Government Officials and Climate Change Awareness: Implications for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Policies in Cross River State, Nigeria

The prevalence of climate change is evidenced in increased heat waves, drought, flooding, irregular rainfall pattern and desertification. World leaders are faced with evolving mitigation strategies to climate change. The study posited that effective mitigation and adaptation policies are contingent on the level of awareness of climate change by government functionaries. The question in the Nigerian context is: how aware are government functionaries of climate change? The study assessed the climate change awareness level of government functionaries in Cross River State, Nigeria and whether this affects their contribution to climate change discourses for appropriate mitigation and adaptation policies. The study adopted the cross-sectional design and collected data through Climate Change Awareness Test (CCAT) questionnaire, which was summarised descriptively using percentages and frequencies and displayed using tables and appropriate charts. Chi-Square statistical technique was used to analyse the association between respondents’ awareness of climate change and their contribution to climate change discourses. Results showed that the climate change awareness level of government functionaries was low, with career civil servants being more aware than the politicians in office. The study recommended, among others, a robust sensitisation of government functionaries by organising regular seminars, workshops and conferences on climate change and its consequences.