Kenyans want the government to put more pressure on rich countries to provide resources to support the country’s response to climatic changes.
- The Afrobarometer team in Kenya, led by the Institute for Development Studies at the University of Nairobi, interviewed a nationally representative sample of 2,400 adult Kenyans in April-May 2024.
- More than four in 10 of the respondents say they have personally adapted to changes in climate by changing the crops they plant or the food they eat, the hours they work, and their water consumption patterns.
- Most citizens who are aware of the phenomenon blame human activities as its main cause and say urgent action is needed from the Kenyan government as well as developed countries.
“By large majorities, Kenyans support greater investments in climate-resilient infrastructure and wind and solar energy in order to respond to changing weather patterns and environmental degradation,” the latest Afrobarometer survey reveals.
“In substantial numbers, Kenyans say they have adapted to changing weather patterns by reducing their livestock or changing their grazing patterns (45 per cent of those who keep livestock), reducing their water consumption or changing their water source (45 per cent), changing their work hours (43 per cent), or changing the crops they plant or the food they eat (42 per cent).”
According to the survey, 82 per cent of Kenyans want their government to invest in climate-resilient infrastructure, and solar and wind energy (62%) in response to changing weather patterns and environmental degradation.
A slimmer majority (54 per cent) support a ban on cutting down trees for firewood or charcoal, while fewer than half say the government should require families to switch to cookstoves that use cleaner fuels such as electricity or gas (42%) and promote the use of taxis and buses that run on electricity (36 per cent).
Among those who have heard of climate change, more than four-fifths (82 per cent) believe human activity is the main cause or a contributing factor.
Strong majorities support measures to limit climate change by the Kenyan government (72 per cent) and rich countries (81 per cent), and most say that wealthy countries have an obligation to help Kenya fund its response to climate change (83 per cent).
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