Neglecting the urban? Exploring rural-urban disparities in the climate change–conflict literature on Sub-Sahara Africa

Plänitz, Erik

doi:10.1016/j.uclim.2019.100533

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 56 publications

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“…We find that climate-related research on health, cities and urban areas, poverty and livelihoods, and security and conflict (including human migration, in accordance with IPCC AR5 risk classification) has received substantially less funding than food, ecosystems and freshwater (Figure 8). The higher allocations to research on food systems as compared to cities/ urban areas matches observations of trends in academic publications on climate-related risks which point to an emphasis on rural over urban issues, at least for security and conflict (Plänitz, 2019). However, Africa is the most rapidly urbanizing continent with a population expected to be more than 60% urban by 2050 (UN-Habitat, 2016).…”

Section: Alignment Of Research Funding With Sectoral Climate Risksmentioning

confidence: 57%

Funding flows for climate change research on Africa: where do they come from and where do they go?

Øverland

Sagbakken

Isataeva

et al. 2021

Climate and Development

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Africa has only contributed a small fraction of global greenhouse gas emissions yet faces disproportionate risks from climate change. This imbalance is one of many inequities associated with climate change and raises questions concerning the origin, distribution and thematic prioritization of funding for climate-change research on Africa. This article analyses a database comprising USD 1.51 trillion of research grants from 521 organizations around the world and covering all fields of research from 1990 to 2020. At most 3.8% of global funding for climate-change research is spent on African topicsa figure incommensurate with Africa's share of the world population and vulnerability to climate change. Moreover, institutions based in Europe and North America received 78% of funding for climate research on Africa, while African institutions received only 14.5%. Research on climate mitigation received only 17% of the funding while climate impacts and adaptation each received around 40%. Except for Egypt and Nigeria, funding supported research on former British colonies more than other African countries. The findings highlight the need to prioritise research on a broader set of climate-change issues in Africa and to increase funding for Africa-based researchers in order to strengthen African ownership of research informing African responses to climate change.

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Section: Alignment Of Research Funding With Sectoral Climate Risksmentioning

confidence: 57%

Funding flows for climate change research on Africa: where do they come from and where do they go?

Øverland

Sagbakken

Isataeva

et al. 2021

Climate and Development

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Research on the impacts of climate change across the rural-urban spectrum is rare (e.g. there is significant neglect of urban issues in climate change–conflict literature, with the bulk of research directed to the rural areas, and cities receiving limited study [ 58 ]). As such, the drivers of this pattern require much further study, however, in the remainder of the discussion we propose three possible reasons for the lower levels of perceived threat of climate change in rural areas, despite higher levels of place attachment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Place attachment and perception of climate change as a threat in rural and urban areas

Tenbrink,

Willcock

2023

PLoS ONE

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Climate change is a global threat to ecosystems and the people that depend on them. However, the perceived threat of climate change may vary spatially. Previous research suggests that inhabitants in rural areas show higher levels of place attachment (associating meaning with a specific place) than urbanites, possibly because rural people depend more directly on their local environment. This can shape perceptions and behaviours, such as enhanced willingness to engage in landscape preservation. Here we ask if it also makes rural people perceive climate change as a greater threat, using a representative sample of 1,071 survey respondents from across the United Kingdom (UK) to provide first-order insights. We found that, whilst indicators of place attachment were indeed more frequent in rural areas, the perceived threat of climate change in the most rural locations was lower. We discuss possible explanations for this pattern (including lower levels of awareness of the anthropogenic causes of climate change, lessened first-hand experiences of climate change impacts due to higher levels of regulating ecosystem services, and higher levels of resilience in rural areas related to a closer relationship with nature), and call for further research to investigate this.

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“…A dystopian future would lead to the perpetuation of bleak living conditions for their poorest inhabitants (Davis 2006). Climate destabilisation would further condemn them to an endless spiral of depression and violence, as African cities would have no means to adapt (Planitz 2019).…”

Section: Sub-saharan African Cities As An Archetype Of the Urban Crisis?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Climate change and strategic low-carbon planning in African cities after COVID-19: inclusiveness or chaos?

Lemaire¹

2021

JBA

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Cities in sub-Saharan African countries are feeling the impact of climate change with an increase in climate refugees and they have to deal with more intense flooding, land degradation and erosion, droughts, and heatwaves affecting in particular the poor living in informal settlements. Strategies on how to adapt and move to more resilient cities are being designed. But the question is how this transition can be done while municipalities in sub-Saharan Africa are facing difficulties coping with demographic growth, budget scarcity, and poor governance. Most local authorities in sub-Saharan Africa have consistently failed to address the fundamental basic needs of communities, even before the current acute environmental crisis. This paper analyses the persistent urban planning bias preventing transition to sustainability, emerging alternative strategic options promoting resilience and inclusivity while moving toward low-carbon cities, and how the discourse on post-COVID cities is relevant to the context of urban Africa.

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Neglecting the urban? Exploring rural-urban disparities in the climate change–conflict literature on Sub-Sahara Africa

Cited by 11 publications

References 56 publications

Funding flows for climate change research on Africa: where do they come from and where do they go?

Funding flows for climate change research on Africa: where do they come from and where do they go?

Place attachment and perception of climate change as a threat in rural and urban areas

Climate change and strategic low-carbon planning in African cities after COVID-19: inclusiveness or chaos?

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