The study found that climate change does not rank high on the list of priorities for South Africans and, generally, people don’t know what the just energy transition is
Climate change does not rank high as a priority among South Africans despite people admitting to being affected by some sort of climate or weather event, a new report has found.
It said only 5% of adults mention environmental issues [including climate change] as a priority issue relative to other pressing concerns, with economic and safety concerns like unemployment and crime ranking much higher on the list. The authors found it concerning that climate change featured so low, considering that it can exacerbate unemployment.
The report was prepared for the Presidential Climate Commission (PCC) by the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) to determine public perceptions of climate change and the just transition; the shift from coal towards cleaner energy sources without endangering communities’ livelihoods.
“Overall, determining awareness of climate change is essential for building public support, driving action and promoting effective responses to this global challenge,” the authors wrote.
One of the concerns they flagged was the apparent climate scepticism among participants.
“South Africans have far higher scepticism compared to other countries,” Professor Ben Roberts said during a webinar to launch the report and discuss its findings. Many respondents believed that climate change was part of the natural process and not man-made. The scepticism on climate change “needs to be challenged”.
The report noted that people who knew and understood what climate change was, expressed concern about it. But there was a slight drop in the number of those who were “very/extremely worried” compared with 2022.
Lebogang Mulaisi, executive manager for policy and research at the PCC, said “people are worried about whether they’ll have to pay more for electricity, job losses and worsening of the [climate] crisis”.
People were aware of opportunities for the economy to grow and health to improve, but what was important to them were things like reducing load-shedding, she said.
One of the problems is that people on the ground talk of climate change as a change in crops or a change in the weather, but overarching larger effects are often not noted, said Professor Sarah Mosoetsa, the chief executive of the HSRC.
“Climate change is an environmental challenge but it is more than that, it is a socio-economic issue that affects the quality of life and livelihoods of individuals and those who cannot afford sustainable livelihoods are heavily impacted,” she said.
Mabu Molele, of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union, noted how some people had blamed God, not climate change, for the April 2022 floods in KwaZulu-Natal.
The just energy transition
The researchers found that just over 60% of respondents know little to nothing about the just transition, writing: “Although there is general awareness of the concept of the energy transition in South Africa, there is very little understanding of the specific term.”
“Climate change and the just transition is at a policymakers platform, spoken about by government and academics, with less attention paid to communities,” Mosoetsa said.
This was echoed by other panellists who said communities were not involved, but needed to be front and centre of discussions.
“It is essential to clarify what the term just transition is, because people don’t understand it. Awareness on the move away from coal is clearer,” said Mapaseka Lukhele, the general manager of corporate sustainability at Transnet.
The two major concerns people flagged regarding the just transition were higher electricity prices (33%), a loss of jobs (32%) and the prospect of worsened load-shedding (24%).
When asked what positives they thought they would see from the just transition, around 51% thought it would result in ending or reducing in load-shedding while 41% believed it would help the economy grow and lead to lower electricity prices.
Some 30% of those surveyed believed the country should receive international financial assistance, while 34% said the money should not be managed by the government.
“This perspective is likely linked to distrust in government, hence the notion that alternative methods of fund management should be sought,” the authors wrote in the report.
During the webinar socio-cultural anthropologist Fani Miya questioned the efficacy of the research, calling for people affected by the just transition to be interviewed. He said surveys were not enough to understand what people know and feel about climate change and the just transition and that more anecdotal evidence was needed from directly affected communities in Mpumalanga.