'Focus on solutions people support'

People in South America are most likely to say that climate change is behind extreme weather, while people in Africa and North America are less likely to agree

- Sheree Bega

Most people are more likely to support climate policies if they see a connection between extreme weather and climate change, new international research has found.

A few extreme weather events also seem to influence support for climate policies in different ways, according to the team of authors, which included Marina Joubert, an associate professor at the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology at Stellenbosch University.

The study, published in the journal Nature Climate Change, found that although extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense because of climate change, little is known about how experiencing these events — and attributing them to climate change — affects support for climate policies, particularly in the Global South.

The effects of extreme weather events are disproportionately felt in countries in the Global South.

“Even though the Global South is at greater risk, attribution studies and social science research on human responses to such events overwhelmingly focus on countries and populations in the Global North,” the study noted.

The study shows that when people connect extreme weather such as heatwaves, floods and droughts to climate change, they're much more likely to support climate action, Joubert said.

“This matters for countries like South Africa where climate impacts are already being felt. One surprising finding from our study is that people in Africa, especially in South Africa, are less likely to say that climate change is behind extreme weather events,” she said.

“That's not because the weather is not changing, but because climate change awareness is still low.”

To build support for climate solutions, there is an urgent need for better public communication that explains to people what is happening and why, Joubert said.