The Role of Public Awareness in Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Zimbabwe

The international communitys response to the global climate change challenge has been immense and in different ways ranging from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and many treaties and protocols. Zimbabwe signed and ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992 and the country acceded to the Kyoto Protocol in 2009. Debates, conferences and workshops on climate change issues are being organised at different levels. The growing risk of vulnerability to climate change is widely discussed in the scientific and political sphere. While international and national conferences are necessary this paper contends that public awareness is critical to climate change mitigation and adaptation in developing countries. But to what extent has climate change information been disseminated to the public The study was undertaken in Marondera urban and sought to assess peoples knowledge on climate change. There has been an increased dependence on natural resources for energy and food in Zimbabwes urban areas hence the selection of an urban area for the study. The once considered rural problems in Zimbabwe have started to haunt urban areas as well. The research design adopted was the descriptive survey. A sample of 80 participants was selected for the study through a combination of simple random and purposive sampling and data was collected using key informant interviews, questionnaires and documentary review. Despite much talk on the political and scientific arena about climate change, the study revealed that though the residents of Marondera are of aware climate change; its causes, effects and mitigatory measures the knowledge they have is rather general. While the researcher acknowledges that public awareness on its own may not be enough, this study recommends that climate change information be disseminated to the grassroots levels to through various means and strategies so as to allow full participation in climate change mitigation and adaptation.