Climate Change Awareness in the Public Service Sector: a Study of Six Institutions in Kenya
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Date
2014-03-10
Authors
Ruirie, Onesmus Kamiri
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Abstract
Climate change is one of the most significant environmental challenges of our
time. This calls for the adoption of necessary mitigation and adaptation
strategies. These strategies include education and public awareness on climate
change and its effects. This study assessed the level of climate change
awareness among employees of six public sector institutions namely, National
Environmental Management Agency, Kenya Meteorological Department,
Kenya Electricity Generating Company, Kenya Medical Research Institute and
Kenya Agricultural Research Institute. Employees offer non-formal education
to the public while providing services and in their social circles. Their
awareness is therefore critical. The study also aimed to establish the source of
climate information in public sector, whether there are policies on climate
change in the public service sector and identify if there are challenges in
implementing them. The six public institutions were chosen using purposive
sampling due to their roles in climate change. A descriptive survey design was
adopted. 20 respondents from each institution were chosen from a sample
frame comprising three job categories using simple random sampling
techniques. To implement the survey, a structured questionnaire was used for
data collection. Data was analyzed using descriptive and detailed statistics and
results presented graphically in charts, graphs and tables. From the findings,
the study established that there was general awareness about climate change as
97% respondents stated that they have heard of climate change. The difference
in respondents level of being informed on causes, consequences, and ways to
curb climate change was statistically significant (F=4.592, df=5 and P Value>
0.05 at 0.0132. Media emerged as the main source of climate change
information with television leading at 94%. Media had significant impact on
creating awareness (x2=51.425, n=120, df=3, p=O.OOOI).The study established
that there are policies on climate change at the workplace as reported by 82%
of respondents. 82% of the respondents stated that implementation of these
policies is hampered by inadequate funding, lack of coordination among the
various climate change stakeholders and low level of public awareness about
climate change among others. Majority of employees, 85% said there is need
for more information on climate change in the workplace. The study
established a strong positive and significant relationship between climate
change awareness (r = 0.698, P< 0.05 at 0.01) on one hand and policies and
source of information on the other hand (r=0.547, P Value of 0.02 at 95%
precision level). The study also established a strong positive correlation
between mitigation and adaptation and climate change awareness (r =0.698 and
a significance level of 0.006, P< 0.005).The study concluded that it is
important to enhance awareness among the employees to make them better
understand climate change science, especially the support staff. The study
recommended enhancement of awareness through seminars, workshops,
brochures and memos in the workplace.
Description
Department of Environmental Studies and Community Development,