budget using evidence from 11 ongoing projects. This is an important step to treat climate change as a national priority. However, currently, other socioeconomic challenges that afflict the population are at the center of national government spending.

This is understandable. In South Africa, one in four women aged 18-49 have experienced violence from an intimate partner. HIV prevalence is 13.5% and current unemployment is the highest in many years at 33.9%. South Africans view these as urgent issues that require immediate attention. They are reflected in the country’s National Development Plan.

However, all of these concerns are linked. Climate change poses additional risk to current and future efforts to protect livelihoods, grow the economy, and prevent disease and loss of life. Therefore, it is important to know what the public thinks about environmental problems and the value of addressing them.

This was the motivation for my study of South African attitudes towards environmental problems in relation to competing socio-economic challenges.

The study used the 2017 South African Social Attitudes Survey of a nationally representative sample of people. In the survey, 3,173 adults chose what they considered the top three challenges in South Africa at the time. Environmental issues were on the list they could choose from.

Environmental issues did not appear in the top 10 challenges they identified. Only 0.09% of those surveyed reported environmental issues as the most important priority in the country. The environment ranked 17th among respondents’ top priorities. Top ranked topics were unemployment, HIV and crime.

The analysis of the responses revealed that 77.62% of the respondents had negative attitudes towards the environment and 22.37% had positive attitudes.

The survey results suggest that South Africans would prefer efforts to be devoted to tackling other challenges, although climate change will intensify those challenges. The results also suggest where efforts to change perceptions could be focused.

The survey was conducted five years ago and since then the COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on people’s lives. So it is possible that if asked today, climate concerns could rank even lower on the priority list for the South African population.

Attitudes and perceptions about environmental concerns

The study population was adults, older than 16 years, of both sexes, and of all races, geographic locations, and nationalities. Results were controlled for these demographic and socioeconomic characteristics.

The participants answered three questions:

• what they saw as South Africa’s top three challenges (in order)

• whether “people’s taxes” were being used for the environment

• whether more taxes should be spent on the environment.

Of all respondents, 65% named unemployment (first), 15% named HIV/AIDS (second) and 11% cited crime and security (third) as the top three challenges facing the country. Only 0.09% of respondents mentioned the environment as their top priority. This last group of respondents were all men.

Environmental issues also didn’t appear in the top 10 for the second or third biggest challenge.

The list of the second most important priorities was headed by: crime and security; the provision of services; corruption. Here, the environment ranked 15th (1.04%). Of those who ranked the environment second, 69% were women.

The list of the third most important issues was dominated by: poverty; corruption; education. Ambiance ranked tenth (3.18%), with a more even mix of men and women.

Participants who ranked social challenges as a top priority were also more likely to have positive attitudes toward environmental challenges. This shows that there is a common group within the population that could be targeted by movements for environmental and social change.

Among those surveyed who believed more tax dollars should be spent on the environment, 62.28% were men and 37.72% women.

Men and urban residents were more likely to have negative attitudes toward environmental issues than women and rural residents.

The groups that were inclined to be negative about the environment were: older than 16-19 years; feminine; black; less educated; unemployed.

The finding that women do not prioritize environmental challenges as much as men is an opportunity to inform women about the immediate benefits that climate change strategies could present for the care and daily operation of their homes. About 42% of households in South Africa are headed by women.

Implications for climate change efforts

These results tell us that competing economic, social and health interests currently dwarf environmental interests in South Africa. This is justifiable today, but many of these problems will be exacerbated by climate change in the future, adding another challenge to the country’s development prospects.

Second, efforts to reduce competing challenges could create an opportunity for greater awareness of environmental change and development concerns.

Strategies should be developed that focus on including women and rural residents, among others, to inform and help the public to reduce carbon footprints and create sustainable technologies.

In doing so, there are two important factors to remember. Interventions must not cost the public more and make the population more vulnerable. And the solutions sought and the information communicated must be adapted to the livelihoods, the production and consumption needs of food, and the economies of the population. That is, an African-led strategy and solution is required.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.