Climate Change and Climate Action
Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. These shifts may be natural, such as through variations in the solar cycle. But since the 1800s, The primary cause of climate change has been human activities, particularly the burning of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas, which results in the production of heat-trapping gases. People are experiencing the significant impacts of climate change, which include changing weather patterns, rising sea levels, and more extreme weather events that impact human lives and health daily in various ways. Climate Action refers to the increased efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions and boost resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-induced consequences. Human actions are to blame for climate change, which is endangering both our way of life and the planet’s future. We can create a sustainable world for everyone by addressing climate change.
What is Climate Apathy?
Climate apathy represents a new pervasive form of climate denial. Instead of denying climate change exists, climate apathy results in anti-climate change advocates, which undermines the need to take immediate bold action and obstructs progress on decarbonization.
The popular Netflix film “Don’t Look Up,” was centred around a 9 km wide asteroid that was speeding towards Earth and expected to strike the planet with enough force to wipe out all traces of human civilization and reset all life on Earth to date, may be compared to climate apathy. That should have been sufficient to spark widespread worry and hysteria, prompting worldwide organisations to coordinate their efforts to divert the asteroid.
The disclosure, however, was welcomed with a more casual reaction from the populace, even leading to the failure of a mission that would have been successful based on the previous expedition to mine the “mineral-rich” asteroid. Life as they knew it was about to come to an end, and all they could do was move around like it was just another day, all they could do was go about their everyday lives as if nothing had changed, struggle for money, and even make jokes about it on a famous daily show that ought to have been a platform for awareness to foster the proper approach and mindset. A closer look reveals much more and gives you an insight into human apathy toward such a catastrophic disaster that was just brushed aside and swept beneath our subconscious as nothing significant. At first, the film may have appeared to be merely entertainment and another attempt at a long line of repetitive end-of-the-world disaster movies. The globe is aware of global warming, but few people care.
People who discuss climate change catastrophes and global warming are typically dismissed as alarmists, as accurately depicted in the film, and are pushed to the background with the rest of the issues you shouldn’t worry about. It is quite hard to put a reaction or attach emotions to something you cannot see. In the asteroid example, people were more likely to believe that the earth as they know it may be destroyed than that an asteroid really existed. People may find it difficult to force themselves to care about climate change because it is mainly invisible, especially if you don’t seem to notice the repercussions in your day-to-day activities.
The issue isn’t always that people are ignorant of climate change or the harmful impacts it has on our environment; more often than not, it is that people feel powerless to alter anything or that it is not their duty to even try. Although it may be true that the government can do more to slow climate change, personal action is where it all begins. However, if those people believe it is not their responsibility to take any kind of action against climate change or believe their contribution would not make a difference, they should reconsider. Like the proverbial “few drops of water become an ocean,” people may all take individual and collective steps to address climate change in order to prevent the negative effects of global warming.
Impediments to Climate Action in Nigeria
1. Everyday Lives
One of the most frequent barriers to climate action in Nigeria is daily obligations, lifestyle, and relationships. Studies have also shown that if an action interferes with a person’s way of life or regular activities, they will not take it. The greater the required personal sacrifice, the less action will be taken. In addition, many think that in the big picture, their individual activities don’t really matter. There is also the presumption that the issue is unfixable and irrevocable, making individual action useless. Due to all of this, it is challenging for people to adjust their existing behaviour in order to combat climate change.
2. Awareness of Climate Changes:
The general populace still lacks understanding and awareness regarding climate change. Even though some people are aware of climate change, they frequently lack information about its sources, effects, and potential solutions. Climate-relevant information affects people’s willingness to engage in climate change action, hence knowledge has a significant role to play in taking measures connected to climate change. The media has been mentioned as a factor that affects how people perceive climate change. People are likely to refrain from taking any meaningful climate change action if the message is not adequately conveyed, is perceived as overblown, or is unclear.
3. Lack of Perceived Locus of Control:
Reduced action uptake has also been connected with a failure to recognize the risk posed by climate change. Even while many individuals think that climate change is occurring today, they tend to think that the most severe effects won’t manifest themselves until the distant future or will only have an influence on people in remote locations. People dislike things over which they have no control or are frequently unsure of what to do, thus many people fail to understand how directly climate change will affect them, their families, and their communities. Because of this, they are inclined to minimise the severity of the issue, which in their eyes justifies their inaction.
4. Physical Limitation of the Dwelling:
Government management and infrastructural deficiencies may also have an impact on how individuals or society as a whole react to climate change. People may also be prevented from doing appropriately by a lack of infrastructure, support systems, or conducive policy environments. People may believe that they won’t engage in these climate-friendly activities if, for instance, there is a shortage of public transit or there aren’t any convenient recycling facilities nearby. Similar to this, the capacity of institutions are expected to influence the degree to which practices related to climate change are implemented. Ineffective information, fragmented governance structures, and top-down methods frequently limit the effectiveness of practices.
5. Lack of community involvement
In fact, emphasising personal responsibility may not be as helpful in motivating pro-climate behaviour as framing the causes of climate change as a community obligation. When climate change is framed as a collective obligation rather than a personal responsibility, people are more receptive to changing their behaviour. If you frame climate change as personal responsibility, you can experience unpleasant sentiments like guilt and cognitive dissonance, both of which would reduce your motivation to take action. In contrast, by putting the entire population on the hook for the problem, making climate change a social obligation may lessen uncomfortable feelings of guilt.
6. Blame game
The issue of who is to blame for climate change is a crucial component. Many people may even assign blame to others while denying their own contribution to the issue. People frequently believe that governments should be held responsible for addressing climate change and should take the initiative to develop legislation that will motivate businesses and citizens to change their behaviour.
7. Economic constrain
Another significant obstacle to Nigeria’s efforts to combat climate change is financial strain and affordability. Numerous economic obstacles currently confront many Nigerians, which may prevent them from adopting clean technology. Being “locked in” to the state of present technology could stem from a lack of access to financial capital. Solar panels, for example, are one example of a household renewable technology with substantial upfront costs. In a nation like ours, people may be reluctant to adopt new technologies due to high expenses.
Conclusion
It may seem tough to convince people to give up activities they find enjoyable in order to protect the environment since climate change is a problem that our minds are wired to ignore. People are more inclined to believe that such remote problems won’t affect them since they seem distant or are most likely to occur in the distant future. This also makes it simpler for the looming threat to result in passivity rather than action.
The public’s perspective of climate change can also be a sign of climate apathy, and the only tool that can change this is effective climate change communication. It takes you and I to talk to our neighbours, friends and family so the message is coming from a place of familiarity and trust. Additionally, this makes it more relatable so that the negative effects of climate change are viewed as affecting individuals, communities, and our close family members.
Apathy should not be an option when climate change threatens us all.
Author: Seyi Afolabi
Image source: Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance, Nigerian youths gather to protest climate change and poor environmental practices