Climate Change Communication in South East Nigeria: Analyzing Perspectives

Abstract

Climate Change is one of the major concerns of nations in the 21st century. TheIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) characterizes it as the latestchallenge to sustainable human development. Nigeria, as a nation, is particularlyvulnerable to climate change because a large share of its economy is dependenton climate-sensitive natural resources, and there is low level of adaptationmeasures due to poverty and low technological development. This hasnecessitated intervention measures communicated by the government and nongovernmentalorganizations (NGOs) through various media such as radio,television, video, newspapers, magazines and new media to ameliorate theimpact of climate change. The paper, therefore, is a theoretical review of theclimate change in Nigeria. The paper adopts Mental Model to analyze differentperspectives of climate change communication in Nigeria. Climate change,impact of climate change, climate change and variability as well as climatechange adaptation and prevention are discussed as key issues on climate changecommunication in Nigeria. Against the backdrop of these analyses, the paperrecommended that efforts be made by all concerned bodies on climate changeintervention to review the content of the messages for clearer and betterunderstanding to audience. Additionally, there should be creation ofcommunication strategies that would address the major issues of climate changegeared towards the achievement of a wider coverage of climate changeinterventions in the country in meeting the SDG goals.