Climate, Economy Concerns Affect Kenya’s Majority

Climate change and economic distress are some of the key challenges facing Kenya today, a new global report has shown.

An Open Society Foundations survey in 22 countries, 94 percent of those sampled said that heat waves, droughts, floods and forms of extreme weather show that climate change is impacting their lives.

“The polling revealed a high level of agreement regarding the most significant challenges facing the world today and a common desire for bold global action in response,” said a statement by the Open Society Foundations released yesterday.

Across the globe, the report indicates that people share a common perception of the most important issues facing the world.

Climate change was the top priority, with 36 percent of respondents ranking it as one of the three most significant issues facing the world, compared to 28 percent who picked Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The survey, which comes days before the 77th UN General Assembly scheduled to start next Tuesday, emphasises the need for concerted and ambitious responses from world leaders.

The survey dubbed Fault lines: Global perspectives on a world in crisis also showed that 91 percent of Kenyans believe there is a global food shortage.

“Some 84 percent of Kenyans often worry that their family will go hungry. As elsewhere, Kenyans are sympathetic to regulating food prices in the current climate over increasing state contributions towards food aid. 92 percent would support this move,” the report states.

At least 81 percent of respondents said the best route to peace in Ukraine lies with Russia’s complete military withdrawal from the region.

Only seven  percent of Kenyans think Ukraine should give up territory in order to secure a peace arrangement, saying that they see the situation there as a local, Western and global conflict.

Similarly, 65 percent of those polled think their country is headed in the wrong direction, with another 46 percent saying that the world is going in the wrong direction.

Kenyans, overwhelmingly (94 percent), support the idea of richer countries committing one per cent of their budgets next year in global solidarity funding to protect the most vulnerable around the world.

Another 81 percent believe rich countries should take more of a lead in reducing global emissions. Three quarters, 77 percent, of Kenyans surveyed think too much money has been spent on the conflict in Ukraine to the detriment of other global issues.

This is against the backdrop of the United Nations warning that billions of people around the world are facing the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation due to conditions exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In Kenya, the report states that the annual inflation rate rose to 8.3 per cent in July, the highest rate in five years.

In the United Kingdom, inflation jumped to over 10 percent that month, the highest rate in four decades. In Turkey, it hit 79.6 percent, with consumer prices rising by 175 percent compared to 2021.

“Against this background, almost half of respondents (49 percent) listed cost of living and inflation concerns as one of the top three challenges facing their family and community today, with almost a quarter (24 percent) citing it as the top challenge,” states the report.

Countries surveyed included Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Moldova, Nigeria, Poland and Saudi Arabia.