Gud er den afgørende faktor bag klimaforandringer, ikke mennesker og verdens udledning af CO2.
Sådan siger befolkningerne i 10 afrikanske lande i en ny undersøgelse om klimaforandringer og årsagerne bag. Dog kom skovrydning ind på en klar andenplads.
Undersøgelsen viser, at der er viden til rådighed, men ikke i tilstrækkelig grad til at klæde den almene afrikaner på til at kunne gebærde sig i den komplekse årsags-virkningssammenhæng, som klimaforandringerne repræsenterer.
“(God) punishes people because we do bad things. He shows his strength with the hurricanes and storms,” said a young Senegalese woman interviewed by the BBC World Service Trust, which, with the British Council, launched Africa Talks Climate in Nairobi on 17 March.
The findings are the result of dis-cussions conducted in 2009 with more than 1.000 citizens and 200 policy-makers, opinion leaders, media and business people in DR Congo, Ethio-pia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
While highlighting the information gap similar to the inadequate communication strategy adopted in the initial response to HIV/AIDS, BBC World Service Trust Director, Caroline Nursey, said: “The initial global response to communicate effectively about the HIV and AIDS pandemic was slow and often inappropriate to local needs. The media have had a critical role in helping combat HIV and AIDS in Africa and must be supported to do so again in the case of climate change.”
Prime Minister Raila Odinga of Kenya said an initiative such as Africa Talks Climate was relevant to encourage governments and media to find ways to let people in Africa understand why they were suffering from global effects of climate change, being the result of CO2 emissions worldwide and not some sort of divine punishment.
“Ordinary citizens do not know. We failed to educate our citizens on the effects and causes of climate change,” the Prime Minister said.
“Africans are mainly victims not offenders, and they need to know. But at this stage, it doesn’t matter who is the victim and who the perpetrator, because we all have the shared responsibility to do something to mitigate the effects of climate change.”
Læs videre på: http://www.irinnews.org
