Abstract/Summary

Analysis of Africa’s largest public opinion survey, the Afrobarometer, identifies that most Africans across 39 countries place primary responsibility for addressing climate change on their own government, a further third see ordinary citizens as most responsible. Very few place responsibility on historical emitters. Education and lower levels of poverty are both associated with increased responsibility attributed to citizens, while education and access to new media sources are associated with increased responsibility attributed to historic emitters. Lower levels of poverty, higher levels of education, and more frequent access to new media are associated with both belief Africans can and their government should do more to address climate change. Professional frontline government bureaucracies encourage citizens to engage in and hold their government accountable for climate action. Alleviating poverty and increasing access to education and information reduces vulnerability, enhances agency, and can re-apportion responsibility onto actors with more resources for scalable climate action.