Outside-in perspectives on the socio-econo-technological effects of climate change in Africa

Abstract

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.

COVID-19 stimulated travel behavior policy framework with evidence from travel change in southwestern Nigeria

“…The pre-COVID era's transportation modal shift was somewhat affected by the other comparative merits or disadvantages of cost, convenience, speed, timeliness, reliability, congestion, and carbon emissions (Rodrigue, 2020;Choi et al, 2019). Therefore, preferences reflect society, which could be due to forced or willing behavioral change (Faiyetole, 2019). The availability of alternatives primarily informs modal choic-es and a possible shift by passengers to other options based on the advantages a particular mode of transportation has over the other.…”

“…Triandis (1977) posited that intention and past behavior could moderate facilitating conditions, such as contextual factors, with implications. Faiyetole (2019) opined that preferences lead to changed behavior and social practices; the dynamic of change, whether behavioral or otherwise, can be experienced in any sector owing to changing government policies. The SPT, on the other hand, as projected by Reckwitz (2002) and as advanced by authors that include Shove et al (2012), considered three interdependent elements, materials, meaning, and competencies, as being necessary for any practice to exist (Bauer, 2017;Spotswood et al, 2015).…”

Urban expansion and transportation interaction: Evidence from Akure, southwestern Nigeria

“…Considering that road transport accounts for about 90% of passenger movement and 80% of goods in Africa (Sabar and El Hammoumi, 2020), swift, unplanned, and unregulated urbanization will introduce and make a significant negative impact on traffic congestion, road accident and incident, increase pollution, and travel cost. Faiyetole and Fulani (2020), among others, recommend using smart or intelligent transportation technologies to help reduce the mentioned transportation problems that evolve due to unplanned urban population growth (Echendu and Okafor, 2021;Faiyetole, 2019Faiyetole, , 2020. Other urbanization challenges that result from unplanned and unregulated population growth could include the development of sprawls, urban decay and slums.…”

“…Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) currently accounts for 1.152 billion of the World’s population, predicted to hit 1.401 billion and 2.094 billion in 2030 and 2050, respectively. UNFPA (2016) recorded that SSA has the population growth rate of all the regions of the World, and Nigeria is arguably the highest in the SSA region (UNFPA, 2014; Faiyetole, 2019). Similarly, according to an OECD (2020) study, Africa has the fastest urban growth rate in the world.…”

“…The increasing number of migrants is a huge factor in population increase in cities, considering that the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA) Population Division prospects that the World population, which is 7.942 billion in 2022, will increase by 570 million in 2030, and by a 1.175 billion in 2050. According to UNFPA (2014), Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) had a population growth rate of 2.4%, the highest among all the regions, with Nigeria which stood at 2.8% was the highest in the region (Faiyetole, 2019), such that UNDESA (2022) prospects population increase for the SSA between 2022 and 2030 at 249 million, which is approximately half of the global difference for that period. Furthermore, between 2030 and 2050, Africa’s population is expected to increase by 693 million, which is more than half of the global increase projected for the same period.…”