This study examined how the regional manifestations of climate change effects and students' involvement in various climate-related clubs and activities influenced their knowledge and awareness of climate change. Key knowledge gaps and their implications for climate action were also examined. A cross-sectional survey was adopted for the study whilst a snowball sampling technique was used to select the respondents. A total of 300 students from 26 African countries participated in the survey. Descriptive statistics, relative importance index (RII) method and the chi-square test of independence were used to analyze the data. Results showed that regional manifestations of climate change effects and students' involvement in climate change-related workshops and campaigns significantly influenced their knowledge levels whilst their membership of climate-related student clubs had no significant influence. Key knowledge gaps with regards to how factors such as meat consumption and waste generation could lead to climate change were also identified. Students were also less knowledgeable about how climate change affects key issues such as conflicts, gender inequalities and job insecurity. Intensification of climate change education beyond the most common causes and effects is highly recommended among the youth. Various environment-related student clubs are also encouraged to tailor their activities in this direction.

Unlike energy security, energy diversification, which is an essential precursor for energy security and sustainability transitions, has not received much scholarly attention, especially in Africa. Applying the Energy Mix Concentration Index method (a modified version of the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index), this study examined energy diversification and transition trends in Africa's top ten economies over an 18-year period, from 2000 to 2017. Data were obtained in July 2020 from the African Union Energy Commission's data portal. Overall, energy diversification was found to be occurring at a very slow pace. Kenya and Morocco emerged as the two most energy diversified countries (with indices of 0.34 and 0.37, respectively), while Algeria (0.98) and Ethiopia (0.87) were the least diversified countries as at 2017. The energy transition trend is consistent with the multiple fuel use/energy stacking model rather than the energy ladder hypothesis. "Balance" (the share of each energy source in the energy mix) was found to significantly influence energy diversification. Contrary to past assertions, this study finds that higher "variety" (the number of energy sources in the energy mix) does not signify greater diversity. A weak negative linear relationship was found between gross domestic product growth and Energy Mix Concentration Indices for most countries, suggesting that as gross domestic product grows, the energy mix becomes more diversified. However, this relationship was statistically insignificant. Policy makers need to increase investments in renewable energies, and diversify their economies (especially in oil-dependent countries) to facilitate energy diversification and sustainable energy transitions.

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Gender is a critical factor in how people respond to, and recover from major disruptions such as natural disasters or disease outbreaks. Climate-related disasters are known to pose-gender specific problems that disproportionately affect more women than men. Similarly, the COVID-19 pandemic’s impacts along gender lines are enormous, with women being the worst-affected. Existing studies have drawn connections between COVID-19 and climate change, with most arguing that responses to the pandemic provide an opportunity to tackle climate change through emission reduction strategies as part of recovery efforts. We introduce a new dimension to this connection by demonstrating that though different phenomena, COVID-19 and climate change are not so dissimilar in terms of their gendered socioeconomic impacts. Through a systematic review of the available literature, we establish a nexus between these impacts, and examine how the gender responses to COVID-19 can be leveraged to address gender-related climate impacts. We find that social protection, labor market, economic, and violence against women measures adopted in response to the pandemic provide a good opportunity to address the gender impacts of climate change as well. However, current COVID-19 gender responses do not incorporate the interconnections between the gender impacts of the pandemic and climate change. Adopting a nexus approach could help to leverage COVID-19 responses to address the gendered socioeconomic impacts of both crises.

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Actors play a crucial role in sustainable energy development yet interaction in different contexts is an area that has not received much scholarly attention. Sustainable energy transitions theories such as the Multi-Level Perspective, for instance, have been criticized for not describing precisely the nature of the interactions between actors and institutions within socio-technical systems. The goal of this study was to empirically examine local actors’ engagement and its impact on the planning and implementation of sustainable energy initiatives in the villages and remote areas in Ghana. Using the mixed methodology approach, interviews were performed, focus discussion groups were held, and archival data were collected, and social network modeling and case study analysis was performed. Our findings showed that sustainable energy development at the local level depends on an interplay between local government agencies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), central government agencies, local communities, and private sector organizations. Despite being the focal point at the local level, local government involvement in sustainable energy planning is limited. In the case of Ghana, sustainable energy planning remains centralized and is manifested in a low level of awareness of local actors on national energy plans. The implication for decision makers is that energy planning functions should be devolved to the local government. Such devolution is expected to ensure the integration of sustainable energies into local government plans for the well-coordinated implementation and effective monitoring of sustainable energy projects.

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Researches on regional inequalities in Ghana have largely focused on principal cities and towns as well as urban and rural areas. Based on the traditional north-south divide in Ghana, this study explored a third dimension of regional disparities, by assessing the level of infrastructural inequalities among districts in northern and southern Ghana. The study is based on a documentary review of existing statistics on the availability of basic infrastructure in the selected districts. Twelve districts (2 each from 3 regions in the north and south respectively) were involved. The Composite Infrastructure Index (CII) method, Lorenz Curve and Gini Coefficient techniques were employed. Results showed that, the distribution of basic infrastructure among all twelve districts was skewed towards perfect equality (Gini coefficient= 0.20). Inequalities were however more significant among districts of the north (Gini coefficient= 0.22) than districts of the south (Gini coefficient= 0.12). Albeit positive, no significant correlation was found between CIIs and population (P< .001) as well as Internally Generated Funds (P< .001) of the districts. The study also revealed that, on the average, districts allocated 97.1% of their Internally Generated Funds to administrative costs rather than infrastructure projects.