Climate Change Threats and Public Perceptions Towards Energy Security in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Narrative from Ghana

Climate change is one of the most topical issues of the twenty-first century and a major obstacle to the global economic development agenda. However, there is limited understanding of the science, nature, risks, and vulnerabilities of climate change for humanity. Significant evidence shows that the building sector is responsible for over 40% of the world’s atmospheric CO2 emissions, which is the key contributor to climate change. Electric energy efficiency therefore suffices to redefine a holistic baseline for building energy performance. This study investigated building occupants’ awareness levels of climate change threats in tandem with households’ energy usage, with the objective of motivating sustainable energy occupants’ behaviours. The study distributed designed questionnaires to 1200 households of varied backgrounds across the three climatic belts of Ghana, selected through stratified sampling, with 1020 of them being returned. Descriptive statistics on the means and frequencies were conducted using SPSS version 23. Key findings indicated that, although 51.5% of the respondents understood the meaning of climate change, only 40.88% considered it a major threat to humanity. Based on the cultural theory of risk, most respondents fall within the hierarchical category and expect the central government and international bodies to be responsible for mitigating climate change. Again, 44% of the respondents would only replace their inefficient appliances when they failed to function. The study hence recommends policy backing for the development of a holistic behavioural change framework synergizing motivation and compulsion in sustaining affirmative action towards reducing electric energy consumption and wastage.