Purpose
The mainstream climate change community has primarily concerned itself with mitigation and adaptation strategies, both of which require monitoring and prediction. These four inter-connected response actions (mitigation, adaptation, monitoring and prediction) constitute the main strategies for managing climate change. This paper aims to weigh in on policies and societal coordination for effective management of the earth’s climate with respect to these four elements in Africa because of its socioeconomic peculiarities.
Design/methodology/approach
The Delphi experts’ method backed by questionnaires was used to obtain relevant data for the study. The questionnaires were distributed to professionals dealing with issues related to climate change response and sustainability in various parts of the world, with a focus on Africa.
Findings
With respect to the strategies that are most needed for effective climate change actions in Africa, government’s policies, activities and decisions rank highest at 1.20 with a p-value of < 0.001, and financing is next at 0.93, mitigation is 0.83, prediction is 0.76 and adaptation is 0.68 (p = 0.048), at the 5 per cent cutoff. Also, for the most appropriate approaches to managing climate change across Africa, regional efforts are at least 8 times more effective than country-wide approaches, followed by continental efforts at 6.51 times, international cooperation at 3.99 times and inaction at 0.00 times.
Originality/value
The paper concludes that a holistic climate change management approach is important in Africa to contain the impacts of climate change in the continent.
Humans’ aspirations for development have unsustainably placed momentous pressure on the Earth. Peripheral Africa remains the most susceptible region to climate change and its impacts. By considering externality and world-systems theories, this article uses the Delphi external experts (DEE) approach to weigh the perceptions of global (and mostly core) experts regarding climate change response/sustainability. The socio-econo-technological development factors that contribute to Africa’s climate change issues are evaluated. The article concludes that despite the high rankings of the factors related to emissions’ propensity, such as energy and transportation, governance and socio-cultural preferences are the two factors that are statistically significant to climate change and vulnerability to it. The global governance structure fostered by the core countries facilitates unequal exchanges. Notwithstanding, responsive governance structures are advised for the periphery. Governance is analogous to a thermostat that can be used to regulate other development factors, in particular to entrench socio-cultural preferences that may have a desirable future impact on the climate.
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