Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania

WITH LESSONS FOR NORTH AFRICA AND THE LEVANT REGION

A global narratives project

Lead partners National partners

C LC ILMI MA TA ET E oouutrtereaacchh This report was made possible with financial support from the KR Foundation.

About Climate Outreach

Climate Outreach is a team of social scientists and communication specialists passionate about building a social mandate for climate action. Through our research, practical guides and consultancy services, we help organisations communicate about climate change in ways that resonate with the values of their audiences. We have over 15 years of experience widening and deepening public engagement with climate change, working with a wide range of international partners including government, international bodies, academic institutions, charities, businesses, faith organisations and youth groups.

About Climate Action Network International (CAN-I)

The Climate Action Network (CAN) is a worldwide network of over 1,300 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in more than 120 countries to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. CAN members work to achieve this goal through information exchange and the coordinated development of an NGO strategy on international, regional and national climate issues.

About Climate Action Network Arab World (CAN-AW)

CAN-AW is a coalition of 112 civil society organisations from 17 Arab countries. It aims to enhance the concept of climate protection and renewable energy in addition to developing strategies to reduce carbon emissions from facilities throughout the region. The network also focuses on areas highly related to the concerns of the region, such as water scarcity, climate change and food insecurity.

Project team

Authors Robin Webster, Senior Programme Lead, Advocacy Communications, Climate Outreach Mohamed Kamal, Consultant researcher, EcoConserv (Egypt chapter) Susie Wang, Researcher, Climate Outreach (Tunisia chapter) Achref Chibani, Project Coordinator, Earth Hour Tunisia (Tunisia chapter) Moussa Elimane Sall, RIM-Mauritania (Mauritania chapter) Kim Titlestad, Consultant researcher (Mauritania chapter) George Marshall, Founding Director, Climate Outreach David Powell, Consultant researcher Editing & Production Abishek Maroli, Senior Project Management Lead, Climate Outreach Léane de Laigue, Communications Lead, Climate Outreach Elise de Laigue, Designer, Explore Communications

Acknowledgements

The authors would first like to thank the dedicated team who collaborated together over two years to make this project happen: Jana Markelbach from CAN International, Fatima Ahouli and Nouhad Awwad from CAN Arab World; Essia Guezzi and Zina Nasr from Earth Hour Tunisia and Shady Khalil from Greenish in addition to all the work from the co-authors of the chapters. In Tunisia, special thanks are due to Thamer Haded, Malika Hammemi and Arwa Chakroun. In each of the three countries a network of partners delivered the narrative workshops, listed at the beginning of each chapter. Finally, the authors would like to thank the research participants who gave their time to exploring what climate change meant to them.

Cite as: Webster, R., Kamal, M., Wang, S., Chibani, A., Sall, M.E., Titlestad, K., Marshall, G., Powell, D. (2021). Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania - with lessons for North Africa and the Levant region: A global narratives project. Oxford: Climate Outreach. Cover photos: Tozeur Market, Tozeur, Tunisia - Carlos Octavio Uranga (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); Fish market, Nouakchott, Mauritania - Evgeni Zotov (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0); Fagnoon Art School and Workshop, Cairo, Egypt - Marcel Crozet/ILO (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Flags: Nicolas Raymond Maps - pages 6, 7, 10: https://freevectormaps.com

MAY 2021 Contents

Executive summary...... 5 Key recommendations...... 5

About this project...... 8 Approach and methodology...... 8 Principles...... 9

Background ...... 10 The region explored...... 10 Terminology in this report ...... 11 Impacts of climate change...... 11 Reliance on and production of fossil fuels...... 11 Climate change awareness...... 12

Key findings...... 16 Barriers to engaging people on climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania...... 16 Approaches to successful public engagement in Egypt, Mauritania and Tunisia ...... 18 Approaches to test further, use carefully or avoid...... 23 Country-specific themes...... 26

Case study: Tunisia...... 28 Key findings ...... 30 Country profile...... 32 A proposal for a successful Tunisian narrative...... 36 Values ...... 39 Key themes in communicating climate change in Tunisia...... 42 Approaches to talking about the causes of climate change...... 47 Approaches to talking about the impacts of climate change...... 50 Approaches to talking about renewables...... 53 Approaches to talking with different audiences in Tunisia...... 54 Language to test further, use carefully or avoid...... 58 Case study: Egypt...... 60 Key findings ...... 62 Country profile...... 64 A proposal for a successful Egyptian narrative...... 67 Values ...... 69 Approaches to talking about the causes of climate change...... 72 Approaches to talking about the impacts of climate change...... 74 Approaches to talking about renewables...... 78 Approaches to talking with different audiences in Egypt...... 81 Language to test further, use carefully or avoid...... 84

Case study: Mauritania...... 86 Key findings ...... 88 Country profile...... 90 Methodology used in Mauritania ...... 92 A proposal for a successful Mauritanian narrative...... 93 Values ...... 94 Key themes in communicating climate change in Mauritania...... 96 Approaches to talking about the causes of climate change...... 99 Approaches to talking about the impacts of climate change...... 102 Approaches to talking about renewables...... 106 Approaches to talking with different audiences in Mauritania...... 108

Appendices ...... 110 Global narratives: a new model of communications research ...... 110 About narrative workshops ...... 111 Narrative workshop demographics...... 112 Limitations of the methodology ...... 116

References...... 118 Executive summary

Some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of climate change are situated in North Africa and the Levant region. Within the next few decades, Arabic speaking nations stretching from Mauritania in the west to Syria and Iraq in the east are likely to experience extreme heat, drought and aridity as a result of rising temperatures. At the same time, these countries are almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels for energy, and some are globally significant producers.

Despite this unique situation, knowledge of environmental and climate issues across these countries is lower than in other parts of the world and remains a relatively minor topic in social and political debate. As a result, governments lack a mandate from their societies to take transformative action in response to the growing threat to stability, income and security, while citizens do not have access to information allowing them to make informed decisions and advocate for decision makers to take action.

Data on public engagement with climate change in the region is sparse, as researchers focus on attitudes in North America and Europe and pay little attention to people in other parts of the world – a historic imbalance this project seeks to help address.

This report is a culmination of two years of social research work across three countries in North Africa: Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania. The project aims to test language on climate change, creating advice that climate advocates across civil society and in government, media and business can use to engage people in terms that resonate with their culture and experience.

The project has sought out communities rarely, if ever, consulted about climate change, including disabled people, rural women, fishermen and people with low levels of literacy and limited access to formal education. Beyond the three focus countries, it draws lessons of potential relevance for other North African countries and Arabic speaking countries in the Levant region (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan).

Key recommendations

The research finds that, across the different communities explored, participants were well aware of the changes already occurring around them as a result of rising temperatures, and were often able to speak eloquently about them. But many did not connect the impacts they were experiencing with the concept of climate change. Even among participants with higher levels of formal education, many confused the causes of climate change with other environmental issues, such as the hole in the ozone layer.

The project makes the following key recommendations for engaging these audiences on climate change.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 5 1. Use locally and nationally recognised environmental changes as the starting point for conversations about the impacts of climate change.

Participants in the research were already particularly aware of environmental issues that affected their local area or livelihood; abnormal changes to the seasons; and nationally significant events, such as flooding in a capital city. ر  ,Raise awareness about the causes of climate change .2 Syria ن and counter misconceptions. Tunisia ااق The research identifies a need for clearer, relevant, location-specific information about the causes of climate change. Research participants confused about the Iraq change actively asked for this and valued education in principle. Palestine اclimate بcauses of ا ردن Morocco 3. Respect and help amplify the voice of people who are Jordan witnessing climate change, including fishermen, farmers اا .and older people Algeria  The testimony provided by people whose livelihood is tied to the natural environ- Libya ment and who witness the changing climate at a day-to-day level was particular- Egypt ly powerful.

4. Speak to resilience, but avoid passivity.

The populations of all three countries studied have lived through political turbulence and change, and research participants had a strong sense of personal and community resilience as a result. Some individuals, however, also dismissed the threat of climate change in consequence. The authors suggest a major Islamic on climate change would also need to address a complex debate رmovement Mauritaniawithin Islam regarding the relationship between fate and free will, motivating people of faith to take action in a way that fits with their beliefs and values.

5. Emphasise social solidarity – mutual respect, looking after each other and mobilising together.

Participants strongly held values associated with mutual respect, hospitality and helping each other during a time of need, acting together in response to change. At the same time they displayed low levels of trust in central government, making the idea of looking after each other at a local, personal level more important. 6. Use simple, direct language, such as ‘clean’ and ‘polluting’ energy.

’polluting’ or ‘damaging‘ ,’نظيفة – The usage of simple, direct words such as ‘clean was far more effective than technical terms such as ‘renewable energy’. Some for (تغير املناخ) ’participants misunderstood the Arabic term for ‘climate change natural fluctuations in the weather, illustrating the need for the language of climate change to be reformulated into words and expressions that reflect the day-to- day lives of millions of people experiencing its effects. ر  Syria ن.Tunisia 7. Present people as nature’s guardian ااق The idea of having a responsibility to protect the world is a powerful idea in IslamicIraq .texts and across other faiths, and camePalestine through particularly strongly in Mauritania اب ا ردن Morocco 8. Use narratives about renewable energy, particularlyJordan solar .power اا Algeria Participants in the research showed a high level of support for solar power,  intuitively understanding the opportunity it presents in hot countries heavily Libya dependent on fossil fuel imports.Egypt Solar has the potential to be a major ‘carrier’ of a positive, solutions-based narrative about climate change in these countries.

9. Avoid the language of personal responsibility and blame.

Participants in this research — living in countries that were not major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions — were almost universally resistant to language that implied personal responsibility and blame, meaning that communicators should .take care in conversations about adjusting lifestyles ر Mauritania 10. Use spoken language appropriate to the audience.

Arabic has around 30 dialects. International communicators should remember that public engagement written in classic Arabic, for example in the media, may not be understood by some Arabic speaking populations.

11. Continue to test the ways in which personal values influence beliefs and behaviour.

Previous evidence suggests that the ways in which people perceive risk may differ from audiences in the West. Some participants also expressed discomfort with the idea of talking about their values in a public forum, suggesting that qualitative research methodologies may need adjustment. About this project

Approach and methodology

This report provides practical guidance indicating what language works for communicating about climate change in three case study countries in North Africa (Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania) and what language is less effective. It uses this to draw wider lessons across North Africa and the Levant countries of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan.

The project uses the global narratives methodology, a citizen science approach to climate change public engagement research developed by Climate Outreach. Local partner organisations are professionally trained to deliver values-based focus groups known as narrative workshops, a peer- reviewed research model developed by Climate Outreach over the past decade.1

The workshops are run with selected audiences, testing specific language around climate change and renewable energy. Using this data, the project develops distinct and culturally specific narratives on climate change.

This project ran from April 2019 to April 2021. Overall, 25 partner organisations ran 33 narrative workshops with 248 participants.

The audiences reached across the different countries included farmers, rural women, fishermen, artists and shopkeepers, tourist workers, students, civil society activists and volunteers, herders, journalists, community and municipality leaders, parliamentarians and people with disabilities.

In each country, a central organisation facilitated a national partner network of civil society representatives. The co-ordinating partners in each country were:

y Tunisia: Earth Hour Tunisia, working with nine national partners y Egypt: Greenish, working with nine national partners y Mauritania: RIM Youth Climate Movement, working with seven national partners

The appendices give more details regarding the methodology, audiences reached and the limitations of the project. The audiences reached are not fully representative, and conclusions are drawn in the understanding of those limitations. Training sessions in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania. Photos: © Climate Outreach

8 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Principles

The research is based on the following principles.

1 Informed decisions: People need a realistic understanding of the scale and timing of future impacts of climate change in order to make informed decisions — about where they live, how they invest their time and resources, what their plan is for the future and their choices in elections.

2 Preparation: People need adequate information to prepare for climate impacts. A lack of preparation could greatly increase the social and economic costs of climate change.

3 Social mandate for transition policies: Social dialogue, meaningful stakeholder engagement and the inclusion of communities is key to formulating and achieving national climate targets and goals and for identifying locally implementable solutions. Without a mandate, transition policies can face strong political and popular resistance.

4 A right to know: People have a fundamental right to be informed about climate change. All the countries in this region are committed through the Paris Agreement (Article 122) and the original Framework Convention on Climate Change (Article 63) to informing, educating and involving their citizens in climate policy. Very few governments have even attempted to fulfil these commitments. The Paris Agreement (Article 112) promises support for low-income countries and fulfilling these commitments, but this has not been implemented.

5 Empowering civil society: Civil society plays a critical role in raising awareness about climate change and in generating, critiquing and refining ideas and holding governments to account when it comes to implementation.

Partner training, Mauritania. Photo: © RIM-Mauritania

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 9 Background

The region explored

This study focuses on three countries in North Africa: Mauritania, Tunisia and Egypt.

Mauritania, officially termed the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, lies in north-west Africa, bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

Tunisia is Africa’s northernmost country. Both are Maghreb countries — the collective term for the north-west African countries of Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.4

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is located in the north-eastern corner of Africa. It is sometimes considered to be part of the Levant — the coastal region of the eastern Mediterranean, including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan.

Arabic is the principal or official language spoken in all three countries and Islam the majority religion. The authors suggest the learnings in this study are likely to have some resonance and use for other Maghreb countries (Algeria, Libya and Morocco) and countries of the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine and Jordan). In such a vast and culturally diverse region, however, these learnings may differ widely across different countries.

ر  Syria ن Tunisia ااق Lebanon Iraq Palestine اب ا ردن Morocco Jordan اا Algeria  Libya Egypt

ر Mauritania

10 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Terminology in this report

Tunisia and Egypt are always, and Mauritania is often, included in the Arabic speaking Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.5 MENA is a commonly recognised English-language term used by the media, academia, international agencies and business to refer to a vast area of around 20 countries across North Africa and West Asia, from Mauritania and Morocco in the west to Iran in the east.6

The term MENA, however, is imprecise, and the ‘Middle East’ has its roots in British colonialism (it is only ‘east’ when viewed from the European perspective). As a part of efforts to decolonise language, this report avoids using the term MENA.

An alternative term, WANA (West Asia and North Africa), has been developed in post-colonial studies and covers the same countries.7 The WANA region also includes the Gulf State countries of the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait and Bahrain. The Gulf States have less in common with the focus countries in this study in terms of culture, economics, politics or energy supply, and so the learnings are less likely to be relevant.

Impacts of climate change

The countries in the WANA region are likely to be particularly severely impacted by climate change, experiencing extreme heat, drought and aridity as a result of rising temperatures.8 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings indicate that WANA countries are likely to experience some of the worst impacts from climate change worldwide.9 Temperatures could rise to10 levels posing a serious threat to life,11 making some parts of the region uninhabitable.12

Countries in the region are some of the most vulnerable in the world to reducing water availability, and the agricultural sector, of which 70% is rain-fed, is highly exposed to changing climatic conditions.13 Changing temperatures also have the potential to put further pressures on resources, contributing to social unrest in already unstable political environments.

Reliance on and production of fossil fuels

Egypt’s economy is highly reliant on fossil fuels for both government revenue and energy: oil, coal and gas met 96% of the country’s energy needs in 2018.14 It is a net importer of coal, but a net exporter of both oil and gas.14

Despite being a small oil and gas producer, Tunisia imports a significant amount of its energy.15,16 The vast majority of its electricity comes from gas,17 which is mostly imported from Algeria.18

The Mauritanian government is seeking to encourage more development in its oil and gas development, particularly following offshore gas discoveries.19 Access to energy — in particular from solar, wind and hydro – is a central development and diversification aim of the government.20

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 11 Narrative workshop, Egypt. Photo: © Takfou’ Foundation

Climate change awareness

People’s perceptions of climate change in North Africa and the Levant, particularly in North Africa, have been far less widely surveyed than in North America and Europe.21 Very few studies have measured perceptions of climate change across the region as a whole, and climate change public engagement across Arabic speaking countries has typically been a neglected research area.22 This has begun to change with the rise of internet polling, although these surveys risk underrepresenting the parts of the population that do not have internet access.23

The data that does exist suggests that knowledge and concern about environmental and climate issues in this region is relatively low, and more likely than in some other regions to be subservient to economic or social concerns24 — particularly in North Africa, despite its vulnerability to climate change.

One 2019 poll, for example, found that North Africans reported the least concern in the world about the risk of climate change to their country over the next 20 years, with just 60% believing it presented a ‘very’ or ‘somewhat’ serious threat, compared to 93% in Southern Europe.25 Another 2019 pan-African study found that, while 67% of East Africans believe climate change is already making life in their countries worse, only 46% of North Africans do.26

12 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Researchers have suggested a number of reasons why citizens of Arabic speaking countries might express less concern about climate change than people in other parts of the world. These reasons are summarised in Table 1.

Table 1: Reasons given in the research for why citizens in Arabic speaking countries show less concern about climate change.

Reason Details

Relationship between The region is dominated by Islam, but despite the 2015 Islamic Declaration the Islamic Faith and of Climate Change27 a major Islamic environmental movement has yet to climate change emerge.24

Limited in-depth Climate change has not historically been a major topic across Arab-language media coverage media,22 and scientific terms relating to climate change are rarely used.21

Many countries in North Africa and West Asia are highly dependent on fossil Dependence on fossil fuels for economic prosperity and energy, which can undermine the willingness fuels of elites to discuss climate change.24

Activists and campaigners in the region have typically faced tighter restrictions on protest and mobilisation than in the West.28 This may be changing as there are indications that, since the Arab Spring, environmental activism (particularly led by younger people) is on the rise and that climate change is increasingly Restrictive civic space becoming part of wider campaign agendas.29 Indeed, mobilisations in Tunisia in 2011 explicitly embraced the environmental agenda as a tool of resistance. However, the restrictive civic space still makes it more challenging to advocate, mobilise and protest than in places with a more open civil space.

Many countries in the region continue to experience turbulent national Disruption and politics.22 As a result, perceptions of the relative importance of climate change, competing priorities compared to other national events, can appear to vary hugely from year to year.30,31

Activist campaigns are more likely to link to issues of community resilience, Environmental pride in place or health. One study in Egypt found that exposure to more facts campaigns tend to about climate change increased perception of climate risks, but mainly of focus on the local closer-to-home climate impacts rather than awareness of causes.21

Levels of formal education have a strong influence on a person’s attitude Variations in formal towards climate change32 and, when survey responses are filtered by education levels numeracy, climate concern appears to rise.25

The limited data available, however, also suggests significant variation in climate concern across Arabic speaking countries. This is unsurprising, given the enormous diversity of circumstances different countries face politically, socially, environmentally and in mitigating and adapting to climate change.22 In a 2020 poll, for example, 71% of respondents in Morocco agreed that climate change ‘exists and is mostly caused by human activity’, while only 26% of Egyptians did.33

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 13 Figure 1: Response to the question ‘Which of the following best describes your views towards climate change?’ Source: ‘Views on climate change in MENA’, IPSOS, July 2020.34

A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) global survey published in early 2021 found that people in Arabic speaking states tended to support a smaller number of climate policies than in other regions.35 However, views and perceptions may also be evolving. The same survey found that 64% of people in Arabic speaking countries agreed with the statement that ‘climate change is a global emergency’. This compares to 72% in Western Europe and North America and is marginally higher than the figure in Latin America and the Caribbean (63%), Asia and the Pacific (63%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (61%). The Arabic countries surveyed were Algeria, Djibouti, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Sudan and Tunisia.

While support for climate policies was lower than in other regions, the top five climate policies all attracted more than 40% support across the Arabic states surveyed:

1 Use climate-friendly farming techniques (48%)

2 Use solar, wind and renewable power (48%)

3 Conserve forests and land (47%)

4 Use more clean electric cars and buses or bicycles (44%)

5 Invest more money in green businesses and jobs (44%)

Spotlight on Egypt, Tunisia and Mauritania

A 2008 study found that Egyptian knowledge of, and concern about, climate change was significantly lower than the WANA average.36 This pattern persists to the present day, though different surveys give different absolute results. In one 2020 study, 67% of Egyptians agreed humans were wholly or partially responsible for climate change — a lower rate than all but two of the other 26 countries in the poll.31 This rate represented a drop from the 80% recorded in response to the same question in 2019.30 In another 2020 survey, just 24% of Egyptian respondents agreed that climate change is mainly human-caused. Other studies suggest that, while the term ‘climate change’ is widely

14 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project recognised, Egyptians lack knowledge about the science behind it.21 This is a particular issue in rural areas, where people are more likely to attribute climate change to the work of God.37

In Tunisia, studies based on phone and face-to-face interviews conducted in 2017 and 2018 found that 60% and 76% respectively believed that climate change poses a threat to their country. In both cases, this was lower than the perceived risk from terrorism.38,39 A 2019 pan-African survey found that only 33% of Tunisians claimed to have heard of climate change — the second lowest result in the poll — and only 15% had both heard of it and linked it to human activity, associating it with negative impacts.26 In a 2020 survey, 40% of Tunisians agreed that climate change exists and is mostly caused hy human activity.34

Very little research has addressed people’s awareness of climate change in Mauritania. A poll from 14 years ago (2007/08) across 128 countries found that 44% of Mauritanian respondents had then ‘heard something or a great deal’ about climate change (as compared to 52% across the entire WANA region) and that 35% identified climate change as some kind of threat to their family (as compared to 42% across the entire WANA region).40 A later analysis of the same dataset suggested that, at the time, experiencing temperature change in their local area was the most important factor influencing whether Mauritanians considered climate change to be a threat, above understanding the causes of climate change or any other factor.41,42

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 15 Partner training, Tunisia Photo: © Climate Outreach Key findings

Barriers to engaging people on climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania

You are telling me about renewable energy. Who will implement it for us? These are fancy dreams. Let us talk about things that are on our level. These things are too advanced for us and will be too expensive. – Fisherman, Egypt

Participants in this research were well aware of the changes already occurring around them as a result of rising temperatures. Abnormal changes, such as shifting seasons, flooding, changes to rainfall patterns, longer hot seasons and other impacts, came up in all the narrative workshops. Fishermen and farmers particularly had first-hand knowledge of the effects of changing temperatures on their livelihoods, and spoke powerfully about the impacts they were observing.

However, this study also agrees with previous work in finding numerous barriers to deeper understanding and engagement with climate change across the countries studied. Crucially, many research participants didn’t connect the impacts they were experiencing with the concept of climate change. In Egypt and Tunisia, very few group members demonstrated a strong understanding of ‘climate change’ as a concept: its scale or severity, longer term impacts for their societies, causes or solutions.

This was particularly true of people living in rural areas with less access to formal education, reinforcing previous global findings that a person’s formal level of education has more influence on their views about climate change than any other demographic factor.32 Participants in Mauritania showed greater knowledge of climate change as an issue. This may reflect a methodological bias or a greater resonance of the issue in Mauritania (see box).

Among participants with higher levels of formal education, many confused the causes of climate change with other environmental issues such as the hole in the ozone layer or local industrial pollution, and were not aware of burning fossil fuels as a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.

The technical terms associated with climate change clearly did not resonate with many participants. can easily be understood as simply the natural (تغير املناخ) ’Indeed, in Arabic, the term ‘climate change change in weather between seasons, and this confusion was evident in some groups.

Many people across the workshops were positive about solar power in principle and understood the potential for its expansion in their country. Participants, however, also often viewed renewable energy as a distant, technical idea that was out of their hands or control, and considered renewable power to be expensive.

Group members in Egypt and Tunisia particularly often displayed cynicism when asked about their government, as well as a feeling of disconnection from the political process and that ‘big promises’ were not to be relied on. The research illustrated the importance of understanding the modern

16 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project history of the target audience in communicating climate change. In Egypt, for example, experience of social disruption and a strong belief in personal and social resilience also led some participants to dismiss climate change as a threat, relying on their own ability to survive or their faith in God to get them through.

In some cases, research participants’ relationship with their faith also created a barrier to engaging with climate change. Some group members across all three countries perceived climate change as God’s will or as a punishment and were therefore less likely to challenge it.43 The relationship between the Islamic faith and perceptions of climate change needs further, focused research.

Climate awareness in Mauritania

Climate change is an issue we cannot miss nowadays. Wherever you go, you hear about the phenomenon. In every channel on TV it becomes THE topic. – Small business owner, Mauritania

We hear a lot about climate change on TV and radio. It is not clearly explained why it is happening. – Rural farmer, Mauritania

Mauritanian participants in this research demonstrated a more sophisticated understanding of the causes and impacts of climate change than the other two focus countries studied. Many participants discussed the impact of changing rainfall patterns, reduced food availability and future economic impacts. A significant number demonstrated an understanding of the links between burning fossil fuels and rising temperatures, although some were less clear or said openly that they didn’t understand what climate change is. A few saw it as a natural phenom- enon, and a number of rural participants saw climate change as a punishment from God.

The only pre-existing data found suggests that, 14 years ago, concern about climate change in Mauritania was lower than in other countries in the WANA region.40 Mauritanians also have relatively low levels of literacy44 and access to formal education, according to international data (although many people attend religious schools or mahadras),45 which also tends to be correlated with lower levels of concern about climate change.32

The results of this research may reflect a sampling bias, as the culturally appropriate tech- nique used reached a higher proportion of educated individuals who were seen as good rep- resentatives of their communities. It may, however, also be a result of the experience of living in a desert country where many people are dependent on rural activities for their livelihoods46 and have experienced the significant impacts of rising temperatures over recent years.47

This is supported by the fact that several participants in the research noted that they had learned a lot about climate change via various organisations and the media. It is therefore possible that, as a result, climate change may have higher cultural resonance in Mauritania than in the other two focus countries studied, partly as a result of the impacts it is already having in people’s lives. Further research would be needed to explore this question.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 17 Approaches to successful public engagement in Egypt, Mauritania and Tunisia

1 Use locally and nationally recognised environmental changes as the starting point for conversations about the impacts of climate change

In regions like Nouakchott, we are experiencing flooding. It’s like the climate is becoming crazy. – Small business owner, Mauritania

I want the municipality to stop throwing waste in the sea. The sea is our capital and it is unacceptable that they pollute it. – Fisherman, Tunisia

This research reinforces previous findings that people are far more likely to feel that climate change is a personal and salient issue when they see it as relevant to their local environment and their previous lived experience.48,49 For example, when presented with information about the impacts of climate change in the Nile Delta, Egyptian farmers from Minya in the Nile Delta reacted strongly, while the fishermen did not.

Across all three countries, people expressed worries about changes to their local environment that affected their own lives and communities. In Tunisia, for example, participants were very aware of environmental issues such as poor waste management, air pollution, the eroding coastline and increasing desertification. Future campaigns could use this understanding of local issues as a starting point for a broader conversation about climate change.

Events that affect the cultural or economic life of the country (like serious flooding in a major city) were also referenced as areas of concern. Tunisian participants were acutely aware of changes to the seasons, and Mauritanians of drought and desertification. Research in Egypt suggests that knowing someone who has experienced flooding affects people as though they have experienced it themselves.21 People’s strong sense of concern and personal experience of these issues could be successfully used as a starting point in discussing and engaging with people on climate change.

2 Raise awareness about the causes of climate change, and counter misconceptions

There should be awareness in the rural areas provided to us about these things. Someone could be doing something very harmful, but they don’t understand it just like what you explained now to us. – Farmer, Egypt

Earth is getting hotter because of the disruption of the ozone layer. – Fisherman, Mauritania

We will try to use an air conditioner in case of heat. – Rural woman, Tunisia

Across the different countries, participants showed low awareness of the causes of climate change. In a region where 98% of energy is supplied by fossil fuels,50 only a small minority were able to identify burning fossil fuels as a contributor to climate change without prompting. Even participants with higher levels of former education often confused the causes of climate change with other environmental issues, such as ozone depletion or local pollution.

18 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project The results, however, also suggest that populations in the focus countries were aware of, and experiencing, the impacts of climate change, and that they would welcome the opportunity to understand more about the wider context. In Egypt, for example, participants actively asked for greater awareness on the topic. In Mauritania, a strong focus on education and knowledge acquisition as a value emerged from the research, particularly for younger people, suggesting that an explicit focus on education would be well received.

As suggested in previous studies,21 awareness raising campaigns could focus on overcoming misconceptions in the minds of citizens (for example the link between climate change and the ozone layer) by highlighting the basic facts, using clear messages and simple imagery. Effective campaigns of this nature would need to use trusted messengers who share the values and understand the needs of the audience.51

3 Respect and help amplify the voice of people who are witnessing climate change, including fishermen, farmers and older people

We have heard a lot about stories of Mauritania from our parents. It was very different from a climate perspective. – Union member, Mauritania

Since this had changed, and the weather changed in the sea due to very hot summers, the fish species we fish became different as well. – Fisherman, Egypt

I think that climate change affected the fish stocks. There is a change in the fish species. – Fisherman, Tunisia

In every workshop carried out, participants spoke about the changes they were observing on a day-to-day basis. People whose livelihood is closely linked to the natural environment, such as farmers, fishermen and other rural inhabitants, were particularly aware of them. This supports previous findings in India, suggesting that rural people and people who are more vulnerable are more sensitive to local changes in rainfall.52 In Mauritania, group members also highlighted the role of older people in telling stories of how much the country has changed in just a few decades.

Rather than simply presenting dry technical scientific data, supporting people in making their voice heard and drawing attention to their testimony would be a respectful and powerful way of communicating climate change. It may be that the people who have the least voice on the international stage and the least access to formal education about climate change are also those who are able to speak most eloquently about it, using their own terms, cultural experience and language.

4 Speak to resilience, but avoid passivity

[What is good about living in Mauritania?] The resilience of Mauritanians. We are able to adapt easily due to our education and faith. – Union member, Mauritania

For me, what makes me hold onto life in Egypt is our ability to make the most out of what we have. We are able to solve complicated problems with so little. We have a lot of alternatives available that allow people to mobilise without the need to wait for help, etc. – Member of a human rights organisation, Egypt

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 19 The populations of all three countries studied have lived through political turbulence, security risks and other enforced changes, and this influenced how the research participants viewed their own identity. Both Egyptian and Mauritanian group members characterised and expressed pride in themselves as resilient and adaptable. Tunisian participants talked about their ability to come together during times of disruption.

Belief in resilience was linked to a sense of togetherness, community and the ability to look after each other. Language that speaks to building robust communities in times of change is therefore likely to resonate when talking about climate change.

This kind of language may, however, also encourage a sense of passivity, or the idea that the impacts of climate change cannot be altered. In Egypt, this attitude led many participants to dismiss the threat of climate change, relying on their own abilities or on their faith in God to get them through.

One solution to this is to avoid framing language around ‘adaptation’ when communicating climate messages, but rather to focus on the idea of ‘preparation’. The word ‘adaptation’ suggests that the problem can be managed and absorbed with no loss or cost. The word ‘preparation’ indicates that there will be a cost that can be reduced with good planning. Research carried out in the West suggests that people from different political backgrounds respond better to the frame of ‘preparation’ than they do to ‘adaptation’ when communicating climate messages.53,54 This idea, however, has not been tested in this research and would benefit from further exploration.

5 Emphasise social solidarity: mutual respect, looking after each other and mobilising together

We should respect the other and respect ourselves. … We should respect nature and our attitude in the street should be similar to that in our houses. We should keep the streets and nature clean. We need to respect our nature and our country. – Association member, Tunisia

Of course [the values of Egypt are better than those in other countries], because here in Egypt we are all brothers and sisters, working together and helping each other. – Woman farmer, Egypt

We find that we are working as a single team to contain the [climate] crisis and searchfor solutions. – University student, Mauritania

In all three countries, values associated with social solidarity (helping each other, building commu- nity, mutual respect) came through strongly. In Tunisia, for example, many participants talked about respect — for oneself, for each other and for the environment. In Mauritania, the importance of جدعنة hospitality was often mentioned, and in Egypt the most frequently mentioned value was (Gad’a’na), which translates as a combination of helping someone during their time of need and trustworthiness.

Public engagement drawing on these powerful values, as well as on the idea of helping one another in times of difficulty, is likely to be effective. The values of social solidarity, mutual responsibility and kinship among Muslims are also highlighted in the Islamic faith. Communicators could use key words like togetherness, support, respect, solidarity and community in response to the climate change challenge.

In Mauritania, the idea of ‘mobilising together’ also came through strongly. Previous research in India suggests people with a high sense of ‘collective efficacy’ — a belief in the ability of their community to take action together — are more likely to participate in community activities enabling them to adapt to climate change.55

20 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 6 Provide people with actions they can take

I liked statements that were telling me what to do, not just stating a problem. What’s the point of telling me the problem? Tell me what to do instead that’s right. Maybe even tell me in my context how I can be part of a positive impact. – University student, Egypt

In a number of narrative workshops in this study, particularly in Egypt, people who did not know much about climate change were keen to find out more, not just about the problem but about what they could personally do about it.

Research on climate engagement in the West consistently points to the importance of combining negative information about the impacts of climate change with positive solutions and a sense of what people can personally do in response.54,56 People can change their behaviour in response to frightening information about a threat if they feel able to deal with it in some way, but can lead to extremely defensive reactions if they feel unable to do anything about it.57 Even taking small actions in their personal life can make it easier for people to engage with and talk about climate change on a day-to-day basis.58

In cultures where people are excluded from decision making processes or where they are living through political disruption, this may present a challenge to climate advocates. More creative work may be needed to create movements, campaigns and communities of adaptation to empower people to engage with the challenge of climate change.

7 Use simple, direct language, such as ‘clean’ and ‘polluting’ energy

I think then, based on what you said, the more we utilise these types of ‘clean’ energy, we reduce the negative effects on the environment and increase our efficiency/reduce our cost. – Tourism worker, Egypt

It’s clear you are bringing us today a lot of things that we do not know. – Farmer, Egypt, in a discussion about renewable energy

Across the narrative workshops, the term ‘renewable energy’ was a sometimes misunderstood and often challenging term seen as outside people’s experience and expertise. The usage of simple polluting’ or ‘damaging’ was more effective than technical terms like‘ ,’نظيفة – words such as ‘clean ‘renewable energy’.

This demonstrates the need to avoid jargon and to use simple and inspiring language that people can easily engage with, particularly with audiences who have not had access to high levels of formal education. This language can be used as a starting point to encourage deeper engagement and learning about the specifics of the topic — for example different sorts of renewable technologies.

8 Present people as nature’s guardian

[We are the] guardian of values and lands inherited from ancestors. – Rural farmer, Mauritania, responding to the question ‘What makes you proud?’

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 21 The idea of people as nature’s guardian, inheriting land from their ancestors with the responsibility to care for it, came through in the workshops in Mauritania, particularly from rural farmers. Participants, especially fishermen, farmers and the youth, appeared to value Mauritania’s natural resources.

Of the three countries studied, participants in Mauritania stated most strongly that Islamic values were a strong force in their life. The idea of having a responsibility to protect the world is a powerful idea in Islamic texts and across other faiths.59 This reinforces the finding that this messaging may be effective in other Islamic majority countries.

9 Focus on narratives around renewable energy, particularly solar power

Solar energy is the solution to generate energy all over the country. – Participant with disability, Tunisia

I think solar energy is the most important type that we should look further into, because most of the year here it’s sunny and the weather’s hot. – University student, Egypt

We are gifted with sun and wind. It should be the main energy in Mauritania. – Small business owner, Mauritania

Across all three countries’ workshops, participants expressed enthusiasm for the potential of solar power, intuitively understanding the opportunity it presents in hot countries heavily dependent on fossil fuel imports. Mauritanian participants praised their government’s plans to significantly increase renewable power production60 — one of the few times participants in the study overall were positive about their government.

This suggests that renewable energy, particularly solar, has the potential to be a major ‘carrier’ of a positive, solutions-based narrative that helps increase awareness of climate change and the available responses. Awareness raising campaigns would also give audiences the chance to discuss and distinguish between different sorts of energy and what they mean for the country.

10 Use spoken language appropriate to the audience Arabic has around 30 dialects,61 and many other major languages are spoken across the countries studied. Participants in the narrative workshops in this study spoke in Tunisian Arabic, Egyptian Arabic and in Hassania, Puular, Soninké and Wolof in Mauritania. Hassania is a dialect close to Arabic, but Puular, Soninké and Wolof are not.

This relatively limited study illustrates the enormous diversity of Arabic speaking countries and of the Arabic language itself. Classic Arabic is often used in formal situations, for example by the media and in political speeches, literature, religious sermons and some education settings, but international communicators should remember that communications written in classic Arabic may not be understood by the vast majority of Arabic speaking populations.

More fundamentally, the language of climate change itself needs to be reformulated into words and expressions that reflect the day-to-day lives of millions of people experiencing its effects. As just for (تغير املناخ) ’one example, some participants misunderstood the Arabic term for ‘climate change natural fluctuations in the weather, illustrating the need for Arabic speakers to find language that more directly expresses the nature of the problem.

22 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Approaches to test further, use carefully or avoid

USE WITH CARE and TEST FURTHER Faith-based messaging

Islam is the prevalent religion in the three countries studied. Its values and ethics have a deep impact on cultural attitudes and social norms even among more secular societies, and people’s responses to conversations about climate change were inevitably interwoven with those values.43

This research, however, also illustrates the many different ways that faith is embedded in people’s lives and the dangers of making assumptions without a full understanding of how that is reflected in culture and attitudes.

For audiences with a strong faith identity, faith-based messaging will be entirely appropriate and climate communications that openly quote sacred sources or senior faith figures are likely to be influential.

Mauritania, for example, is an official Islamic Republic, and only Muslims can be designated as citizens.62 Almost all of the participants in Mauritania described the Islamic faith as an important value guiding their lives and a key component of the national identity, and faith-based language is likely to be more influential in Mauritania.

In Egypt, some participants explicitly referenced the role of faith in their lives. In other Egyptian workshops, however, participants made religious references but religion did not play a significant part in the discussion; nor did participants directly attribute their values or the decisions they made in life to their faith. In some cases, participants from more formally educated audiences in urban areas actively resisted the idea of using religious language as a part of the climate narrative, viewing it as manipulative or inappropriate:

Also, stop using the phrase grace or blessing, because this has negatively affected the way I viewed things in the document. They are trying to simplify everything, even though the normal person can tell from the start that it’s much more complicated. – University student, responding to faith-based messaging in Egypt

In Tunisia, implementation of Islamic societal and legal principles is less stringent than in other Islamic majority countries, and participants made few explicit references to their faith.59

The results from the narrative workshops also illustrated the potential tensions in climate change advocacy in countries of Islamic faith. In Mauritania, for example, a handful of participants (mostly in the fisherman and rural farmer narrative workshops) viewed climate change as a punishment from God:

It’s God’s punishment, humans have no control on it. – Rural farmer, Mauritania

In Egypt, some participants dismissed the threat of climate change because it came from God and was not, therefore, something they could influence:

We are definitely not worried. These are things that God is in charge of. If things will change for the better or worse, who cares, we will still adapt. This is how we lived for the past hundreds of years. – Fisherman, Egypt

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 23 This tension was also evident elsewhere, for example in the following quotation from a Tunisian workshop:

When the weather is arid and rain is not enough, it is God’s will, but we should adapt ourselves to it. However, climate change is different because it is not natural and can be very dangerous. – Participant with disability, Tunisia

There is a complex debate within Islam regarding the relationship between fate and free will, and whether it is better to take a passive or active attitude towards events in the future.43 While this has been discussed among climate advocates, it does not appear to have been fully explored in research. The authors suggest a major Islamic movement would need to address this dichotomy, motivating people of faith to take action in a way that fits with their beliefs and values. Further research is also needed to explore more deeply the relationship between the values of the Islamic faith and climate change engagement. AVOID The language of personal responsibility and blame

This is pointing the finger at me as an individual, when I didn’t really cause this. – Egyptian participant

We feel like it’s a Western agenda far from our main concerns. – Union member, Mauritania

In Egypt and Tunisia, participants strongly disliked narratives that implied or stated people from their country had a role in causing climate change.

Group members reacted negatively to statements such as “our greed for material things [is to blame]” and “through our ignorance, arrogance and greed, we have damaged the gift, harmed the earth and broken our relationship with creation.”

In previous Climate Outreach research, people of Muslim faith welcomed language condemning arrogance, greed and waste, and accepted — with some reservations — criticisms of greed and consumption.59 This testing, however, was undertaken with people living in the UK. In Mauritania, many participants highlighted that climate change is a problem created by the rich world.

All three focus countries have had a relatively small role in global climate change, yet they are likely to be disproportionately impacted by it. Public engagement from climate advocates, particularly those that aim to influence people’s personal lifestyles, needs to be sensitive to this and respectful of the position.

In previous research regarding responses to visual imagery of climate change in the UK and Germany, people responded better to images of climate causes at scale — an image of a traffic jam rather than a car, for example.63 This may be one way to approach conversations around individual and collective action in this context.

24 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project TEST FURTHER Ways in which personal values influence beliefs and behaviour

According to a wide body of evidence, people’s personal values are fundamental to their identity and play a central role in shaping how they respond to messages about climate change and decarbonisation. This is true in different countries and cultures around the world.51,64,65

A 2020 study, however, found that in Egypt personal experience was the strongest predictor of climate change risk perception, and that values orientation was the weakest predictor — considerably weaker than in similar studies in a Western context.21 This could have been due to methodological issues, or it could suggest that other factors (such as political ideology or trust in experts or political institutions) may have a stronger influence in Egypt.

In this study, research facilitators and participants in both Egypt and Mauritania expressed discomfort with the idea of talking about their values in a public forum, viewing it as a personal topic not suitable for open discussion. In a few cases facilitators did not even bring it up, as they felt uncomfortable doing so. This may reflect a collectivist culture43 where personal values are less easily discussed than in the Western context where the methodology was developed, or worries that a researcher in a position of authority may have an unknowable or suspicious agenda. Future researchers could explore this area.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 25 Country-specific themes

Some particular themes emerged strongly from the narrative work within each country. If used in language about climate change, they are likely to enrich the language used and to increase the chance of engaging the citizens of that country.

Specific themes in Tunisia

Openness and honesty

Many participants in Tunisia valued openness and honesty highly. They saw being open to learning new information, developing oneself and accepting opposing points of view as respectful acts and even as a responsibility. Many also disliked dishonesty, political language and the idea that the government was failing to uphold its environmental laws. Language appealing to authenticity and honesty is likely to be effective as a starting point for enhancing awareness among Tunisians about the future impacts of climate change.

A democratic, free and progressive country

Tunisia has put significantly more emphasis on equality and women’s rights and freedoms than many other neighbouring countries. As the birthplace of the ‘Arab Spring’, it has also made a transition to democracy and is one of the most democratic countries in the Arab world. These developments were clearly important to the participants in this study. People across many different narrative workshops expressed pride in a Tunisian culture of democracy, freedom and women’s rights, understanding them as achievements distinguishing Tunisia from other countries.

Harmony and peace

Participants in the research also talked about the Tunisian people as harmonious, compassionate and cooperative. They expressed pride in Tunisia as a peaceful nation. Language that speaks to these values is likely to be powerful.

A good international reputation

Participants in the narrative workshops appeared to value Tunisia’s international reputation, often taking an external view of their country as a source of pride. Many of the participants readily engaged in comparisons (both positive and negative) with other countries, both regionally (within WANA) and beyond. Tunisian values, intelligence and competence on the world stage were all discussed in positive terms.

26 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Specific themes in Egypt

Climate change as part of a shared national journey

The research revealed that many Egyptian participants had a complex relationship with their national identity, suggesting that narratives making assumptions regarding people’s identity or pride in being Egyptian have the potential to backfire. At the same time, people of different backgrounds and ages expressed a sense of pride in Egypt’s long and diverse history, suggesting that Egyptians may share a collective identity based on the depth of their history. Climate communicators may therefore benefit from addressing climate change as a new development on that journey.

Awareness raising: the lowest understanding, and the greatest calls for more input

Across the three countries, Egyptians demonstrated the lowest levels of understanding of climate change. At the same time, many group participants clearly requested more informa- tion and more awareness raising about climate change. This suggests that awareness raising campaigns in Egypt have the potential to be successful and should be given a high priority.

Care with politicised language

Egyptian participants tended to prefer language that was not seen as political, and in some cases they did not trust positive statements made about the performance of the country or of the government.

Specific themes in Mauritania

Multiculturalism and diversity

Many participants were proud of the multiculturalism of Mauritania and brought it up in discussions of their values.

Traditional values and knowledge systems

Participants from the different focus groups were attracted by the idea of simple and practical living according to Bedouin traditions. Some of the participants acknowledged the importance of their traditional knowledge systems, which can be drawn upon in order to cope with the impacts of climate change.

Guardians of the natural world

Participants, especially fishermen, farmers and the youth, appeared to value Mauritania’s natural resources. For the rural farmers in particular, the notion of inheriting the land from one’s ancestors seemed to bring about a sense of responsibility to act as nature’s guardian.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 27 Tunisia Case study: Tunisia

Authors: Robin Webster, Susie Wang, George Marshall and Achref Chibani

About Earth Hour Tunisia Created in April 2015, Earth Hour Tunisia is an environmental non-profit association whose main objectives are protecting nature and environment. Earth Hour Tunisia works to raise awareness of the need to reduce energy consumption and to protect biodiversity as ways to fight climate change.

National partners

Marroua Languer from The Association for Development and These organisations were the local Environment of El Kram (ADEK), Amyne Khouni from The partners for the project: Association for Environment and Development of Soliman (AEDS), Rayhane Zayani from The Association for protecting Maâmoura Littoral (APLM), Ahmed Kochtane and Islem Ben Maouia from the Tunisian Association for the Protection of Nature and Environment of Korba (ATPNE), Marwa Fatnassi from the Association for safeguarding wetlands of southern Tunisia (ASZHST), Abdelmajid Kachkouch from the Association for the Safeguarding of Djerba (ASSIDJE), Sami Aoun from the Association for Environment Protection in Dhehiba (APED), Itaf Chebbi from La Ruche de la citoyenneté active - Tozeur and Haifa Ammar from The Association for Environment Protection and Sustainable Development of El

Guettar (AEDDG). Tunisian partners. Photo: © Climate Outreach

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 29 Key findings

Build awareness of the causes and impacts of climate change

Participants in this research were well aware of the changes already occurring around them as a result of changing temperatures, in addition to other environmental damage like poor waste management and industrial pollution. Few people, however, linked human actions to rising temperatures directly and many participants were not clear which human activities contribute to climate change.

Highlight the changes to the seasons

Participants in the workshops showed high awareness of the day-to-day impacts of climate change including rising temperatures, droughts, floods and different fish species in the sea. Members of all groups agreed that climate change would affect their lives personally.

Use local pollution as a starting point to engagement on climate change

Tunisians are experiencing significant environmental problems, including poor waste management, air pollution, an eroding coastline and increasing desertification, and participants in this research were very aware of this. Tunisians’ strong sense of local environmental issues could be linked to the wider global concerns of climate change, using them as an entry point for awareness raising about its causes.

Emphasise the need to be open and honest

In this research, many participants valued openness and honesty highly. They saw being open to learning new information, developing oneself and accepting opposing points of view as respectful acts and even as a responsibility. Many also disliked dishonesty, political language and the idea that the government is failing to uphold its environmental laws. Language that appeals to authenticity and honesty is likely to be effective as a starting point for educating Tunisians about the future impacts of climate change.

Talk about balance and harmony

Group members talked about the Tunisian people as harmonious, compassionate and cooperative and saw perseverance as a positive attribute. They expressed pride in Tunisia as a peaceful nation, able to come together in a time of crisis. Previous Climate Outreach research also suggests that connectedness is a major narrative for people of Islamic faith. The idea that climate change is disrupting the natural balance of the world could also provide an effective starting point in communicating climate change with Islamic audiences in Tunisia.66,67

Focus on food and health

Food is a big part of Tunisian culture. Some participants commented that people are noticing how the quality, affordability and type of food they are eating has changed and worry about what this will mean for people’s health. Making the connection between food as a source of pride and identity and the ways in which a changing climate could affect crops and food security is likely to resonate.

30 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Use national pride and determination as a starting point

People participating in this research were proud to be Tunisians and are very driven to improve their country. Many spoke of Tunisia as a democratic, free and progressive country that is ahead of other Arabic-speaking countries on key issues such as women’s rights. Another way to frame the causes of climate change may be to draw on issues of global inequality and the need for Tunisia to be respected as it deserves.

Talk about solar

Almost all discussions in the narrative workshops about renewable energy centred around solar power. Participants were frustrated by the government’s inability to create solar projects and concerned about the price of electricity. Tunisia has the opportunity to tap into a natural, free and abundant resource that can rejuvenate its economy.

Emphasise that people are struggling and this is a way of making a difference

In the groups, inequality, unemployment and economic crises were cited as problems Tunisians face in the present and anticipate in the future. Young people and rural women in particular expressed fears and concerns that they would not be able to find a job. Climate communications should not ignore these concerns.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 31 Country profile

Tunisia, officially termed the Tunisian Republic, is a small country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by Algeria, Libya and the Mediterranean Sea. It is the northernmost country of Africa and has a population of 11.8 million people.

The north of Tunisia is mountainous, with a Mediterranean climate. The south is semi-arid, becoming arid desert closer to the Sahara Desert in the south.68 The capital, Tunis, is located along the Mediterranean coast. Along its eastern Mediterranean coast, Tunisia has a fertile coastal plain called the Sahel, which is famous for its olives. Tunisia is sometimes affectionately known as ‘Green Tunisia’ because of its fertile, diverse landscapes.

Recorded evidence of Tunisia’s history extends back over 6000 years. Amazigh communities practiced a wealth of agricultural, spiritual and cultural practices thousands of years before the arrival of Phoenician, Hellenic, Roman, Arabian and Islamic influences.69 The region was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in the sixteenth century and Tunisia became a French protectorate in the late nineteenth century. Tunisia achieved independence from France in 1956 and was subsequently ruled by just two presidents between 1956 and 2011.

99% of Tunisia’s population is Muslim.70 It has Jewish and Christian minorities and a small population of Amazigh — a people indigenous to North Africa since ancient times. Unlike other countries in the region, Tunisia has no major sectarian tensions. Roughly two-thirds of the population live in urban areas.71

Agriculture is an important industry in Tunisia, representing about 10% of GDP.72 About 15% of the workforce is employed in the sector,73 which plays a crucial role in Tunisia’s economic growth.74 In 2019, Tunisia’s record 9.5 million tourists accounted for about 14% of GDP, according to the industry75 — but according to media reports in 2020 the number of tourists dropped by 80% as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.76

32 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Tunisian locals. Photo: David Stanley (CC BY 2.0) Tunisia’s implementation of Islamic societal and legal principles is less stringent than other Islamic majority countries. The country’s first leader after independence, Habib Bourguiba, enacted a code that advanced women’s rights beyond where they stand now in many other Arab countries.77 Today, more Tunisian women are enrolled in secondary schools and universities than men. Despite the fact that Tunisia was ruled as a one-party state for more than five decades, it also has a robust tradition of civil society engagement.78

Tunisia has been widely praised for a successful transition to democracy.79 In 2011, Tunisian fruit seller Mohammed Bouazizi died after setting himself on fire in protest at police ill-treatment, sparking protests against corruption, low wages and high unemployment that developed into a 28-day campaign of civil resistance and overthrew the one-party ruling state.80 The protests in Tunisia sparked the ‘Arab spring’ across the region.

The country has nevertheless suffered economically since the revolution. Unemployment levels stood at 15% in 2019,81 rising to 16.7% in 2020 as a result of the pandemic.82 Overall, the economy shrunk by 9% in 2020.83 In a survey in late 2019, 80% of Tunisians expressed a lack of confidence in their rulers and 85% had little confidence in the future.84,85 In 2021, ongoing protests increased in response to the worsening economic situation.

Engagement in civic life is also reducing.87 In one recent survey, about a fifth of Tunisian respondents said they had got together with others to raise an issue during the previous year, though increasing numbers said they would do so ‘if they had the chance’.88 There was a significantly reduced turnout in 2019 Presidential election compared to 2011.89 Climate change in Tunisia: current impacts and future projections

Tunisia is already experiencing the impacts of climate change. Temperatures have been rising significantly faster than the world average for several decades.90 Rainfall has also decreased in Tunisia, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.91 A drought that lasted several years in the early 2000s was deemed the most severe since the fifteenth century.92,93 In 2018, temperatures reached 49.3°C in western Tunisia,94 well beyond the threshold for ‘deadly’ heat.95 At the same time, heavy rainfall caused unprecedented floods in northern Tunisian cities.96,97

In the future, Tunisia is likely to experience much greater effects.

Heat

The WANA region is likely to become a hotspot for extreme heat, drought and aridity.8 As climate change accelerates, temperatures in Tunisia will continue to rise and rainfall will continue to decline over the coming decades.98 If global temperatures rise by 2°C, summer temperatures in this region could more than double. By 2050, daytime temperatures could rise to 46°C on the hottest days, making parts of the region uninhabitable.10

Agriculture

Cereals remain very important for human and livestock domestic consumption in Tunisia,99 but the annual wheat growing period, for example, is expected to shorten by 10–30 days, depending on how high temperatures rise.8 The Tunisian government projects that Tunisia’s agricultural area could reduce by 30% as a result of climate change by 2030.100

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 33 Woman weeding seedling in green house in Kairouan, Tunisia. Photo: Mounir Louhaichi (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Climate change is also likely to have a significant impact on the olive oil industry.101 While erratic weather is already affecting olive oil harvests worldwide,102 nearly all Tunisia’s olive oil trees (80%) are fed by rainwater, making them especially vulnerable.103 As the third largest exporter of olive oil in the world,104 olives are Tunisia’s most important agricultural export.105

Water

Water scarcity and water poverty are already problems in Tunisia.106 Further reduction in rainfall in Tunisia is very likely, particularly in the north of the country. This is likely to reduce water resources.107 According to one projection, water availability in Tunisia could decline by up to 28% by 2030.108

Sea level rise, flooding and tourism

Sea level rise could lead to 250,000 people every year being flooded in Tunisia if temperatures rise by 2°C, according to one projection; as many as 800,000 people may be flooded every year if temperatures rise by 4°C.8 Tunisia’s coast is extremely vulnerable and the Tunisian government estimates that the country could lose 36,000 jobs from the tourism and agriculture industries over the next 30 years as a result of rising sea levels, as well as suffering US $2 billion in losses from damaged infrastructure.109,110

34 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Interacting impacts

Multiple sectors — tourism, agriculture, infrastructure, energy and health — could be affected.111 This means that the government would be dealing, not simply with one problem, but with many, leading to more significant impacts than anticipated.112 Government policy on energy and climate change

Tunisia has a relatively high stated level of political commitment to tackling climate change. The Tunisian post-revolution constitution was only the third in the world to include a legal commitment to tackling climate change and its impacts.113 The constitution says the state shall ‘contribute to the protection of the climate … for future generations’ and ‘provide the necessary means to eliminate environmental pollution.’114

In its submission to the Paris Climate Change Agreement, the Tunisian government committed to reducing carbon intensity by 41% by 2030.115 The first 13% of its target is unconditional and the remainder depends on financial support from the international community.116

A state monopoly energy company (STEG) supplies Tunisia’s energy. Until the 2011 revolution, Tunisia’s energy system was largely self-sufficient. Since the revolution, however, the system has suffered from a lack of investment.117

Despite being a small oil and gas producer, Tunisia now imports a significant amount of its energy.15 In 2017, Tunisia imported nearly half of its energy and the figure is rising, reducing the country’s energy security.16 The vast majority of its electricity comes from gas,17 which is mostly imported from Algeria.18 Relying on imports has meant that electricity is vulnerable to price fluctuations and the depreciation of the Tunisian dinar against the dollar.118

In 2016, Tunisia sourced 3% of its electricity from renewables, but the government is planning to scale up the sector significantly. It has committed to increasing the share of renewables (wind and solar) in the electricity mix to 30% by 2030.119-122 Climate change awareness in Tunisia

Limited scientific and official research exists exploring perceptions of climate change in Tunisia and in-country researchers have access to limited resources. In a 2013 survey of around 1,000 people123 based on face-to-face interviews, 62% of respondents identified climate change as a major threat to Tunisia. By 2017, this had fallen to 44%.

It is not clear why this fall in public concern took place. The rise of terrorism as a major concern in Tunisia over the same period, combined with economic troubles, may provide an explanation. In 2015, Tunisia was the subject of a serious and high-profile terrorist attack.124

Tunisians are also concerned about environmental problems more generally. In a separate survey in 2017, 14% of respondents identified environmental problems as the biggest problem in their community — the second most frequently chosen issue after ‘economic problems’. 46% said they were ‘very unsatisfied’ with how the government was managing environmental protection.125 Tunisians identify waste management and industrial pollution as the most important environmental issues facing the country.126

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 35 A proposal for a successful Tunisian narrative

The narratives below are constructed from three sources, colour-coded as follows.

Tested text: The unmarked text was tested in test narratives in the narrative workshops and was consistently liked by participants (see appendix for details of method). Quotations from participants: These contain the exact language of participants and therefore reflect their own attitudes. New composition: This is language constructed by the researchers, drawing on conversations in the workshops or added to create a coherent narrative.

Although this language is tested and could be used directly in communications, it still lacks the detail and freshness needed for good engagement. Effective communications could take these themes as a starting point and build on them with examples, images and stories told through trusted communicators. Narrative: the problem

This sense of things The weather is out of balance (mīzān). It is not normal: being out of balance is it is strange and weird. The seasons no longer come For all groups the widely understood. at the right time. We used to have four clear seasons, change in seasons but now we only have two seasons, which are winter was a key indicator of and summer. climate change.

Scientists predict that these impacts will continue to increase. Drought could dry up our oasis and destroy our Food and agriculture are an important part dates and olive industries. This will threaten the Tunisian of national identity so crops that are such an important part of our culture and specific impacts should the foods we love. The Sahara Desert is marching north be emphasised. at 50 kilometres a year and our farmland is turning into desert.

Each year we get more severe flash floods – recently Use recent examples. Few people are aware of in Siliana, Bizerte, and in 2018 in Nabeul. Over time sea Flooding and drought the potential impact on were the main risks tourism which employs level will rise, threatening all of our coastal regions and identified by participants. 400,000 people. our tourist industry.

It is the most vulnerable people – children, elderly, sick and disabled – who suffer the worst health impacts of these increased temperatures and extreme weather.

In Tunisia, we always cooperate with each other and Draw on specific examples and stories help each other in natural disasters. We respect our of mutual support. elderly and care for our children and families. We are proud of our culture. So we need to prepare for these impacts, protect the people we love and defend our way of life, and restore the natural balance.

36 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Narrative: the cause

There is a low level of Scientists say the weather is changing because of the Be careful using this public understanding pollution people and industry all around the world put argument: on the one of the causes of climate into the air, especially the pollution from burning oil, hand people agree, and change. Communicators including climate change will need to explain the coal and gas for energy and vehicles. in wider arguments connections between of social justice could burning dirty fuels and It is not fair that the richest people should produce the mobilise people. climate change. most pollution when the poorest people will be worst However, it could affected by climate change. People around the world also feed into a sense should respect each other and work together. Tunisia of victimisation and should do everything that it can and the rich countries support inactivity. So must play their part and provide funds and technology judge your audience when you decide to help us develop our solar energy and adapt to the whether to use this. impacts of climate change.

Narrative: the moral arguments for action Although there are many economic and environmental This language The natural world is a precious gift (Ni’mat), but we arguments for action, consistently performs have damaged that gift, harmed the Earth and broken people respond most strongly with Muslims our relationship with creation. strongly to arguments and Islamic cultures. based on values and We need to respect our nature and our country. Our moral principles. attitude to nature should be similar to the attitude we have to our houses. We should keep nature clean. We should be the khalifah of Creation. We are all connected to the natural world, to the water and to the air, and we Most participants mentioned honesty as are connected to each other. a core value. Language around honesty, reality We should talk about the reality: this is a big problem. and telling the truth is We need to be honest about this problem and the therefore compelling. challenges.

The people are aware of this problem but the state is Participants frequently not. The government needs to face up to the problem expressed frustration and be open, accountable and honest. It needs to with the lack of government action. enforce its laws and demand action by companies. Reducing waste is Local governments and communities need to work a good entry point for personal lifestyle together to make a transition to clean energy and we action and consistently all need to look at our own lifestyles. We can start by approved in Islamic and avoiding waste (israf). Surely we can all agree on that? traditional cultures. If we need to make sacrifices, we will do so as our duty to care for the world we inherited from our ancestors and pass it on to our children. We don’t need to shout about it, though. We can do it modestly through our This language consistently performs actions, live in moderation, taking from the world what well in Islamic cultures. we need but not everything we desire. People are concerned about social divisions and the decline of If we take action on climate change we can come common values. The together, and find ways to lead better, simpler and more argument that action fulfilling lives. on climate change can bring people together could be central to communications.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 37 Narrative: the opportunities of clean energy Hard work and In Tunisia we are hardworking, so we can persevere and perseverance were find positive solutions to these problems. seen as national Emphasise the national characteristics. element: these are Tunisia should find its own way instead of trying to be Tunisian solutions by like Europe. We can lead the way in our region. People aspired to Tunisians for Tunisians. regional leadership The main solution will be moving away from burning rather than global the dirty fuels that cause climate change and making a leadership. The idea of a clean environment was transition to clean renewable energy. repeated in the conversations. Every year we send 6 billion dinar out of the country The cost of energy to pay for the oil, gas and coal we import. Then when imports and dependence were both we burn these dirty fuels the air pollution changes the mentioned in groups. climate. Note also that people often expressed But this doesn’t make sense! frustration with the lack of action. Tunisia has plenty of natural resources. We have everything we need here. But we are not making good use of them. We have unlimited amounts of free natural sunlight and wind that could generate clean energy to It can help to add figures here — for meet all our needs. Solar is perfectly matched to our example that regions energy needs, providing the greatest output in the in the south have 300 summer when our energy system is pushed to breaking days of sun per year. point.

By using renewable energy, Tunisia will save a lot of money. If we do not import energy, just think what we could do with that 6 billion dinar to improve the health, education and opportunities for our people.

People were proud of Because the sun shines everywhere we can generate Tunisian democracy power everywhere, in every region, town and village. and liked this Although people like messaging. Shouldn’t an independent democracy like Tunisia have the idea of new jobs, an independent and democratic energy supply-sharing they may be sceptical income across all our people? when they cannot see them in reality. So use If we developed this clean natural energy, we could specific examples and talk about the potential Generating new provide thousands of jobs, create new business in different sectors. sources of income was opportunities and generate new income for communities a concern for many participants. and farmers.

38 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Values

In the first part of the narrative workshops people were asked about their values and identity: what they liked and disliked, their core values and what made them proud and different from other groups. The words they used to describe themselves with provided keywords for shaping climate communications.

Respect

The most frequently mentioned value across all groups was ‘respect’. The concept of respect was used in many different ways, from respecting one another to respecting the time, but all groups agreed it is a central societal value. Students and association members (APLM) talked about respect in terms of being open to criticism and accepting differences, and wanted their own perspectives respected by others.

The most important thing is respect and the respect of my ideas and values. … I don’t want people to play with my ideas and emotions. – School student

Respecting everyone no matter what his social class or beliefs are. – School student

I am proud that I am Tunisian because we are diverse. We respect everything and we respect nothing but this depends on the person. – Association member, APLM

Mentions of respect were extended to nature and the environment and even connected to the Tunisian identity and sense of place.

There are people who live in Tunisia but who don’t have any sense of belonging; belonging means respecting the environment and the nature of this country. – Association member, ATPNE

For cleanness, for example, in my association we tried to do cleaning campaigns but people did not respect that and they didn’t keep the city clean. – Association member, APLM

Pollution and disrespect for wet areas, for example using the area of Solimane as trash. – School student

We should respect the other and respect ourselves. … We should respect nature and our attitude in the street should be similar to that in our houses. We should keep the streets and nature clean. We need to respect our nature and our country. – Association member, ATPNE

The concept of respect was also often tied to statements about ethics, discipline and service to the country. Participants in some of the groups also perceived respect as declining.

After being active in civil society, I became more aware and more respectful of my country. – Association member, ATPNE

Respect: there used to be respect but it is no longer the case. – Craftsman

Youth now are no longer respecting anything. – Craftsman

Discipline: if we are disciplined and punctual, we can improve. – Association member, APLM

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 39 Shopkeeper and goods, Tunisia. Photo: Taha Loukil Helping and harmony

Participants in the Narrative workshops also talked about the Tunisian people as harmonious, compassionate and cooperative. They expressed pride in Tunisia as a peaceful nation.

I am proud that the Tunisian people are harmonious, although we have different ethnicities. – Association member, APLM

Altruism, volunteering and helping others tended to be raised in Narrative workshops by people from older generations: association members, craftsmen and rural women.

The most important value for me is that we should cooperate with each other and we should not envy each other. –Fisherman

I like those who help others without waiting for anything in return. – Rural woman

Youth in Tunisia prefer sleeping or going to coffee shops rather than volunteering. – Association member, APLM

40 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Honesty and openness to criticism

In the workshops, participants tied honesty and openness closely to respect. Both values were strongly endorsed by association members in particular, but were also mentioned in other narrative workshops (students, the disabled, craftsmen). Participants perceived being open to learning new information, developing oneself and accepting opposing points of view as respectful acts, and even as a responsibility.

I think that responsibility should be associated with honesty. – Association member, APED

Open-mindedness [means] that you accept criticism. – Association member, APLM

It is important to respect others when we are honest and to choose the right words. I accept honesty with respect and without hurting people. – Association member, APLM

Honesty … will help us to progress. – University student

We should not take honesty in the way of looking for conflicts, but we should take it as a reality. We should say the reality so that the person who needs this reality makes a good decision. – Association member, APLM

Positivity and perseverance

Many group members highlighted optimism/positivity and perseverance as values that are important to them. These concepts are related because the participants were not describing being ‘blind’ or silent to the faults of others as a positive attribute, but rather helping them improve by offering critique and encouraging perseverance.

I like optimistic persons who give you positive vibes when you talk to them. They don’t bring you down. For example, there are people who would tell me that I am an old person and that it is useless for me to attend this discussion. We should not be afraid of what people may say. – Rural woman

I don’t like negative people who put me down and tell me that I can’t do [something]. – School student

I want them to be positive even when you commit a mistake; they should criticise you positively instead of being negative. – Association member, APLM

People in different groups were proud of perseverance and patience in the face of adversity.

The most important thing is to try. We cannot reach our dreams if there are no obstacles and no failure. – Participant with disability

I should be very patient with the client and I shouldn’t get angry if he doesn’t buy anything. If we are not patient, we cannot work. – Craftsman

I am proud of myself because I persevere. I quit university but here I am, a student again after years of absence. What is different between me and other students is that I am a mother and a student at the same time. – University student

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 41 Key themes in communicating climate change in Tunisia

Tunisia finding its own way on the global stage

Participants in the narrative workshops appeared to value Tunisia’s international reputation, often taking an external view of their country as a source of pride.

Many other countries wish to be Tunisian. – University student

Living outside Tunisia made me proud to be Tunisian. – University student

Even Europeans say “I recruited a Tunisian” and they are proud. – Association member, APLM

Many of the participants readily engaged in comparison (both positive and negative) with other countries, both regionally and beyond. Tunisian values, intelligence and competence on the world stage were all discussed in positive terms.

I think that Tunisian people are smart and they are a pride in the whole world. We have many competent Tunisians all over the world holding important positions; they are engineers, doctors… – University student

I think that 20% of NASA employees are Tunisian and I am proud of this. – Rural woman Tunisia is the first Arab country that did the revolution. – University student All over the Arab countries, the most respectful people are Tunisians and the most hardworking are Tunisians. Tunisians are harmonious. … I want you to be proud that you are Tunisian. – Association member, APLM

Some people, however, also expressed pessimism when comparing Tunisia with countries they perceive to be doing better economically, or while reflecting on Tunisia’s economic circumstances more generally. There were many upward comparisons with countries that were perceived to be doing better, especially countries that had come from a low level of economic development.

I am pessimistic when I compare my country to Singapore or Rwanda. They had nothing but now they are one of the most important tourist destinations in the world. – Association member, APLM I am a pessimist because, when I see countries like Germany and South Africa, they were nothing but now they have reached an advanced economic level and growth. – Association member, APLM Twenty years ago, Moroccans used to come and work in Tunisia, but now they surpass us on several levels. – Association member, APLM

Participants were interested in Tunisia’s standing in the world but appeared to seek self-definition and achievement, rather than copying others. One participant remarked that, instead of mimicking other countries, Tunisia should find its own way.

We should think about what Tunisians want instead of trying to be like Europe. – Association member, APLM

42 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Outward patriotism, inward appraisals: trusted messengers

The groups were willing to criticise Tunisian culture, leadership and economic status, but participants also said they would be positive about the country to non-Tunisians. This suggests that, if a message is critical of Tunisia’s actions, it should be perceived as coming from an insider or a Tunisian voice.

Yes, when I talk with a Tunisian, I criticise the country. But when I talk about my country with a foreigner, I make him feel that Tunisia is a paradise. – Association member, APLM I feel bad when I see that there are no equal opportunities for the disabled in my country. … I show the foreigners that I am proud of my country but when I am here I doubt my pride. – Participant with disability

Overall, participants in the narrative workshops were honest and critical about the country’s shortcomings, but also expressed pride in their country and a drive to improve it. Pride did not lead them to sugarcoat the faults that they saw and statements of pride were often tempered with concerns and disappointment about the state of the country.

I am proud of belonging to Tunisia, despite its bad system. It is like being proud to belong to your family, for example. – Association member, ATPNE I will say that I’m proud of being Tunisian when we will have less unemployment. But now, I’m not proud. – Rural woman The feeling of citizenship, that I love my country and that I want to be an active citizen. – School student Whatever happens and no matter how many obstacles I face, I will always love Tunisia and do my best to find a way. – Participant with disability

This suggests that patriotism, coupled with honest critique of Tunisia (from an ingroup member), may be effective in climate communications.

Tunisians are patriotic on the inside. They just need motivation and they need someone to push them to make efforts. – Association member, ATPNE If we apply the law, we will be the best country in the world. – Association member, ATPNE

A democratic, free and progressive country

People across many different narrative workshops expressed pride in a Tunisian culture of democracy, freedom and women’s rights, understanding them as achievements distinguishing Tunisia from other countries in the region. Despite the challenges the country faces, the perception of Tunisia as a free, democratic and progressive country is clearly important to many of its citizens and potentially a powerful part of messaging in Tunisia.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 43 Tunisia is the light in the Arab world, thanks to freedom and rights. – Association member, APED Women have started to go to school since independence and I am proud of this. – Rural woman The best thing that we gained is democracy and freedom; although we can’t see their outcome now, it takes time to see it. – Craftsman I think that we are distinguished thanks to freedom. – Rural woman Compared to other countries, we have democracy and freedom. – Civil society activist In Tunisia, we are advanced compared to other countries regarding many sectors, such as education and health. – Fisherman

Accountable, honest governance

In the workshops, however, there was tension between pride in democracy, as well as disappoint- ment about the way the new democratic governance was being implemented in practice.

The workshops were carried out between the first and second round of Tunisia’s 2019 presidential election, meaning that political issues may have been particularly prominent in the participants’ thoughts. Many were critical of the country’s development and the government’s role in running the country.

The problem starts with the parliament and how they are not doing their job. – Participant with disability I think that public schools are getting worse because of the teachers’ lack of honesty. – Civil society activist I am proud but I feel disappointed about the socio-political situation sometimes. – Association member, APED Politicians have power and they are the decision-makers. They don’t respect our trust in them and they are the only responsible party for our problems. – Rural woman If we succeed in fighting against corruption (political, economic and social), we can improve our situation and that of the next generation. – Civil society activist I think that the most dangerous thing is floods, especially when this affects the roads. When the Ministry of Education announces the cancellation of classes in times of rain, it does not mean that they are taking preventive measures but that they are avoiding responsibility. – Participant with disability

Messages that emphasise how the government is accountable to the people on climate and that it needs to be open, accountable and honest about what it is and isn’t doing are likely to be effective in this context. Coming together in a time of disruption

Tunisians have lived and are continuing to live through a time of considerable disruption, involving profound changes to their governance as well as significant social shifts and economic difficulties. This feeling of change – and the fact that the revolution has meant very different things to different people – was evident in many people’s statements.

44 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project There has been a regression in values for all the generations. There was a boom of values after the revolution but now things are going on the wrong way. – Civil society activist The social relationships are regressing. People and relatives are gathering less and less during celebrations. – Young person In the past, the family was more solid, but now we rarely meet and we are very obsessed with our smartphones. I can feel that the social bond is disappearing. – Civil society activist I had two shops before the revolution and after it only one of them remained. … My life turned upside down. We were having a decent life. Now, things have become difficult. We are thinking of the future of our children and we’re afraid of it. – Craftsman

Many participants, however, also reflected that Tunisians are able to come together in times of crisis.

I want to talk about the bright side of Tunisia, about the revolution, for example, and how people help each other in natural disasters like the floods that happened in Nabeul last year. – Association member, APLM The Tunisians and especially youth are very proud of being Tunisians. This is proven by what happened in the revolution when they were not scared and protected their neighbourhoods. I believe in youth and what they can do to improve this situation and I hope that things will get better. – Association member, ATPNE

The idea of a movement driven by the people is a powerful one for potential communication on climate change action.

Tunisian man harvesting CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 45 mussels in Bizerte Lake, Tunisia. Photo: EU/NEIGHBOURHOOD INFO (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Respecting natural resources

Participants in the groups acknowledged the natural resources that Tunisia possesses and largely expressed disapproval of people who disrespect nature. Messages tapping into the idea of respecting nature and the land may be an effective way to talk about climate change.

In Tunisia, we have everything – desert, sea, nature. I hope that everyone gets the opportunity to travel to be conscious that our country is a treasure. – Association member, APLM We have enough sun in Tunisia and the whole world is encouraging the use of solar energy. – Fisherman There is also no respect, for example those who throw their trash in the street. – Association member, APLM We have an environmental problem on the beaches. A large number of random dumps on the beaches pollute the sea water. – Association member, APED

Food!

While no one directly linked food to climate change, Tunisian food was a source of pride for people in some groups. Some also expressed concerns about increasingly processed diets and how climate can negatively affect Tunisian agriculture. Connecting food as a source of pride and identity for Tunisian people with the ways in which a changing climate could affect crops and food security may be an effective messaging strategy.

A Tunisian person asks about the ingredients of a dish before eating. – Association member, APLM Moderator question: ‘What are the things you don’t want to change in Tunisia?’ Answer: ‘Food!’ – School student Our lifestyle changed. We used to eat biological food but now we are consuming more processed food. – Association member, APED There is a difference in the quality of our crops. The agriculture is getting worse. – Rural woman The thing that has changed in a bad way is our eating culture and our consumption of processed food. I am afraid that it will lead to the appearance of new diseases in the next generation. – Association member, APED

46 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Approaches to talking about the causes of climate change

Expand awareness about the causes of climate change

One issue for climate change engagement in Tunisia may be a low awareness of the causes of climate change. Climate literacy could be improved by focusing on linking specific human actions to climate change and clarifying common misconceptions.

Our lifestyle has changed. We are using lots of air conditioners and more big buildings and this affected the weather. – Craftsman

Some group members directly pointed to human activity as the cause of climate change, describing concrete behaviours. In general, however, participants had a low understanding of the causes of climate change. They repeated misconceptions, including:

» Linking climate change to the hole in the ozone layer:

The ozone layer is getting bigger and this causes heat and increase in temperature. – Rural woman Climate change includes two aspects: natural and non-natural. The natural is the natural disorders and the non-natural is what humans caused, like the ozone hole. – Association member, APLM

» Confusing climate impacts with causes of climate change. Participants often cited impacts such as floods, pollution and desertification as causes of climate change:

I would say pollution, desertification and constructing buildings in agricultural areas.– University student

Moreover, some participants appeared to lack understanding of personal actions that contribute to emissions. When prompted to offer suggestions for how to adapt to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather, people across several groups suggested using air conditioners more, to adjust to rising heat.

We will try to use an air conditioner in case of heat. – Rural woman We would resist [climate change] by using air conditioning and drinking more water. – Association member, APED We are developing technologies to adapt to this climate change, such as air conditioning and renewable energy. – University student

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 47 While it rarely emerged without prompts from moderators, participants in the research agreed that human activity in the fossil fuel industry (coal, gas and oil) was responsible for climate change. In the student group, however, participants were also keen to highlight that there are other reasons.

I think that there are other factors like deforestation and fires happening in forests, like what happened in the Amazon. – University student This is logical, but this cannot be the main reason behind climate change. – School student I partially agree because there are other forms of pollution. – School student

Showing that particular human actions at the social and individual level are causes of climate change is important for future climate communication in Tunisia. Respect for Tunisia: global power dynamics

One way to frame climate change causes may be to draw on issues of global inequality. People from different workshops talked about exploitation and global power disparities, both in the context of the environment and more widely.

Issues of exploitation by more powerful countries resonated with many groups (students, association members and workers). Association members in particular related specific examples where more powerful countries and entities had taken advantage of the Tunisian people.

Our country doesn’t encourage smart people to work and improve the situation in their country. – Craftsman We are a poor country and our factories don’t have the means to lessen their waste. – Craftsman Strong countries like America are experimenting their projects of nuclear power in poor countries. … Poor countries are suffering from their problems and their lack of care for nature and environment. – Association member, ATPNE In the south of Tunisia near Ben Guerdene, there is a military area. Americans came to do some experiments with gas because they can’t do them in their countries. That area was supposed to host a project of solar energy. However, nothing has been done yet. – Association member, ATPNE

Similar discussions emerged spontaneously between school and university students in discussions about negative changes in the world. University students mentioned clashes between nation states, particularly power imbalances, wars and injustice, as key things they would like to change about the world.

As ‘respect’ was a key value raised by all groups, this could be described as nation states having a lack of respect for each other on the global stage. The school students’ workshop felt strongly about this.

I hate the logic of the strong and the weak, for example when a country colonises a weak one to take its resources. – School student I want people to respect each other. I want to stop wars and colonisation. – School student I want the natural resources to be gathered and distributed equally over the world. – School student I don’t like the disrespect for nature in some countries. The lack of help for poor countries. – School student

48 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Climate transition to reduce unemployment

Inequality, unemployment and economic crises were cited as problems Tunisians face in the present and anticipate in the future. Young people and rural women in particular expressed fears and concerns that they would not be able to find a job. Climate communications should not ignore these concerns.

When I have money and am in a good situation, I would be proud, but for the time being I am not proud. We are tired of knocking on the closed doors of employment. – Association member, APED I’m afraid that I won’t find a job after my long years of studies. – Rural woman There will be an economic crisis in future and I am worried about the youth. – Craftsman I hope that I will find a job to become stable. – Rural woman When I graduate, I will either not find a job or I will find a job with a low salary; I will become pessimistic. – Association member, APLM I’m afraid for the future of youth and I hope that they will be able to achieve their dreams and to improve their situation. – Rural woman

One strategy may be to discuss how climate change is likely to reduce future employment prospects. Another possibility to explore is whether climate action can be discussed as a way of addressing unemployment and other economic issues. A few participants suggested this.

I think that it would be beneficial to invest in and create job opportunities with this money and use renewable energy instead of importing energy. – University student We should value our waste and to make energy out of it. … It is our responsibility to take the initiative and make an energy revolution. We don’t like orders, so we should start to take action. – Participant with disability

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 49 Approaches to talking about the impacts of climate change

All the groups were concerned about climate change impacts. The most concerning impacts overall were heat, drought and floods. In contrast participants expressed very low concern about desertification, forced migration and immigration and sea level rise.

‘Abnormal changes to seasons’ came up spontaneously in almost all groups and appeared to be apparent to most workshop participants. This could be drawn upon in climate communications.

Now we have only two seasons, which are winter and summer. – Rural woman The seasons no longer come in time. – Fisherman Disorganisation of seasons. – Association member, APED Our grandparents said that clear and separate seasons no longer exist. – School student

Members of all groups agreed that the impacts of climate change would affect their lives personally, some in a very matter-of-fact way.

Yes, of course. – Rural women, university students

Figure 2: The most concerning impacts of climate change according to the narrative workshop participants.

50 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Heat

The topic of heat could be a powerful starting point for discussions. Participants in narrative workshops linked increasing temperatures to a range of other physical and societal climate impacts and saw it as a catalyst for other problems.

The heat will lead to the increase of sea level, floods and drought. … I think that the increase of heat is the most dangerous effect. – Association member, APLM Heatwaves because they affect trees and the individual’s psychological state. – Association member, APED Heatwaves, because they affect the elderly and infants and we are suffering from this effect in Tataouine. – Association member, APED

Drought

Despite the fact that the narrative workshops did not take place in drought-struck areas, participants were concerned about drought, especially in the south. Their concerns centred around the effect of drought on agriculture, one of the most important economic sectors in Tunisia.

However, while drought was spoken of, participants in the workshops showed a relatively low awareness of the risk of water scarcity. Fishermen were the only participants who discussed the issue of water shortages in depth, although it was raised by a few participants in other groups as well. This is a crucial issue to communicate, as Tunisians live in one of the most vulnerable regions in the world to water scarcity. Messaging around impacts of climate change could concentrate on what Tunisians may lose, both in terms of economic productivity and in terms of quality of life and water security.

In the south, the agricultural sector is very important. Thus, what bothers me the most is drought because it will cause poverty and people will lose their jobs. – Rural woman What bothers me is drought. Gabes is an arid and agricultural area. The lack of rain and drought affects our crops. – School student [Drought] will cause the shortage of drinkable water. – Fisherman

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 51 Drought in Djerba, Tunisia. Photo: thierry ben abed (CC BY-ND 2.0) Floods

Disasters like severe flooding remain in cultural memory. Many participants in both the north and the south talked about floods, particularly recent floods in Nabeul. Tunisians in this research appeared to be aware of and concerned about these serious local impacts and were beginning to make the connection to climate change.

I don’t have a big idea of climate change but what I know is that natural disasters are due to climate change and they affect our infrastructure (floods for example). – University student Floods in Tunisia. Winter in Tunisia is hellish. – School student I wrote “floods” since we lived in Nabeul last year and I saw the danger and I lived it.– Association member, APLM Stronger storms and floods, because I study in Grombalia and I can’t go back home easily when they happen. – School student

Health and societal impacts

Participants in the narrative workshops readily connected physical climate impacts to economic, societal and personal impacts. A number of people said all climate impacts worried them because of their effect on Tunisian society. Health in particular seemed to be a salient concern and a potential avenue for future climate communications.

All of them. They will have an effect on the economy, agriculture and health. – School student I am scared of all of them because they will have an effect on the economy, agriculture and health. – Rural woman There is a development of new diseases. – University student I am scared of all of them because they will have an effect on the economy, agriculture and health. – Rural woman

The group of people with disabilities did not discuss concerns about climate impacts extensively, but when they did, discussions centred on the effect that climate impacts would have on the disabled, particularly in terms of mobility and access.

This is due to the bad infrastructure and it limits the mobility of people and their safety. – Participant with disability I would say rain, floods and storms because they oblige me to cancel all my meetings. – Participant with disability

52 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Approaches to talking about renewables

Almost all of the group discussions about renewables centred around solar power and there was a lot of interest in photovoltaics. Only a few participants had installed renewable energy themselves, all using solar hot water systems.

In Tunisia, we have the sun and we can use the sun to generate energy but we are not making good use of it. – Participant with disability Solar energy is the solution to generate energy all over the country. – Participant with disability Sun is the best source of energy. – School student One participant mentioned wind energy: ‘I think that wind turbines have very bad effects on birds. – Association member, ATPNE

Table 2: Top three benefits and problems associated with renewable energy according to the narrative workshop participants.

Benefits Problems

Better for the environment Cost of installation

Reducing energy import costs State may seek to profit

Unlimited resource Lack of training/know-how

Participants agreed that the cost of implementing solar energy at an individual level was too high and that government action was inadequate. Overall, there was strong support for government action on renewable energy and readiness to act. The conversation around renewables needs to transcend immediate concerns about costs, and instead focus on energy independence and helping Tunisia to progress.

The installation of solar energy is expensive, but solar energy is free and environment friendly. I think that, by using renewable energy, Tunisia will save much money because it will reduce the importation of energy. – University student We are not looking for serious solutions for pollution and it is high time to talk about solutions. – School student We are living in a time where the people are aware, but the state is not. – Association member, APLM We have the resources but we don’t make the best use of them. – Association member, APLM It is a natural source of energy. If we start using it, we will reduce the costs of energy and save much money. However, I don’t understand why the state is not serious in implementing this project more effectively. – Association member, ATPNE

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 53 Approaches to talking with different audiences in Tunisia

Talking with older generations

One issue that resonated with people in the groups with older participants was their relationship with future generations. Talking about climate change action as a way to secure the future — of the country, of industry or simply of the next generation — may be effective for older generations in Tunisia.

The group of fishermen expressed concerns about passing on the trade and remarked how few young people wanted to take up fishing as a craft. Rural women also discussed their children and talked about their families with a lot of enthusiasm. They cited family as a key element of their daily happiness and many of the older rural women had fears and hopes for their children rather than for themselves.

We are thinking of the future of our children and we’re afraid of it. We can no longer bear this life. – Craftsman The sector is dominated by the elders and youth are reluctant. – Fisherman I am a housewife and I hope that my children will have a better future. – Rural woman I hope that I see more youth in the sector. – Fisherman Even if there is nothing to make us proud of our country, we should leave something for the future generation to be proud of the country. – Rural woman

Talking with young people

Younger people spoke about individual freedom and the celebration of differences. Students were proud of having diverse discussions with their friends, of having diverse interests and of having the ability to exercise the freedom and autonomy to study what they liked. Young people may be particularly receptive to conversations about climate change that take new and different perspectives and are respectful of differing opinions.

We should change our attitude towards people. We should accept ideas and opinions. We should not apply our opinions to everyone and to respect people the way they are. – Association member, APLM We should work on all the values that we talked about. – Association member, APLM I want to meet people who have the same mindset as me. I like the freedom of thought and freedom in everything. – School student I believe in individual freedom and freedom of thought. Each one has the right to think however he wants without caring about what people say. – School student

54 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Talking with tradespeople

The ‘worker’ or ‘tradespeople’ workshops were unique in our sample because they were people whose livelihoods depended on particular trades. Conversations about climate change with these groups should address climate impacts that affect their livelihoods.

Fishermen

The group of fishermen very quickly brought up environmental issues without any prompting from the moderator. At the very beginning of the discussion, fishermen spoke about their fears: about how the marine environment was changing and being mishandled.

I hope that there will be more control over indiscriminate fishing, they fish everything and they damage marine resources. – Fisherman I want the municipality to stop throwing waste in the sea. The sea is our capital and it is unacceptable that they pollute it. – Fisherman What scares me is the pollution of the Gulf of Gabes. – Fisherman I am afraid of the indiscriminate fishing that is damaging the situation of fishermen. – Fisherman

Fishermen expressed a high level of concern about climate change and talked about their experiences of scepticism in others they had spoken to. This is a group whose livelihoods have been directly affected by climate change, who are highly aware of the consequences and who are motivated to change things.

All of us are interested in this topic. – Fisherman

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 55 Fish being sold. Photo: Alice Harold (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) In many regions, the characteristics of global change can be clearly noticed, but I think that one of the characteristics is that the marine species are changing. The increase in the sea temperature caused the extinction of some species and the appearance of some others. – Fisherman I think that climate change affected the fish stocks. There is a change in the fish species. – Fisherman Some people say that they doubt that there is a climate change or that we are exaggerating when we talk about it. – Fisherman The sea has become infertile because of humans. – Fisherman I think that one of the characteristics is that the marine species are changing. The increase in sea temperature caused the extinction of some species and the appearance of some others. – Fisherman People say there is no drought as long as there is rain. However, they don’t know that the quantities of rain are not sufficient. – Fisherman

For climate communications in Tunisia, this story is a clear, authentic example of the devastating effects of climate change that are happening now.

56 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Women at work in Djerba, Tunisia. Photo: Roberto Faccenda (CC BY-SA 2.0) Craftsmen

Like the fishermen, craftsmen were primarily concerned about the negative impacts that environmental changes had on their livelihoods — in this case, tourism. The participants in this group expressed mixed feelings about the revolution because it brought about freedom and democracy, but in combination with other factors like fear of terrorism, also drastically decreased tourism in that area.

Unlike association members and students, craftsmen said their conversations mostly look towards the past and discuss how things were pre-revolution. This group was very concerned about their living conditions and discussions of climate change were couched in the context of its effect on tourism.

We always talk about the history; we are nostalgic. – Craftsman

I had two shops before the revolution and after it only one of them remained. … My life turned upside down. We were having a decent life. Now, things have become difficult. … Our purchase power has decreased. In the past, it was easy to buy meat, fruit, etc. However, now it is difficult. – Craftsman When the Gulf crisis ended, the tourism was back but not like it was in the past. … We don’t have tourism in the south. There are some people who make tourists afraid of the south because of “terrorism”, they say. Now, we want tourism to become as it was before. – Craftsman Our situation was good before the revolution: we had tourism; all the handicraft shops were working. – Craftsman

Talking with people with special needs

The group of people with disabilities was particularly concerned with issues of mobility and safety during natural disasters such as storms and floods. Tunisia’s infrastructure was a big concern.

[Climate change] is not directly linked to people with special needs, but I can see climate change through the natural catastrophes happening in Tunisia. – Participant with special needs Climate change is very dangerous; it affects people and agriculture. As a disabled person, I cannot go out when there is heavy rain. – Participant with special needs

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 57 Language to test further, use carefully or avoid

AVOID Negative statements about personal responsibility

Statements that spoke about personal responsibility in very negative terms tended to receive mixed reactions from the narrative workshops (fishermen, craftsmen and university students responded particularly negatively), e.g. ‘Things will only change when we change ourselves, control our desires and stifle our greed.’

Statements such as ‘The world has been polluted and desecrated by our dirty fuels and our greed for material things’ were unpopular across most groups.

When talking about personal responsibility for climate change in Tunisia, it is important to be aware of the comparative role that people in Tunisia have had in creating climate change, as there is a tension between wanting to improve and become a developed country and feeling like Tunisia has been exploited by the more developed, powerful countries. For instance, the statement ‘We are all responsible for climate change and we all need to do something at all levels’ was met with disapproval from some groups (fishermen and APED) and with approval from others.

A better option may be to use positive framing to talk about responsibility. Participants generally preferred messages that conveyed positivity, e.g. ‘We should be the khalifah of Creation.’ AVOID Skirting around the truth or sounding like a politician

This statement was disliked across most groups: ‘Tunisia has very good environmental laws. We can be proud that we are one of the only countries in the world to commit to action on climate change in our national constitution.’

This may be because participants preferred to be honest and genuine and disliked language that sounds like what a politician might say. Participants expressed cynicism about the government; many mentioned that environmental laws were not being upheld. Climate communication in Tunisia should not embellish or avoid the truth and should try to avoid sounding like a political speech.

I wonder why the law is not applied in Tunisia. I want to know the source or the parties to hold accountable for the non-application of the law. – Participant with disability We should not just say idealistic speeches but we should move to action and do something. – Participant with disability Many people don’t understand what is global warming and the state should take serious measures and laws. – School student We should create mechanisms to apply the existing laws. There is a constitutional authority of the environment but it is not active. – Association member, APED

58 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project TEST Young vs old

The analysis found suggestions of a divide or disagreement between generations. Many people across all generations felt that societal values were regressing. However, a few craftsmen pointed to the youth as the cause, expressing concern about young people lacking respect and not being raised properly. On the other hand, the younger participants saw themselves as more aware and more responsible and spoke a lot about valuing respect, particularly respecting a difference of opinion. Whatever their differences, both sides value respect and seek to be respected.

The generation of 2000 was not brought up appropriately. – Craftsman We should respect the different opinions. – School student I feel that our youth are aware and more responsible than older generations. – University student I am proud of Tunisia’s youth. – Rural woman The social relationships are regressing. People and relatives are gathering less and less during celebrations. – School student

There may be tensions within this generational divide arising from the recent social and political upheavals in the country, particularly regarding how this has changed the prospects for young and old generations in different ways. Further work is needed to understand how these different audiences may respond to particular climate messages.

One issue that seems to be up for debate is the battle between modernisation and tradition. There were only a few comments about traditional celebrations in the narrative workshops, and even fewer mentions of religion. This may be an important avenue for future work.

When the weather is arid and rain is not enough it is God’s will, but we should adapt ourselves to it. However, climate change is different because it is not natural and can be very dangerous. – Participant with disability Our traditions like the celebrations and all. – School student What I think is wrong in our way of living is blindly following traditions to the point that the human being spends much money in religious celebrations. I think that one should not stick to religious ceremonies like buying the sheep for Adh’ha if one doesn’t have money. – School student I want to cut with the old traditions that have nothing to do with our actual life. – School student

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 59 EGYPT Case study: Egypt

Authors: Mohamed Kamal, Robin Webster, George Marshall

About Greenish Greenish is an environmental movement that focuses on increasing individuals’ awareness and entities transformation to save the environment. We assess, design and implement sustainable environmental solutions to companies, schools, NGOs, retails and restaurants. Allowing entities to save money, create new revenue streams and attract conscious green heart customers. We also design and deliver highly-interactive and entertaining educational content about the environment and well-being as well as organizing awareness and cleaning events to build and sustain a Green community that spreads the awareness to their circles so that the movement grows more and more across Egypt. (started in 2017)

National partners Karim Eldamyatti, Shady Khalil, Mariam Omar and Reem Gabr from Greenish, Ali Sayed and Fatma Mahmoud from Roaya, Mohamed Younes, Dr Ragia Elgerzawy and Yara Sallam from the Egyptian initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Mariam Youssef Manie, Hiba Youssif, and Moustafa Nehad from Alashanek Ya Balady (AYB), Mariam George and Antonious Farouk from Takafou, George Mansour, Asmaa Tamer and Habiba Abdelnaby from Banlastic and Amena Sharaf, Environmental Researcher.

Egyptian partners at the first training. Photo: © Greenish

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 61 Key findings

Build awareness of the causes and impacts of climate change

Participants in this research were well aware of the changes already occurring around them as a result of rising temperatures and were able to talk eloquently about them. Few, however, demonstrated good knowledge of the causes or potential impacts of climate change, and many of the participants in rural areas had not encountered the concept before. At the same time, the people in this research welcomed the idea of increasing their awareness and knowledge of climate change, and asked for support in doing so.

Be clear about the scale of the challenge, but provide solutions

Group members did not just want to learn about climate change – they wanted to be told what to do and what to change to become part of the solution. Research on climate engagement consistently points to the importance of combining negative information about the impacts of climate change with positive solutions and a sense of what people can personally do, which prevents people feeling overwhelmed and disengaged.

Present climate change as part of a shared national journey

Participants held different interpretations of what being Egyptian meant to them, suggesting that narratives making assumptions about people’s sense of national identity and pride in being Egyptian have the potential to backfire. At the same time, people of different backgrounds and ages expressed a sense of pride in Egypt’s long and diverse history, suggesting that Egyptians may share a collective identity based on their history. Climate advocates may therefore benefit from talking about climate change as a new development on that journey.

Speak to resilience

Regardless of the size of the challenge, participants were confident in the collective ability of Egyptian to adapt. This creates a tension as it can lead to dismissing climate change as a problem, but there is also an opportunity to capitalise on this sense of pride in the resilience of Egyptians, while also being clear about the significance of the issue. The past shows that Egyptians are resilient, adaptable and can work together against shared challenges, drawing on an exceptional ability to support each other.

Use the language of clean and polluting energy

When the topic of energy was brought up in the narrative workshops, renewables were either The usage of simple .(ملوثة) ’referred to as ‘clean energy’ or non-renewables were seen as ‘polluting polluting’ or ‘damaging’, are likely to be more effective than technical‘ ,(نظيفة) ’words, such as ‘clean terms like ‘renewable energy’, particularly with audiences that have not had access to high levels of formal education.

62 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Tailor faith based messaging to specific audiences

Some participants explicitly referenced the role of faith in their lives, while others did not. In narrative workshops with more educated audiences in urban areas, some participants resisted the idea of using religious language as a part of the climate narrative, viewing it as manipulative or inappropriate. Faith based messaging therefore needs to be carefully tailored to specific audiences. With audiences with a strong faith identity, faith messaging will be entirely appropriate and climate communications can benefit from quoting sacred sources or senior faith figures.

Keep it local

In this research, participants were more affected by local stories of relevance to their lives than by generic stories from other countries. They wanted to hear stories about how climate change will affect fishermen and other communities in Egypt. This is particularly true for rural audiences with less access to education.

Talk about solar

Group members understood Egypt’s vast potential to capture energy from the sun, but did not demonstrate strong awareness of major renewable energy projects in Egypt. Narratives that seek to capitalise on the positive attitude towards solar energy, while also building awareness of projects such as the Benban Solar Park, could potentially have a powerful impact.

Avoid generalised statements about Egyptians

Generalised statements that discussed taking action at a community or personal level did not sit well with many participants during the narrative workshops. Group members wanted statements to feel like they were directed towards their community and their lives. Generalised narratives, in contrast, make the assumption that different Egyptians have a lot in common, which may not always be the case.

Avoid the language of blame

While participants actively requested more information about climate change, they did not support narratives that appeared to put the blame on them. The participants in this research viewed their own impacts as insignificant and felt they were the subject to the impacts of climate change, rather than creating it.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 63 Country profile

Egypt, officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is located in the north-eastern corner of Africa. It borders Libya to the west, Sudan to the south and Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to the north-east.

Egypt’s population has doubled since the mid 1980s127 and is now home to approximately 104 million people,127 making it the most populous country in the WANA region and the third most populous country in Africa. Over 90% of the country is desert, including the Sahara and the Arabian Desert. 95% live within 20 kilometres of the Nile Basin and around the low-lying Nile Delta, making it one of the most densely populated areas in the world.128 One in five Egyptians live in the capital, Cairo, and 57% live in rural areas.129 The adult literacy rate in 2017 was 71%.130

Ethnic Egyptians account for over 90% of the population, with other ethnic groups including the Nubian people in the south and Bedouin Arabs.127 In 2020, an estimated 95% of the population identified as Muslim (predominantly Sunni) and most other people were Christian, with less than 1% Jewish, Buddhist or other religions.131

The modern day independent republic of Egypt was founded in 1953, but its complex history stretches back many thousands of years. The region was first known to have been settled in about 6000 BC; the Ancient Egyptian civilisation created by King Narmer’s unification of Egypt in ca 3150 BC lasted for three millennia. Since then, its history has been one of repeated invasion and conquest, including by the Greeks, Romans and Byzantines. Islam arrived with the Arabs in the seventh century AD, a rule that lasted for six centuries. Following 300 years of rule by the Mamluks, the Ottoman Turks conquered Egypt in 1517 and ruled until 1882, when Britain took control of Egypt’s government.132

The last decade has been politically turbulent. The 2011 ‘25 January Revolution’ displaced Hosni Mubarak, its president of 30 years, and was followed by a change in political leadership in 2013. During this period, the economy and security of Egypt suffered significantly.

Political upheavals took a heavy toll on the nationally important tourism industry, with tourist expenditure falling from a high of US$ 13.6 million in 2013 to US$ 3.3 million in 2016.133 The wider economy was also impacted, although GDP growth had been increasing prior to the Covid-19 crisis (+5.6% in 2019).134 Half the population work in the services sector, including an estimated 10% of the workforce employed in the tourism industry135 and a quarter in agriculture. Climate change in Egypt

As a desert and delta country, Egypt is extremely vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. These are already being experienced: flash flooding has increased throughout the country in recent years,136 and over the past 50 years Egypt has experienced an increase in temperature during the summer months.137

The country is likely to face reduced rainfall and higher average temperatures over the coming decades, according to climate projections.138 More heatwaves are expected, which could have direct health impacts on vulnerable people and places and indirect impacts on sectors such as tourism.139 Agriculture, water availability and food security are likely to be particularly affected.128 As a desert country heavily reliant on the Nile, any potential changes in water supply or water flow behaviour in its basin could have huge impacts.

64 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Water scarcity

Much of the population already lacks sufficient water supply on a day-to-day basis. The country currently has only around 570 cubic metres of water per person per year — well below the 1,000 cubic metres that hydrologists consider puts a country at risk of water scarcity. That is projected to fall to 500 cubic metres by 2025.140

Agriculture

With less rainfall and more droughts predicted for the future, water for irrigation will be reduced. The yields of two of Egypt’s most important crops, maize and wheat, could be reduced by 15% and 19% respectively by 2050,141 and economically important crops such as sugar cane are also likely to suffer.142 More frequent storms are likely to lead to more flash flooding,137 causing fatalities and impacting crops and coastal structures.21

Sea level rise

Over 734 square kilometres of the Nile Delta could be underwater by 2050 and 2,600 square kilometres by 2100,143 according to scientific projections, thus displacing 5.7 million Egyptians.144 Alexandria, the second largest city in Egypt, is projected to be the most vulnerable coastal city anywhere in the world by 205021 and is already sinking annually.145

Lab technician conducts water quality test, Egypt Photo: Kate Bevitt/Worldfish (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 65 Government policy on energy and climate change in Egypt

Egypt is a signatory to the Paris Agreement, although despite its size it accounts for less than 1% of global carbon emissions. While its first ‘Nationally Determined Contribution’ (2017) lacked specific decarbonisation targets,141 climate change mitigation and adaptation are becoming higher priorities in light of the country’s exposure to climate impacts.

The economy is highly reliant on fossil fuels for both government revenue and energy: oil, coal and gas met 96% of the country’s energy needs in 2018.14 Egypt is a net importer of coal, but a net exporter of both oil and gas.14 However, Egypt’s Integrated Sustainable Energy Strategy aims for 20% of all energy needs in Egypt to come from renewable energy by 2022, and 42% by 2035.146 Its 2014 Renewable Energy Law147 first introduced subsidies for renewable energy generation, kick- starting a number of projects. The Benban Solar Park in Upper Egypt in one of the largest solar power parks in the world.148

In 2011, Egypt adopted its first National Climate Change Adaptation Strategy149 in recognition of the risks it faces from climate change. The government of Egypt is currently working on a new climate National Adaptation Plan.150 Climate is a key theme in its 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy, ‘Vision 2030’.151 A number of water scarcity policies have been adopted in recent years by the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation,152 although some criticise the slow pace of implementation.153 Climate change awareness in Egypt

Studies suggest that Egyptian climate awareness and concern is relatively low by global standards.21 In a 2020 YouGov survey, only 67% stated that the climate is changing and that humans are entirely (30%) or partly (37%) responsible;31 this represented a fall from 80% (42% entirely, 38% partly) in the same poll conducted in 2019.154 Of those who did believe the climate was changing, the 2019 poll found 58% believed it would affect their lives ‘a great deal’. However, in a country where web access is far from universal and biased towards urban and more educated people, caution is need in extrapolating too heavily from internet surveys.

There is some evidence of broader support for more generally ‘pro-environmental’ behaviour in Egypt, associated with religious teachings.155 Concern about environmental problems tends to be more localised, however, with issues of poverty and pollution dominating over a ‘green’ agenda; environmental campaigns tend to be framed with reference to wider societal concerns.24

66 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project A proposal for a successful Egyptian narrative

The narrative that follows is constructed from text that was tested and consistently liked (and not disliked) by most participants in all groups. It is supported and supplemented with additional material of direct quotations and language constructed by researchers built on the findings of the workshops.

This language is fairly simple. It still lacks the detail and freshness needed for good engagement. Effective public engagement could take these themes as a starting point and build on them with examples, images and stories told through trusted communicators.

Narrative: understanding the problem

Throughout our history, Egyptians have been close to This statement was positively received in earth and nature. In modern times, however, people are the narrative work- less connected with the land and as a result many fail to shops, reflecting an recognise the changing weather patterns. experience that the participants recognised. Provide clear, specific Recent natural disasters have had a drastic impact on information about the our livelihoods. We are suffering from extreme heat, impacts of climate drought and desertification. Last year we had powerful Participants showed change in Egypt. awareness of nationally storms and flooding that seriously affected Alexandria significant events. and permanently damaged infrastructure. The delta is threatened by rising water levels.

Avoid implying that This is a sign that humans have negatively affected the The idea of the world Egyptians are to blame world and things are not in balance. The weather is ‘out of balance’ reflects particularly. becoming more abnormal and strange. important Islamic teachings regarding Scientists say the increase in weather intensity is caused Allah’s generous provision of a world in by global climate change and they expect these effects balance. to continue increasing.

Participants asked Climate change is caused by burning fossil fuels like for clear and specif- coal, gas and oil, as well as by deforestation and farming ic information about practices. These activities release pollution that is the the causes of climate change. driving force behind the warming of the planet. Because of the unpredictability and severity of the impacts of climate change, we have to act together to prepare ourselves and to protect our families and communities, especially the most vulnerable people.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 67 Narrative: the unfair reality

Climate change is a tax that our country will pay, even Participants were if we don’t bear the full responsibility for creating the sensitive to the unfairness of the impacts problem. And within our societies, some people will of climate change. The idea of working to- pay a much higher price than others. Because of the gether and helping each unfair distribution of those impacts, we must all stand in other were powerful solidarity in tackling climate change. values. The government needs to enforce its laws and demand Emphasise the action from companies. Everyone has something to do responsibility of government. This direct and simple at every level. The government and local communities message language was need to work together to transition to clean energy. suggested in the narra- tive workshops with the Our work could be in danger! We need to take care, or fishermen. the world will turn upside down.

Narrative: our role

Climate change is the biggest challenge facing our generation. The nature of Planet Earth is going to change, with air and water and soil changing from what we know today. The change is going to happen rapidly. As individuals and groups, we can reduce the impacts on our communities and protect our planet from these changes.

The past shows that Egyptians are resilient, adaptable Emphasis resilience, but combine with a sense and can work together against shared challenges, having something to do drawing on our ability to support each other. in response. We have a role to play in stopping the problem. If we Use simple, rather than develop clean natural energy, we can create thousands technical language. of jobs and even attract billions of dollars in new investments. Clean energy can also reduce the overall polluted air we breathe, which has been a leading cause of a number of diseases in Egypt.

We have unlimited amounts of natural sunlight and winds that can generate clean energy to meet all our Participants reacted needs. Energy from the sun can play a key role in our positively to solar transition to a cleaner energy source, and is crucial in power. tackling climate change.

We are all connected to the natural world, through our use of water and air, and we are connected to each other. Because of this, every individual who is able to do so must start thinking about how they can be part of this fight against climate change and help one another in our time of need.

68 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Values

In some of the workshops, participants were asked about their values and identity: what they liked and disliked, their core values and what made them proud and different from other groups. The words they used to describe themselves provide keywords for shaping public engagement on climate change. Family and community

A number of participants discussed how their lives revolved around their families, friends and/or communities.

To be honest, the main reason I hold onto my Egyptian identity is family and friends. Social life and the feeling of community is really important to me as a social person. – Member of a human rights organisation

Family, for me, is the reason for all my success. They will always have a role in my life. – University student

Another thing is my family: to work to help them and always make them happy. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation, male

Family talking in Abdin Palace park wearing all the protective masks and gloves CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 69 during COVID-19 pandemic. Photo: IMF Photo/Roger Anis (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Helping others and trustworthiness

Gad’a’na), which translates as a) جدعنة The most frequently mentioned value across all groups was combination of helping someone during their time of need and trustworthiness. The concept was used in multiple contexts, including as a value thought to elevate Egyptians above other nationalities and as something participants felt was important in their own lives.

[I] think as Egyptians we have a lot of traits; when compared to Arabs for example, our ability to be there in times of need for others stands out. – University student

Of course [the values of Egypt are better than those of other countries], because here in Egypt we are all brothers and sisters, working together and helping each other. – Woman farmer

I really liked the part that we should help each other, because that is the way forward. – University student

Respect

Respect was mentioned in the narrative workshops by workshop participants from different backgrounds. It was used in a number of different contexts, for example, feeling personally that one should be treated with respect, the importance of showing respect to other people, and not showing respect being a problem.

Something as simple as respect. Respecting your opinion, your values, your time, so [I like] people who show respect regardless. – Inhabitant of Quseir city

There are a lot of things with equal importance to me. For example, a lot of people don’t value different opinions or respect the views people have. – University student

Being organised and respectful of the place you live in and work in. – Woman farmer in Minya

Religious compass (group specific)

In one narrative workshop in particular, several participants stated that having a ‘religious compass’ guiding their life was their primary and most important value.

For me, I am always trying to have my main compass in life to be the religion compass. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation, male

There is no doubt the most important values that we should hold are our religious values. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation, female

Participants in other narrative workshops made religious references, but religion did not play a significant part in the discussion and participants did not directly attribute their values or the decisions they made in life to their faith.

70 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project In the narrative workshops undertaken with rural communities, religious references often appeared when participants realised something was out of their reach or power.

Yes! All what we have is because of blessings given by God. – Female farmer in Minya

Yes, we don’t have to look at each other’s success as a bad thing; this needs to change. If someone else is more successful, you don’t have to take that from them or be annoyed. Maybe God didn’t write it for you. – Farmer in Minya

We are not scared of anything but God. – Fisherman in Alexandria

In narrative workshops with more urban or educated audiences however, several participants resisted the idea of using religious language as part of the climate narrative, viewing it as manipulative or inappropriate.

Also, stop using the phrase ‘grace’ or ‘blessing’, because this has negatively affected the way I viewed things in the document. They are trying to simplify everything, even though a normal person can tell from the start that it’s much more complicated. – University student, giving feedback regarding the test narrative

Resilience

Participants in the workshop had a strong sense of Egyptians as resilient people who are able to come through turbulent times and emerge stronger.

I feel pride towards that journey and a sense of belonging to the people who helped me get here. – Employee of sustainable development organisation

For me, what makes me hold onto life in Egypt is our ability to make the most out of what we have. We are able to solve complicated problems with so little. We have a lot of alternatives available that allow people to mobilise without the need to wait for help, etc. – Member of a human rights organisation

I feel some form of pride in our resilience; not everyone has this. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation

I feel like, for Egyptians in the situations and difficulties they have been through, they have managed to make the most out of it and never took the easy way out. – University student

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 71 Approaches to talking about the causes of climate change

Raise awareness of the causes of climate change

Very few people participating in the groups demonstrated an understanding of the scale or severity of climate change, or what it may mean for Egyptian society. The groups of farmers and fishermen had little or no background on the issue prior to attending the narrative workshop.

can easily be understood as simply the natural change (تغيير املناخ) ’In Arabic, the term ‘climate change in weather between seasons. This misunderstanding was apparent in some of the responses from farmers.

It means the different seasons of the year: maybe the weather can be cold, or it can be hot like in summer. Of course the crops are different in every season, for example oranges are in winter and grapes are in summer. – Farmer in Minya

In summer, the weather is different and our agricultural activity changes because the climate changes and so on. – Farmer in Minya

More educated participants showed a stronger understanding of the concept but mostly did not demonstrate awareness of the causes of climate change. None of the group members mentioned burning fossil fuels without prompting only one person spontaneously suggested that climate change is caused by humans.

Fisherman repairs a net in a fishing camp, Aswan, Egypt. Photo: Ashley Halls/Worldfish (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

72 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Across all the workshops, however, participants consistently welcomed the idea of raising awareness about climate change. Group members wanted to know more and usually felt like they were left hanging by those narratives that only provided glimpses of information.

Something that I wanted to say was that just the awareness of these issues is important. Even while we were talking, our awareness was increasing. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation

There should be awareness in the rural areas provided to us about these things. Someone could be doing something very harmful, but they don’t understand it just like what you explained now to us. – Farmer in Minya

Link the causes of climate change to local pollution

A large number of participants, particularly those in rural areas, believed that local environmental problems such as bad air quality or incidents of chemical pollution contributed to climate change. Farmers and fishermen referenced the following, for example.

The waste they burn and the waste they throw in the river.

Smoke coming out of factories.

Factories that are located near houses. The smoke they release.

Another example you have is the factory in [place]. They insert their coolers in the Nile River and they killed three million fish because of the chemicals they empty into the Nile River.

While this demonstrates a need for increasing awareness of the difference between local pollution issues and global climate change, it points to a strong awareness of local environmental issues in Egypt, suggesting that this could be an entry point for discussions about climate change.

CLIMATE OUTREACH Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project • Woman washing73 wheat (wafaa). Photo: Hamish John Appleby/IWMI (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) Approaches to talking about the impacts of climate change

Combine information on impacts with advice on what to do about it

Group members wanted to be told what to do and what to change to become part of the solution, rather than just being told about problems and impacts.

I liked statements that were telling me what to do, not just stating a problem. What’s the point of telling me the problem? Tell me what to do instead that’s right. Maybe even tell me in my context how I can be part of a positive impact. – University student

In some cases, participants realised through the discussion that their own actions or those of their communities can play a part. Participants also welcomed information that helped them feel as if they could make a difference through their behaviour.

I think awareness is very important. If someone comes and tells me to grow a plant outside my house because it’s a good thing, you give me some awareness and I will follow it! When we make a small group and talk to them about bad waste disposal habits, it will change their behaviour. – Farmer in Minya

We literally poison ourselves. Some people empty their wastewater into the land they use for agriculture, just hurting themselves. – Farmer in Minya

Awareness itself is a solution. If someone gets the right awareness they might have a unique idea that might resolve issues. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation

Research on climate engagement consistently points to the importance of combining negative information about the impacts of climate change with positive solutions and a sense of what people can personally do.54,56 Frightening information about threats can lead people to change their behaviour if they feel able to deal with the threat, but such information can lead to extremely defensive reactions if they feel unable to do anything about it.57 Information about the impacts of climate change should therefore always be combined with locally relevant information about what people can do to respond. Spell out the economic and social implications of the impacts

Many participants stated that Egypt had faced problems in the past and had always been able to adapt.

This is a positive and also a negative side to Egyptians, because we adapt to anything regardless of what it is. – University student

We will have to adapt to any problem; [it] doesn’t matter what it is. – Inhabitant of Quseir

The first thing is the ability for people to live with the difficulties they face, and these difficulties don’t leave permanent scars on people. Rather, people always move on. – Member of a human rights organisation

74 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Traditional open market, Hurghada, Egypt. Photo: Rab Lawrence (CC BY 2.0)

As a result, some participants tended to be optimistic about their capacity to deal with climate impacts and were dismissive of the threat, relying on their own resilience or faith in God to get them through.

We are definitely not worried. These are things that God is in charge of; if things will change for the better or worse, who cares, we will still adapt. This is how we [have] lived for the past hundreds of years. – Fisherman in Rashid

Honestly, nothing really worries me. I believe we have the ability to adapt to anything that will happen. This is part of our being. Maybe we need to start caring more. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation

Spelling out the scale of impacts as a new order of challenge without historical precedent and by outlining specific impacts on farmland or the economy is therefore likely to be an effective part of climate change engagement. Use the frame of ‘preparation’ rather than ‘adaptation’

A number of participants expressed fears about the uncertainty and unpredictability of the impacts of climate change.

I think my biggest fear is that I cannot predict anything. There are a lot of problems, but I cannot predict what the impact will look like. So, I think the biggest problem is the uncertainty. – Member of a human rights organisation

Fear and not feeling that things are safe. I will always be worried about where I can get my food from. – Inhabitant of Quseir

I still don’t really understand most of what was said, but I am worried for the livelihood and income of my children, that’s all. If the future will be bad, then I am worried for my children. – Farmer in Minya

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 75 The word ‘adaptation’ suggests that the problem can be managed and absorbed with no loss or cost. The word ‘preparation’ indicates there will be a cost that can be reduced with good planning. Preparedness is not just something citizens need to do; it is also a requirement placed on governments to protect the people. Research carried out in the West suggests that people from different political backgrounds respond better to the frame of ‘preparation’ than ‘adaptation’ when communicating climate messages.53,54 This idea, however, has not been specifically tested in this research and would benefit from further exploration. Provide local impact information, tailored for different audiences

When the implications of climate change were presented, participants tended to be worried about the impacts that were most relevant to them.

I live close to an area with shore and problems with flooding. If this [sea level rise] happens abnormally, all my family and my own life will be heavily affected. – University student

I think drought is the thing that scares me the most. We, as a country, we can’t call our economy a ‘service’ economy. We don’t import a lot of food because of our farming industry. But drought will destroy that and destroy the livelihood of thousands of people. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation

For example, when presented with information about the impacts of climate change in the Nile Delta, farmers from Minya in the Nile Delta reacted strongly, while the fishermen did not.

Egypt has a varied geography, and most impacts are relevant to specific audiences. For example, sea level rise is highly relevant for coastal areas but not for inland. If information is presented in a way that is tailored and relevant to a particular audience, it is far more likely to be impactful. Focus on flooding, heatwaves and droughts

The majority of participants concerned by climate change recognised that flooding will be a problem in the future. Recent flooding and heavy precipitation across Egypt meant that many participants had personal experience of it as an issue, and this meant that many group members responded to this impact more strongly than others.

I personally am not worried about any of this except the increase of storms, heavier rain and flooding. Because this is the one thing that we have seen that completely damages life in Egypt and activity in Egypt. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation

Yes, I will be worried, because I am used to a certain environment and we are not accustomed to dealing with this unstable weather. I can’t imagine the damage to our crops. – Farmer in Minya, when the topic of flooding was brought up

76 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Participants also displayed concern about heatwaves, droughts and drying out, though less concern than they had about flooding. Again, some of the comments were based on personal experience.

Maybe I can give my take first. In general, we are going to face a major problem with drought. Generally, there will be much less water in Egypt. – University student

I think it depends on the place. In the south, an increase in heatwaves will be deadly. In other areas in Egypt that are already suffering from drought, more drought will erase these places. – Inhabitant of Quseir

Many participants, however, did not recognise water scarcity as a problem, or did not believe that it would eventually get worse. Draw on personal testimonies about experience of the changing weather

Although many participants did not have a high level of awareness of ‘climate change’ as a term or issue, a significant number commented on the changes they believed they were already observing in the weather.

The wind currents became less, which affected the immigration of the fish to our seas.– Fisherman in Rashid

Every year I feel like the winter is harsher and even summer is harsher. So for me it’s that seasons are harsher than they used to be, or more intense. – Inhabitant of Quseir

Since this had changed, and the weather changed in the sea due to very hot summers, the fish species we fish became different as well. – Fisherman in Rashid

Many people in Egypt already believe that the weather is changing, and can tell compelling stories about their experiences. Rather than simply presenting dry technical scientific data, drawing on people’s anecdotal experience about the changing weather (including older people’s awareness of those changes) and then using this to support the scientific evidence is likely to be a powerful way of engaging people on climate change.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 77 Approaches to talking about renewables

Talk about clean energy, not renewable energy

Some groups were confused about the term ‘renewable energy’ and did not understand what it meant.

You are telling me about renewable energy – who will implement it for us? These are fancy dreams. Let us talk about things that are on our level, these things are too advanced for us and will be too expensive. – Fisherman in Rashid

Renewable energy is something like petrol. – Woman farmer in Minya

What energy do you mean? Everyone has their own energy. Some of us more than others; that’s why we do the lifting. – Male farmer in Minya

Group members found the language too complex and technical, and the idea unattainable. Simple phrases such as ‘clean’ and ‘dirty energy’ were more effective in communicating the concept.

I think, then, based on what you said, the more we utilise these types of ‘clean’ energy, we reduce the negative effects on the environment and increase our efficiency/reduce our cost? – Tourism worker in Upper Egypt

Focus on energy from the sun

All the population understands that Egypt is a very sunny country, especially the south. Group members were excited about the potential of generating power from this abundant natural resource.

Egypt has so much sun and has the potential to cover a large portion of its population using solar energy. We are seeing this with projects in Aswan, for example. – Member of a human rights organisation

I think solar energy is the most important type [of energy] that we should look further into, because most of the year here it’s sunny and the weather’s hot. – University student

I think it’s very beneficial because it can help us and make our life easier. Like solar energy – it provides us with a nicer alternative and helps us with electricity. – Inhabitant of Quseir

My uncle used to work in the solar power/renewable energy field seven years ago. He had his own project, but it didn’t succeed because people were not aware enough. But now they are! – Inhabitant of Alexandria

Participants also had some experience of solar energy at a personal level, for example through solar powered calculators or a solar powered pump.

78 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project I am originally from Aswan, and one of the pumps my father was using in farming had a solar panel cell. I was very impressed and started to ask more questions about this. I was happy that, even though they are farmers, they are using this. – University student

I have [a] calculator that functions on solar energy! – University student

My calculator has a solar cell that charges it without a battery. I use it and it’s very nice. – Inhabitant of Quseir

Younger generations were more aware of, and more invested in, renewable energy than older participants. Renewable technologies were still seen as expensive, however.

Across the groups, people were not motivated by nationalist narratives around energy independence or replacing energy imports. This means a softer narrative stating that Egypt receives a lot of sun that can provide for people’s energy needs is more likely to be successful. Explain that clean energy is nothing new

In the groups, people were concerned that ‘renewable’ energy was something new and expensive. Successful communications could therefore build on pride in Egypt’s long history by highlighting that farmers have been using natural energy from water and the sun since the beginning of time. Communicators could even consider graphics using hieroglyphs of the sun and water. Talk about tackling climate change as part of a national journey

Participants in the workshop appeared to have a complex relationship with their identity as Egyptians. When asked what they valued about being Egyptian, many people talked about the current economic struggles facing people in Egypt.

The second … [struggle facing Egypt is] the unbalance between people graduating from universities and then finding jobs. This will lead to people not valuing university as much anymore. – University student

I think discussing pride is a little difficult, especially when you – as a young person meant to just be discovering the world – face all these challenges that try to bring you down in the country. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation

At the same time, participants of different backgrounds and ages expressed a sense of pride in Egypt’s long and diverse history and felt it was important to understand and be aware of it. For some, ‘history’ meant the ancient world of Egypt, while others were more interested in recent events.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 79 There are a lot of things that no one talks about in our history. I think it should always be a source of pride. – University student

We have a very diverse history and identity. It’s important to accept that and be proud of it. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation

Our history – when you go anywhere, you always talk about our history. I don’t think there is any country with a rich history like Egypt. – Inhabitant of Quseir

The thing that brings me pride is that we have a long history. It brings me … pride, as someone who [has] travelled outside. – Inhabitant of Quseir

Some older participants, however, also expressed a sense of loss in how much the country had changed over time.

Definitely, there [have] been a lot of changes and it’s not the same as before. – Male farmer in Minya, when asked about declining values

Yes, values [have] declined, and people have changed. Also, it’s not because of poverty. – Farmer in Minya

Although the participants were reticent when talking about national pride, this research suggests that Egyptians may share a collective identity based on the depth of Egyptian history. Climate communicators may therefore benefit from addressing climate change as a new development on that journey. The past shows that Egyptians are resilient, adaptable and can work together against shared challenges, drawing on national resilience and an exceptional ability to support each other.

Market trader selling vegetables, El Maadi, Egypt. Photo: Gavin Bell (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

80 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Approaches to talking with different audiences in Egypt

Talking with the rural population

Rural participants in this study had a low or non-existent understanding of climate change. Their concerns tended to be more localised and related to opportunity, formal education or environmental impacts they observed in their local areas.

Yeah, it [the ozone layer] is [a problem], but you know this is a result of the factories that are located near houses. The smoke they release. There is supposed to be monitoring on all of this. – Woman farmer in Minya

Yes, I will be worried, because I am used to a certain environment and we are not accustomed to dealing with this unstable weather. I can’t imagine the damage to our crops. – Woman farmer in Minya

Not all rural citizens have access to high levels of formal education, and some portions of the rural population are illiterate. In the workshops, there were prolonged moments of silence as participants failed to grasp some of the bigger concepts and words used.

It’s clear you are bringing us today a lot of things that we do not know. – Farmer from Minya, when asked about renewable energy

Statements about solar energy, expenditure on gas and petrol and how the world is polluted were met with the following response from a participant:

I think it shows that we were not able to maintain the blessings God gave us on earth.

Farmers and fishermen in the rural groups highlighted the importance of using simple, straightforward language that identifies how dangerous the problem is. When asked how they would communicate climate change, fishermen gave the following examples:

Take care – the world will turn upside down.

Our work would be in danger.

Farmers

Four narrative workshops were undertaken with women farmers. Their top priority regarding their occupation was the health and wellbeing of their crops and eventual yield. Although the farmers had not previously encountered the concept of climate change, they were concerned by what rising temperature would mean for their crops.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 81 The crops are affected by the changes in temperature. Like if the weather is too hot we will have a desert with no crops or nature. – Woman farmer

When crops are ruined from the hot sun, like cucumber, so the sun affects the crops and yield. Not everything can be covered to protect it from the sun. – Woman farmer

When the weather is nice and not too hot, working is nice, and we are able to achieve more. Usually, with us, the lower the temperature the higher our productivity. Maybe even climate change affects crop yield? – Woman farmer

Fishermen

The group of fishermen expressed concern about what the future might hold for them and their families, reflecting on the daily struggles they are experiencing and a feeling of being isolated and unsupported.

The government is making all these construction developments without considering the livelihood of fishermen. – Fisherman in Rashid

Fishing as a job [is] starting to [become] extinct because fishermen started to leave fishing and [are] directed to tourism jobs for more income. – Fisherman in Rashid

During this time, my profit is reduced, so I am constantly losing [money]. The gas tank now is 1,300 EGP for the boat; before it was 300 EGP. Look how expensive this. The state for fishermen now is living day by day, barely. – Fisherman in Rashid

Fisherman looking out over the Nile. Photo: Amr Emam/IRIN (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

82 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Of all the groups, fishermen were the most aware of changing weather patterns and temperatures. Many, however, were also inclined to be optimistic, believing that the effect on their livelihood could be positive.

The wind currents became less, which affects the immigration of the fish to our seas. The Nile River also tends to dry [out], which affects the fish environment because the river nourishes fish culture with its clay rich nutrients. – Fisherman in Rashid

But for extreme weather, this is actually a positive. We can collect more fish after storms in particular, as the strong wind currents get them closer to the seashore. – Fisherman in Rashid

If the water increases in the future, this is better for the fisherman. – Fisherman in Rashid

The fisherman works in the salty water only; the Nile River wouldn’t matter.– Fisherman in Rashid

Fishermen are likely to be a powerful source of testimony as observers of the impacts of climate change.

Tourism workers

In the small workshop held with tourist workers, participants were also concerned about the impacts of insecurity and instability on their livelihood, especially in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic. Egypt’s recent history means that tourism has been through a period of turbulence.

I think the stability Egypt has experienced recently politically, in comparison to the surrounding countries, is very positive and we are on a good path to remain stable and improve the economy. I can also see that the tourism sector has recovered, finally.– Male tourism worker in Upper Egypt

All we are asking for is more jobs because of what happened during Covid. When work stopped, we couldn’t find other jobs and couldn’t secure a source of income. I know it wasn’t something that the state had planned for. – Male tourism worker in Upper Egypt

Bad weather and bad situations make it harder for us to work. – Male tourism worker in Upper Egypt

The impact of climate change on Egypt’s security and stability is likely to be particularly significant with this audience.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 83 Language to test further, use carefully or avoid

AVOID Narratives that blame Egyptians

Participants reacted negatively to narratives that appear to blame Egyptians for their role in climate change.

Statements such as “our greed for material things [is to blame]” and “through our ignorance, arrogance and greed, we have damaged the gift, harmed the earth and broken our relationship with creation” were heavily disliked across all groups.

This is pointing the finger at me as an individual, when I didn’t really cause this. – Member of a human rights organisation

Given the relatively minor role that Egypt and its people have had in causing climate change, this suggests it is important to avoid statements that imply blame and to take care with statements that refer to personal responsibility. AVOID Negative generalisations about what people think or do

The generalised use of ‘we’ to suggest that people behave or think similarly was sometimes disliked by participants – for example the phrase “we all agree that…”, particularly when the sentiment being expressed was interpreted negatively.

For example, when presented with the phrase “We can start avoiding being wasteful. Of course, we all agree on this”, participants did not object to the first half of the sentence, but disliked the second half because of the implication that they should all agree.

Participants had the same response to the second half of the following phrase: “We have always been close to the earth and nature and that is why we see that the weather is changing.” AVOID Statements that can easily be politicised

Participants tended to prefer language that was not seen as political, and in some cases also did not trust positive statements made about the performance of the country or of the government.

For example, when the test narrative referred to a recently established ‘Climate Change Centre’, participants were positive about the centre itself but wary of the language referring to laws or the government’s role in creating it.

The following things are changes done in government, [the] Ministry of Education or whatever, [and] don’t mean anything to me either. When I want to see changes, I look at the world around me and the street around me. – Member of sustainable development organisation I don’t believe that Egypt has notable laws, nor that the environment is a priority at all for the government. – Member of a human rights organisation Anything about investment in healthcare and education first of all doesn’t seem relevant and it’s not true. The government is only investing in roads and infrastructure. – University student

84 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project USE CAREFULLY Invoking national pride or identity

Participants’ responses to statements suggesting that people are ‘proud to be Egyptian’ varied according to their access to formal education and location. In the workshops, participants who had reached higher levels of formal education appeared more likely to dislike narratives of national pride, whereas the participants in the rural workshops were more likely to respond positively.

I am not proud of Egypt in anything, nor in any field. – Employee of a sustainable development organisation

Our love for Egypt is without reason. If there was a reason, it would be a different story! – Member of a human rights organisation

I called my boat ‘Egypt is the mother of the world’ because I want to show how much we are proud of Egypt, because we are. This is our country: we love it and we grew up loving it. – Fisherman in Rashid

Egypt is the mother of the world! We have never seen anything bad from Egypt. – Woman farmer in Minya

I am proud of a lot of things. I always feel like Egypt is safer than other countries. I don’t want this security to change, or the kindness we show to each other. – Inhabitant of Quseir

We aren’t Arabs, or I don’t consider myself to be the same as other Arab countries. Our identity is uniquely Egyptian; [it] goes back to Ancient Egypt and [the] pharaohs. – University student

Egypt is different from other Arab countries because we are the only ones with national unity and generally accepting of its diverse identity. For example, we have Muslims and Christians. – Inhabitant of Quseir

All of us are Egyptian fishermen and we are the best people. We are the best people in the world. – Fisherman in Rashid

Participants also appeared to have different interpretations and stories of what being Egyptian meant to them, suggesting that narratives appearing to make assumptions regarding people’s identity have the potential to backfire. USE CAREFULLY Speaking about faith and religion

As previously stated (see Religious compass (group specific)), some participants found religious messaging to be a strong motivator, while others were less likely to be engaged by faith based messaging. Rural participants were more likely to believe God will determine what will happen with climate change. Still other participants were less likely to be engaged by faith messaging, and some felt doing so would be manipulative or inappropriate.

Faith based messaging therefore needs to be carefully tailored to specific audiences. For audiences with a strong faith identity, faith messaging will be entirely appropriate and public engagement can benefit from quoting sacred sources or senior faith figures.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 85 Mauritania Case study: Mauritania

Authors: Kim Titlestad, Moussa Elimane Sall, Robin Webster

About RIM Mauritan RIM Youth Climate Movement is first and foremost a network of young volunteers for the protection of the environment. It is a non-profit platform which focuses its activities on pooling resources and networking. It strives to put the fight against climate change at the heart of national public policies. This structure aims to popularise, raise awareness and mobilise the various stakeholders to deal with climate change. RIM Youth Climate Movement intends to be a crucible of creativity and to stimulate the dynamic of inclusive and sustainable environmental governance. Finally Rim Youth is a strong partnership network with renowned organisations, universities and research institutes giving scientific backing to its positions; these include Greenpeace International, Climate Alliance Network, Enda Energy, Climate Outreach, Qatar University, the African Climate Policy Center, etc. National partners Mr Ahmed Ghali Ahmed from Mere Bleue, Mr Abdallahi Mohamed Abdallahi from the Coalition Contre la Corruption en Mauritanie, Mrs Seyde Mint Yenge from the Association des Amis du Sport en Mauritanie (ASPOM), Mrs Hawa Sidibe from the Association du développement et de la promotion de droits de l’homme (ADPDH), Mr Abou Virarago from the Association Mauritanienne pour la Lutte Contre la Pauvreté, Mr Mohamed Yahya Mahmoud Eba from ONG Omassape, Mrs Bintou Ba of the Association de la Jeunesse de Nouadhibou, Mrs Nena Ly of Club des Jeunes Journalistes, Mr Ibrahima Sarr of the Association des Mareyeurs. Mr Amadou Aly BA of the Association des musiciens et artistes. Partner training, Mauritania. Photo: © RIM-Mauritania

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 87 Key findings

Respect and amplify the testimony of ordinary people, particularly farmers, fishermen and older people

Ordinary Mauritanians in this research were able to speak eloquently about the experience of living in a changing climate, including hotter temperatures and different rainfall patterns. Farmers and fishermen were particularly aware of the changes they were witnessing on a daily basis. Participants also highlighted the role of older people in witnessing the extent of the change over just a few decades. Giving these groups of people a more prominent voice could have a powerful impact on public engagement.

Provide specific information about the impact of climate change on agriculture and the threat to food supplies

Mauritania is a rural country, and most people have strong links to food production. Participants from a variety of backgrounds noted the impact of changing rainfall patterns on agriculture and fishing. The country is already facing challenges to food supplies, and participants in the research were aware of the threats they faced. Specific, verifiable information about the potential impact of climate change on livestock, crop production and food may be particularly impactful for the population at large.

Draw on traditional knowledge as a response to climate change

The participants in this research valued Mauritania’s traditional knowledge systems, as well as values associated with simple and practical living according to Bedouin traditions. At the same time, many participants saw climate change as a Western-created problem, and so were more sceptical of the idea that Mauritanians should respond. Climate change narratives emphasising Mauritania’s unique traditional cultures and knowledge base, both in reducing emissions and in responding to the impacts of climate change, could provide Mauritanians with a sense of ownership of their response to climate change, rather than following Western models of development.

Emphasise that Mauritanians can mobilise together

Group members were proud of Mauritania as a diverse society with a strong multicultural identity. They also particularly valued social solidarity and hospitality and were motivated by the idea of mobilising together. These strong values could form the basis of a narrative centred around responding together as a society to the challenge of climate change.

Present Mauritanians as guardians of the natural world

Participants, especially fishermen, farmers and youth, valued Mauritania’s natural resources. Rural farmers in particular associated the notion of inheriting land from ancestors with the responsibility to act as nature’s guardian. The idea of having a responsibility to protect the world is a powerful idea in Islamic texts and across other faiths.

88 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Strongly promote renewables as a solution

The Mauritanian government is committed to exploiting the country’s extensive wind and solar resource as a way of increasing access to energy. Participants in this research were positive about the potential for expanding renewables in Mauritania, and largely saw it as a sensible government response to the challenge of climate change — although people in rural areas were slightly more sceptical of the government’s motivation. This suggests that Mauritanians would largely respond positively to public engagement about renewables.

Embed moderate Islamic values in climate communications

Almost all participants described the Islamic faith as an important value guiding their lives and a key component of the Mauritanian identity. Many placed additional emphasis on the fact that people in Mauritania hold moderate and tolerant religious beliefs.

Provide education about climate change, particularly in rural areas

Mauritanians in this research highly valued the ideals of knowledge acquisition and education. Although very knowledgeable about changes to the environment, farmers and fishermen had less access to education about the science of climate change and so were less aware of the causes of climate change than participants in urban areas.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 89 Country profile

Mauritania, officially termed the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, lies in north-west Africa. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean, Mali, Senegal, Algeria and the Western Sahara. Despite its area of a little over one million square kilometres,156 it is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Africa with a population of around 4.7 million.157 The population has, however, doubled since the year 2000, increasing by approximately 2.5% a year.

Mauritania is a desert land. The vast majority of the country sits within the Sahara – the range of which is expanding158 — and the rest is located within the Sahel region, which has suffered increased incidence of serious drought159 in recent years as a result of climate change.160 Food security is a major national concern, with less than 0.5% of Mauritania available for growing crops46,161 and the nation only covering 30% of its grain needs domestically.162

More than half of Mauritanians live in urban areas,163 mostly in the less arid south of the country. One-third of the population lives in the capital on the Atlantic coast, Nouakchott. Of the population of Mauritania, 99% is Sunni Muslim, and only Muslims may be citizens.62

Early inhabitants of the region were the Bafour, who were hunters, pastoralists and fishermen, and who were succeeded by the Berber people. Arab people came to the area from the eighth century onwards.164 Mauritania became part of French West Africa in 1904. Following independence from France in 1960, the country endured a series of military coups, most recently in 2008. Mauritania held its second democratic election in 2019.

90 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project

Woman on beach, Mauritania. Photo: © Daouda Corera The country is dominated by a number of different ethnic groups: the Arab–Berber Bidhan, the West African Haratine and people originating in the Sub-Sahara, including the Fulanis, Wolof, Soninké and Bambara.

This crossroads of communities gives Mauritania a regional significance and contributes to the ethnic tensions that define much of Mauritania’s political life.162 Mauritania has a caste system, meaning that Bidhan people hold the most influential government posts and economic power. Haratine people have historically been enslaved, and though this practice is now illegal it is still a feature of Mauritanian society.165

Arabic is the official national language and French is widely spoken. Many people speak Hassania Arabic dialects, but other dialects include Soninké, Puular and Wolof. The official literacy rate was 53.5% in 201744 and compulsory education lasts from age 6 to 14, with many people in rural areas being educated in traditional desert-based Islamic schools.166

Mauritania remains one of the poorest countries in the world, although it has been making steady progress in metrics including life expectancy and poverty reduction.167 Its economy is dominated by agriculture and livestock, which account for over half of all employment.168 Other major sectors include fishing, oil and gas and mining.169 High GDP growth in 2019 — a result of the growth in the extractive sectors — was reversed by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.170

While income inequality has been steadily falling over recent decades, extreme poverty is still present in socially excluded groups. Of all the country’s businesses, 80% are owned by men and illiteracy and unemployment are higher in women.162 Relative and absolute poverty are generally worse in rural than in urban areas,162 as are levels of primary school education. Only 38% of the population have access to electric lighting,161 and access to energy — in particular from solar, wind and hydro — is a central development and diversification aim of the government.20 Climate change in Mauritania

Mauritania is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world to the impacts of climate change.

Drought and food insecurity

Mauritania’s economy is highly dependent on sectors such as agriculture, livestock farming and fishing, which have already started to experience the impacts of desertification, increased incidence of drought and warming oceans.171 Mauritanian seas are already overfished, and warming seas are expected to further impact on fisheries.172

The Sahel region as a whole, within which Mauritania’s more fertile land sits, has already experienced less rainfall over recent decades as a result of climate change,138 and this is expected to worsen.160 More of Mauritania will in effect become the Sahara as the desert pushes south, continuing to impact food production and increasing the risk of conflict and forced internal migration.173 The IPCC projects that there will be more failed harvests in the future.138

Heat

Air temperatures have also been increasing, particularly over the last 30 years,138 and are projected to be 1°C–3°C higher in the country by 2050.171 In the Sahel region, temperatures could rise at a rate one and a half times the global average.173 Higher temperatures risk an increasing incidence of malaria, disease through lower water quality and heat-related sickness and death.171

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 91 Flooding

Despite increased levels of drought, some studies suggest that Mauritania could experience more extreme rainfall days (with flash floods resulting as storms fall on baked ground) by the end of the 21st century.138

Sea levels in the area could rise 14 centimetres by 2050 and 40 centimetres by 2100.173 The capital, Nouakchott, is largely built on a flood plain,174 and sea level rise is already affecting it and other coastal settlements through flooding and erosion.171 A 2001 study suggested this could cause US$ 7 billion of damage by the year 2050.156

Methodology used in Mauritania

In Mauritania, partners followed a culturally appropriate methodology for recruiting participants using networks of contacts. This typically involved approaching a representative figure (for example the head of a village, or a community representative) and asking if they could arrange for the gathering to take place, with the appropriate gender, ethnic and tribal balance.

This necessary approach meant that educated individuals, seen as good representatives of a particular community, were more likely to participate in the groups.

Mauritanians were also not willing to have their voices recorded in the narrative workshops, so the narrative workshops were recorded using detailed notes. This approach captured the issues discussed, but made it harder to recognise if one or two individuals dominated the discussion. In Mauritanian culture, an individual is likely to remain quiet if they feel that someone else knows more than them.

The narrative workshops took place in several different local languages: Hassania, Puular, Soninké and Wolof. Hassania is a dialect close to Arabic, but Puular, Soninké and Wolof are not. The notes were then translated into formal English. This formality is reflected in the quotations used in this report, which may not be fully reflective of the original words spoken.

The combination of these factors means that the narrative workshops may have captured a cohort of participants with a relatively high level of education and high climate literacy, in contrast to the general population. The data gathered may overemphasise individuals in the groups who felt able to speak confidently about the topics raised, and it therefore needs to be considered in the light of these limitations.

92 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project A proposal for a successful Mauritanian narrative

The narrative that follows is constructed from the results of this research, reflecting the values and themes that emerged. It is supported and supplemented with direct quotations from participants in the workshops.

This language is fairly simple. It still lacks the detail and freshness needed for good engagement. Effective communications could take these themes as a starting point and build on them with examples, images and stories told through trusted communicators.

All the groups com- We can already see how the weather is changing, The idea of the world mented on the rising becoming dryer and hotter. The rainy season is starting ‘out of balance’ reflects temperatures they had later and later, but at other times there has been flooding important Islamic observed. teachings regard- in Nouakchott. The weather is out of balance. It is not ing Allah’s generous normal: it is strange and weird. The older generations provision of a world in Numerous participants tell us they have witnessed an enormous change, and balance. pointed to the role of even for younger people what we are experiencing now the older generation in is different from the weather of our childhood. witnessing changes. Scientists say the weather is changing because of the pollution people and industry all around the world put Many participants into the air, especially from burning oil, coal and gas for pointed out that the West created this energy and vehicles. It is not fair that the richest people problem. should produce the most pollution when the poorest people will be worst affected by climate change.

Participants expressed In Mauritania, we speak different languages but eat the pride in Mauritania’s same meals and pray in the same mosques. We look Research participants ethnic diversity and after each other and we are proud to work together as valued Mauritania’s cultural mix. a single team in response to the challenges created by traditional knowledge climate change. systems, and some rejected climate change The world is changing, and there is a lot to learn. We as a ‘Western problem’. This kind of language need to invest in education to prepare future generations could create a greater for a new world, while also drawing on our traditional sense of ownership of knowledge systems. Mauritanian solutions The idea of people as to the challenges pre- guardians of Creation The natural world is a precious gift. We are guardians of sented. is a powerful Islamic the land we have inherited from our ancestors. It is up principle. to us to stand up for it.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 93 Values

In the narrative workshops, participants were asked about their values and their identity: what they liked and disliked, their core values and what made them feel proud and different from other groups. The words they used to describe themselves provide keywords for shaping messaging used in climate communications. Moderate Islamic faith and values

Almost all participants described the Islamic faith as an important value guiding their lives and a key component of the Mauritanian identity.

I am proud of being Mauritanian for many reasons, the first of which is the close connection of my country with Islam, the land of a million poets. – University student

Islamic values: fairness, loyalty, solidarity. – Small business owner

Islam basic values such as patriotism, integrity, humanism, hospitality. – Parliamentarian

I am proud of myself as a Muslim. – University student

Many group members, however, also placed additional emphasis on the fact that people in Mauritania hold moderate religious beliefs.

A land of 100% Muslims. I am proud to belong to a country where beyond the cultural differences we all are Muslims practising an Islam of tolerance. – Small business owner

We can make things better for our children by raising them in a moderate Islamic environment and with great family care. – University student

Very moderate Islamic values. – Rural farmer

Multiculturalism and diversity

Many participants were proud of the multiculturalism of Mauritania and brought it up in discussions of their values.

We are a mixed society with strong anchorage of Arab and African culture. – Union member

We speak different languages in Mauritania, but eat the same meals; we all love tea and pray in the same mosques. That makes me proud. – Small business owner

Proud of the multicultural identity of the country. – Journalist

Proud of the cultural diversity of the country, the land of a million poets, and its strong ties with Sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Arab countries. – Parliamentarian

Multi-ethnicity and the legacy entrenched in the mentality of the Mauritanian citizen. – Pupil

94 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Social solidarity and hospitality

Social solidarity and hospitality were also strong values for many of the workshop participants.

Generous hospitality and social solidarity, which is almost disappearing in the Arab countries. – University student

Social solidarity and helping the poor and needy. – University student

Hospitality is what defines us the best. – Union member

The hospitality of the citizens and their openness to Sub-Saharan Africa and Arab world. – Rural farmer

Hospitality, no matter who you are or where you come from; we adopt you and consider you as a member of the family. – Small business owner

Knowledge acquisition and education

Knowledge acquisition and education also seemed highly valued by many of the participants in the research.

My education and background. That defines me the best and I am truly proud of who I am. Thanks to my parents. – Union member

Acquiring knowledge and building knowledge, relationships and interacting with all types of people. – Pupil

Talking about failures and how to improve. – Small business owner

Openness to modern science and technologies to strengthen the communities. – Rural farmer

Participants often saw education as a goal to strive for, especially as a part of the development of younger generations.

What makes things better for our children is to instil a culture of learning for a promising future. – University student

The world is changing and we need to invest in education to prepare future generations to tackle the challenges ahead. – Union member

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 95 Key themes in communicating climate change in Mauritania

Traditional values and indigenous knowledge systems

Participants from different narrative workshops were attracted to the idea of simple and practical living, according to Bedouin traditions.

Simplicity of living authentic Bedouin traditions. – University student

Simplicity. – Small business owner

Living authentic and genius Bedouin traditions made of pragmatism and simplicity. – Parliamentarian

Traditional and rurality of the habits of the citizens. – Rural farmer

Keep strong ties with traditions and indigenous practices. – Rural farmer

Some group members particularly referenced the potential for traditional knowledge systems to form a part of adaptation to climate change in Mauritania.

Relying on some ancestor knowhow to try to cope as much as possible [with] the situation. – Rural farmer Integrate indigenous and local knowledges to adapt to the new normal. – Journalist Communities already started developing some indigenous coping mechanisms, but we still have to develop them and scale them up to help all the communities to adapt to the already occurring effects and the upcoming impacts. – Parliamentarian

Guardians of the natural world

Participants, especially fishermen, farmers and youth, appeared to value Mauritania’s natural resources. When asked what they valued about Mauritania, answers included the following.

Beautiful protected coastal areas such as Banc d’Arguin, Cap Blanc and Diawling. – Fisherman

Landforms and the climate. – Pupil

Climate and natural environment. – University student

Large spaces offering multitudes of agrosilvopastoral possibilities. – Rural farmer

Long and clean beaches. – Fisherman

Rural farmers in particular associated the notion of inheriting land from ancestors with the responsibility to act as nature’s guardian.

96 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Woman working in a community garden. Photo: Pablo Tosco/Oxfam (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Guardian of values and lands inherited from ancestors. – Rural farmer Attachment to ancestors’ land. – Rural farm

When discussing renewable energy, participants from other narrative workshops were also aware of the importance of protecting the environment, while drawing responsibly on its resources.

They are clean and will help for sure to fight against climate change and protect the biodiversity we have in Mauritania. – Union member

We are gifted with sun and wind. It should be the main energy in Mauritania. – Small business owner

Adapting and mobilising together

Mauritanian participants tended to speak of themselves as resilient and adaptable people.

Adapting to more and more hard living conditions in a changing environment. – Rural farmer

The resilience of Mauritanians. We are able to adapt easily due to our education and faith. – Union member

Despite the harsh climate conditions, most of the time we don’t complain. We live our ups and downs with the community. – Small business owner

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 97 The idea of mobilising together to deal with climate change also came up in some of the narrative workshops.

We find that we are working as a single team to contain the crisis and search for solutions. – University student Mobilise authorities towards more protective policies and regulations rules. – Fisherman Try as much as possible to mobilise and influence policymakers to put in place programmes to build resilience and alleviate the shock induced. – Journalist Environmental challenges are determining the future of the planet and thus mobilising communities and people. – Journalist

Alternatives to Western models

Some participants rightly pointed to the West as the worst contributors to climate change and viewed attempts to reduce the impact of climate change (including the use of renewable energy) as less appropriate in Mauritania.

We feel like it’s a Western agenda far from our main concerns. – Union member

Europe and America on how they over use fossil fuels in their industries. – Union member

Hyper industrialisation from the West is causing the climate crisis. – Small business owner

The Western countries and the industrial world are the main causes of climate change. – Parliamentarian

Indeed, this type of energy [renewables] is now more used in civilised countries because it is more appropriate. – University student

Successfully engaging communities on climate change in Mauritania may therefore mean taking care with creating any sense that Mauritanians are to blame for climate change, while also presenting a unique ‘Mauritanian perspective’ on the solutions based on local knowledge and ownership of ideas.

Irrigating water on the farm, Mauritania. Photo: John Spooner (CC BY-NC 2.0)

98 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Approaches to talking about the causes of climate change

Expand awareness about the causes of climate change

Many participants in the workshops had a good understanding of the causes of climate change. Participants noted they had learned a lot about climate change via various organisations and the media.

Lots of organisations and [the] media are doing awareness campaigns and mobilisation activities around the subject. – Fisherman

Climate change is an issue we cannot miss nowadays. Wherever you go, you hear about the phenomenon. In every channel on TV it becomes THE topic. – Small business owner

Many participants could attribute climate change to human activity and fossil fuels.

Global warming is the result of a high concentration of greenhouse gases from human activities. – Small business owner

Fossil fuels. – Union member

Climate change is the rise of the temperatures induced by the greenhouse effect caused by fumes from cars and factories. – Rural farmer

I think that the first source of climate change are human actions. – University student

Our current economic model is one of the causes of climate change. The model is demanding in terms of energy needs, which make people burn fossil fuels and convert land from forests to agriculture. This produces a lot of greenhouses, which raise the temperature on earth and cause lack of rain, loss of biodiversity, desertification. – Parliamentarian

Not all were so clear, however. Some group members confused climate change with other environmental issues, for example the destruction of the ozone layer, or were not clear what type of pollution drives climate change.

Earth is getting hotter because of the disruption of the ozone layer. – Fisherman

It is about the breakdown of the ozone layer due to pollution and environmental hazards. – Rural farmer

Fertilisers and pesticides. – Rural farmer

Yes, I think that the story changes due to environmental pollution and that will affect us in the short or long term. – University student

Climate change is caused by pollution of water, air and land. – Small business owner

Other participants said more clearly that they were not sure what climate change meant, or what was causing it.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 99 Climate change is on top of the list in international summits. It tells you how important the topic is. I have to admit I don’t know much about it. – Union member

I have no idea. – Small business owner

We hear a lot about climate change on TV and radio. It is not clearly explained why it is happening. – Rural farmer

It has become one of the main focuses of the development projects proposed to our communities, but still we don’t really understand how it involves us. – Rural farmer

We do know about it, but we do not know the pros and cons about it. – Fisherman

A small subset of participants were also more sceptical about climate change or thought of it as a natural phenomenon.

It is a natural thing that happens in all countries of the world. – University student

Climate change is a natural phenomenon that has always existed. Men play a role but I am not sure they are solely responsible. – Small business owner

Climate change is just a new issue that politicians and the media wanted to put forward to scare people. They also did the same with Corona. – Fisherman

The recruitment methodology may have created a bias towards people with a higher level of climate literacy, so the data needs to be considered in this context (see the section on ‘Methodology used in Mauritania’). This suggests that the population in Mauritania, particularly rural people with less access to education, are likely to welcome and need more access to information about the causes of climate change in particular.

Date festival at the market, Mauritania. Photo: Magharebia (CC BY 2.0)

100 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Connect information about the causes and impacts of climate change with information about what to do

A small handful of participants, mostly in the fisherman and rural farmer narrative workshops, viewed climate change as a punishment from God.

God is behind the climate change, punishing human beings for their lack of faith. – Small business owner

God may be punishing us. – Rural farmer

God is punishing us for all the things we have done. – Rural farmer

It’s God punishment; humans have no control on it. – Rural farmer

Disrespect of God’s rules led to the disruption of the equilibrium of the system on earth. – Fisherman

God is showing his power to humans. – Fisherman

This could mean that the speakers are less inclined to take action in response to climate change, reflecting a complex debate within Islam regarding the relationship between fate and free will and whether it is better to take a passive or active attitude towards events in the future.43

Research on climate engagement consistently points to the importance of combining negative information about climate change with a sense of what people can personally do.54,56 Frightening information about threats can lead people to change their behaviour if they feel able to deal with the threat, but it can lead to extremely defensive reactions if they feel unable to do anything about it.57 This finding may need to be explored further in an Islamic context, but suggests that this is particularly important in the Mauritanian context.

Mauritanian man. Photo: © Daouda Corera

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 101 Approaches to talking about the impacts of climate change

Draw on personal testimonies about the impacts of climate change experienced so far

Mauritanian participants from both rural and urban backgrounds demonstrated a high level of awareness of the changes the country is already experiencing. Group members drew on both their own personal experiences and stories they had been told by older generations.

When asked, almost all participants responded that they were worried about climate change.

Completely different 30 years ago. – Union member

Yes. A big difference now compared to my childhood. – Small business owner

We are experiencing the changes. – Union member

We have heard a lot about stories of Mauritania from our parents. It was very different from a climate perspective. – Union member

We have heard a lot about a forest in our village a few decades ago that we can hardly imagine now. – Union member

Yes. They [the older generations] are the best witnesses of the evolution of the changes. – Small business owner

Talk about rising temperatures in recent years

Participants described their own experiences of rising temperatures in Mauritania. Some pointed to the effect heat has on health and wildlife.

Yes, heatwaves are more frequent. – Union member

Temperatures are rising. – Small business owner

Temperature is increasing, even in the Dakhlet Nouadhibou, where we used to have Mediterranean weather. – Parliamentarian

Today the temperatures have become a little more hostile. – Rural farmer

It has negative effects on humans, such as frighteningly high temperatures and effects on animals and plants. – University student

Yes, because I cannot tolerate much weather and extreme heat. – University student

Yes, I have medical history and with heatwaves it tends to get worse. – Union member

102 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Refer to recent changes in rainfall patterns

Participants had also noticed changes in the rainfall patterns in various regions, especially noting unusual flooding and droughts in some regions.

The rainy season now begins three months later than usual; we now record first rains in late August, and it even happens that we record rains in March–April. This has an implication [for] our agriculture, as we change some of our habits. – Rural farmer

Over the last years, we can mention floods in the south, droughts in the eastern part of the country, higher temperatures in the north-west. – Journalist

In regions like Nouakchott, we are experiencing flooding. It’s like the climate is becoming crazy. – Small business owner

Rain in Nouakchott and less water in the south of the country. Something is wrong here. – Small business owner

The vicious circle of droughts and floods has serious consequences [for] the populations who live mainly from agriculture and livestock. The scarcity of water resources threatens livelihoods, diminishes arable land and highlights the disruption of the ecological, social and economic balance. – Parliamentarian

Participants from a variety of backgrounds noted the impact of the changing rain patterns on agriculture and fishing.

Mauritania is a land of breeding. We have known the drought and for years the phenomenon continues and the cattle are declining. In consequence, we [have] lost jobs and the precarity is rising among the farmers. – Small business owner

Access to water points and grazing route is increasingly fraught with difficulties: loss of livestock, [bandit] attacks. – Rural farmer

Increased drought risk making it difficult to access safe drinking water, with harmful consequences for crops and livestock. – Rural farmer

Talk about desertification

Participants demonstrated awareness and concern about desertification and human movement that may follow as a result.

Threatened by desertification, as well as displacement to cities. – University student

In Mauritania, we are concerned about the desertification, the water scarcity in rural regions, less fish in the sea, etc. – Small business owner

These variations/changes in ecosystems and desertification cause death, disease and massive migrations of species. – Journalist

When the environment is neglected, there is no doubt that there will be deep fundamental problems, such as scarcity of water and lack of trees, which will result in desertification and which will be a disaster for the livestock, of which the country has a lot. – University student

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 103 Some participants discussed the movement of people to cities as a result of the interaction between rising temperatures and other social factors.

In fact, climate change alters food and water availability, increases the risk of resource scarcity, and can lead to forced migration. – Parliamentarian

Internally displaced people. – Journalist

And a massive exodus of rural people to cities, engaging in manual labour and/or depending on donations or loans to cope with the situation. – Rural farmer

For sure, it will put more pressure on coastal areas, as rural people will migrate and try better opportunities. – Fisherman

Talk about the availability of food

Mauritania already faces threats to food supplies. Many of the participants were concerned about how climate change will impact food security in the future, thus affecting everyone in Mauritania.

This will affect everyone. The growing desert threatens cities and the loss of oases, agricultural lands and crops, affects crops, affects the population and may cause famine. – University student

It will affect everyone negatively, of course. It will have consequences for food and water security, local economies and public health. – Journalist

As citizens, of course, we will be impacted, especially with food insecurity induced by climate impacts. – Journalist

This will affect us in a huge number of ways. Climate influences the growth of crops and livestock activities, thus affecting the availability and kind of food we eat. – Parliamentarian

Rainfall has again experienced over the last decades rather substantial variability, leading to increased vulnerability of populations dependent on primary agriculture. – Rural farmer

Food insecurity. – Journalist

Some of the participants also discussed the impact of the changes on ocean acidification, sea level rise and the availability of fisheries.

We already lost arable lands and halieutic resources due to ocean acidification and coastal erosion. – Journalist

We also note the rise in sea level, particularly in Nouakchott, but also the phenomenon of ocean acidification drastically reducing the volume of fishery resources. – Parliamentarian

Salt intrusion, coastal erosion and advanced seawater. – Fisherman

Certainly, and it affects all of us is the fluctuations of the weather and the transformation of some areas to coasts. – University student

It will affect fisheries via changes in sea temperatures and circulation patterns; this will lead to drastic reduction of catches and then naturally lead to the impoverishment of communities of fishermen and industry professionals. – Fisherman

104 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Two men eating lunch and brewing tea. Photo: Valerian Guillot (CC BY 2.0)

Talk about the economic impacts of climate change more broadly

Some participants (largely from a more urban background) were aware of the economic impact climate change will have on Mauritanian economic activities beyond food, farming and fisheries.

It has economic impacts and social implications. The experienced droughts and floods have enormous consequences on people’s ability to earn a living and feed their families. – Parliamentarian

Yes, the impact is worse on the economic and environmental side. – University student

What’s going on is that the climate is changing, with bad impacts on economies in Africa, especially in sectors like agriculture, fishery … It affects small farmers badly, raising poverty among them. It also affects small business. – Union member

Instability is a threat to any kind of business, and climate change can bring instability and insecurity. – Union member

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 105 Approaches to talking about renewables

Participants were largely positive about the implementation of renewables, though most knew about the idea of renewable power only in theory and believed it to be expensive. A small number of participants mentioned they had personal experience with renewables, mostly solar energy.

Only good stuff. I think it can improve our way of living. – Union member

I like these methods and I hope they are used. – Pupil

Viable alternative for countries like Mauritania, even if the cost is a bit prohibitive for now for normal citizens. – Journalist

Solar panels are very useful in remote zones like ours, but still very expensive. – Rural farmer

We used to have a water pump functioning with [a] solar panel, but the panel is apparently damaged; the service provider is asking for too much money to repair it. – Rural farmer

Many group members were critical of their current energy provider and hoped renewables would be an improvement.

Could be an interesting alternative to SOMELEC’s [energy provider] expensive bills. – Fisherman

Very interesting. With them we will not pay as we did today with SOMELEC. I am wondering why the government is looking towards these energies. – Small business owner

There is no public policy enabling easy shift from SOMELEC’s energy to solar energy. – Fisherman

In the workshops, participants praised the Mauritanian government’s efforts to increase Mauritania’s capacity to produce renewable energy. When asked why they thought the government was focusing on renewables, most of the answers recorded suggested it was an appropriate response to the threat of climate change.

Commitment and guidance on the issue. – Pupil

New vision and commitment from authorities to find solutions to our problems. – Small business owner

Long-term vision launched recently and that is based on the assessment of the huge potential and the advantages it offers in the long run. – Journalist

Long-term vision obliged the government to shift from fossil to renewables for two main reasons: in the long run it’s cheaper and less polluting; it also allows developing countries like Mauritania to get rid of the pressure of oil producing countries. – Parliamentarian

A matter of rationality through a rational government policy. – University student

106 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Fisherman loading the boat, Mauritania. Photo: Michal Huniewicz (CC BY 2.0)

However, the groups of farmers and fishermen appeared to be more suspicious of the Mauritanian government’s motives and of renewables in general.

Another means to take money from the people. – Rural farmer

Maybe someone close to the President has a monopoly on the renewable energy business. – Fisherman

Not sure it will make anyhow Mauritania better, but for sure a lobby is getting good things out of it. – Fisherman

Overall, participants appeared to have a good idea about the benefits and possible issues surrounding renewables, as summarised in Table 3.

Table 3: Top benefits and problems associated with renewable energy.

Benefits Problems

Environmentally friendly/sustainable Cost of installation

Lower running costs Inability to produce energy in large quantities

Job creation Cost of storage

Reduce reliance on foreign energy sources Doubt about whether people will use renewables

Energy widely accessible if set up in rural areas Concern over energy providers

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 107 Approaches to talking with different audiences in Mauritania

Talking with business-minded people and parliamentarians

Business owners and union members in this research expressed particular concern about the impact climate change will have on the Mauritanian economy. Emphasising the economic impact of climate change as well as potential job creation opportunities (in the renewable energy sector, for example) is therefore more likely to engage these audiences.

I am afraid we have to change our way of working and I don’t like the uncertainty. – Union member

More poverty or less purchasing power is not good for anyone. – Union member

Less opportunity to work. – Small business owner

Yes, I am afraid to lose my job. – Small business owner

[Regarding renewable energy]: It’s renewable and is full of potential and opportunities for economies like Mauritania. – Parliamentarian

[Regarding renewable energy]: It will create new opportunities for youth and provide good paying jobs. – Union member

Parliamentarians in the narrative workshops were also concerned about whether climate change will affect political stability in the region.

All of these factors present a growing risk to political stability, which in turn could affect [the] security, prosperity and wellbeing of the country. – Parliamentarian

If proper measures are not taken, the country can be destabilised like Mali or Niger. – Parliamentarian

Talking with young people

Knowledge acquisition and education were very important to secondary school and university students participating in the workshops. Communications disseminating the latest information about climate change and the innovations in climate research may be particularly valuable for younger generations, who want to gain more education.

What distinguishes me from other people is my passion and my love for science and the pursuit of knowledge, my love for the nature of mysterious things. – University student

We exchange opinions and ideas. There is much that we share, science and knowledge. – University student

More understanding as the only solution for innovation and creativity. – University student

Breaking down barriers of research and learning, and delving into knowledge. – Pupil

[Regarding how to cope with climate change]: Awareness about the topic and seriousness. – Pupil

108 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Talking with fishermen and farmers

Fishermen and farmers participating in the workshops, who observe the natural environment on a daily basis, were able to describe the changes they were observing and the threats they posed to their livelihood.

Decreased availability of small pelagic species. The total annual catch has dropped considerably, not only the quantity, but also the quality; it is said to be due to change in [the] migration patterns of species. – Fisherman

All this has a negative impact on breeding, on the lives of our herds of camels, oxen and our small ruminants. – Rural farmer

Erratic and unpredictable rainfall, causing the depletion of livelihoods. – Rural farmer

Farmers also described the impact of environmental changes on migration out of rural areas, impacting their ability to find labour in villages.

[Referring to the impact of climate change, as well as of the Covid-19 pandemic]: Because of our current situation, all the youth from our villages and those that used to farm and work on livestock are leaving to the capital and other destinations that we do not know. Villages are empty; [there is] less and less manpower. – Rural farmer

It’s making lots of youth leave the villages, because there is less and less resources and activities linked to agriculture, pastoralism, etc. – Rural farmer

Although very knowledgeable about the changes to the environment, farmers and fishermen appeared to be less educated about the science of climate change than other audiences.

It has become one of the main focuses of the development projects proposed to our communities, but still we don’t really understand how it involves us. – Rural farmer

[Regarding the cause of climate change]: Fertilisers and pesticides. – Rural farmer

It’s God’s punishment; humans have no control on it. – Rural farmer

Earth is getting hotter because of the disruption of the ozone layer. – Fisherman

Fishermen and farmers in the narrative workshop appeared to be the most critical of the government, and could thus be a good resource for challenging the government to do more about climate change in the region.

The reasons are economical; I am not sure if the government even cares for [the] environment. – Rural farmer

Overall, partnering with farmers and fishermen could be a powerful — and respectful — way of amplifying the voice of people who are key witnesses to climate change.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 109 Appendices

Global narratives: a new model of communications research

The project uses the global narratives methodology, a citizen science approach to climate change communications research developed by Climate Outreach. Local partner organisations are professionally trained to deliver values-based focus groups (narrative workshops) with different audiences, testing specific language around climate change and renewable energy. Using this data, the project develops distinct and culturally specific narratives on climate change.

The aim of the methodology is as follows:

» Develop narratives: The methodology aims to test and compare specific language around climate change, land and renewable energy in different countries around the world, and to use this to create distinct and culturally specific narratives around climate change that resonate with and inspire people to take action. Narrative workshops go beyond traditional focus groups by asking searching questions about people’s values, identity and hopes for the future, rather than by putting forward a particular policy proposal or technological response. This makes the methodology applicable across diverse cultures and to all sections of the population.

» Strengthen capacity: involve national partners in all stages of design, content and implementation and to pass on professional public engagement and research skills to climate advocates, applying a ‘citizen science’ approach to social science research. This makes high-quality research affordable in low-income countries to support current and future public engagement and build confidence.

» Shift the narrative: apply learning and insights from the research to transform the public engagement approaches of international advocacy organisations and climate institutions around the world.

The global narratives methodology has previously been successfully carried out in India in 2017 and in Alberta, Canada in 2018. By exploring values and identity and testing responses to language around climate change with different audiences, it aims to gain insights into what language does, and what language does not work when talking about climate change within a particular region or nation state.

110 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project About narrative workshops

The narrative workshop methodology developed by Climate Outreach is a form of qualitative research that explores the language and narrative around climate change and its solutions. Two aspects to the methodology distinguish narrative workshops from other forms of focus group research:

» Use of a structure and format that promotes peer-to-peer dialogue.

» Grounding the dialogue in participants’ values and identity, which are the sources of their attitudes.

This approach is designed to allow participants to engage in conversations about climate change and to respond to narratives provided in their own terms with reference to the things that matter to them, rather than seeking to generate a debate on the basis of complex and abstract science.

A narrative workshop follows a script, leading participants through six successive topics:

1 Values: what do you care about? What do you dislike? What makes you proud of who you are?

2 National identity: how do you feel about your country and your place in it?

3 Changes: what changes have you noticed and what concerns do you have for the future?

4 Climate change: what does it mean to you and what do you think causes it?

5 Climate change impacts: what are the impacts and how will you and others cope?

6 Renewables: what do renewables mean to you and can they replace fossil fuels?

The final activity tests short passages of narrative text. The narratives present climate change and renewables around different themes. Participants are given printouts of the narratives and asked to mark the words or sentences they like in green and the ones they dislike in red, leaving the ones they neither like nor dislike unmarked.

This method highlights the specific words or phrases that work best (or fail) and enables an easy comparison between the findings of different narrative workshops. The facilitator, scanning the marked copies, then leads a discussion about why people like or dislike specific narratives and draws out general conclusions from the group.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 111 Narrative workshop demographics

Tunisian narrative workshop demographics

Local partner organisations ran nine narrative workshops across Tunisia with 107 participants in total between September 2019 and November 2019.

Table 4: Demographics of the people who participated in the narrative workshops.

Students Activists, engaged Workers Marginal Groups

Civil Society Artisans Members Members Disabled Rural High school University activists Fishermen and shop- (APLM) (ATPNE) people women (APED) keepers

Number of participants 12 9 21 14 10 13 8 9 11

Location Soliman Gabes Nabeul Korba Tataouine Djerba Tozeur El Kram Gafsa

M 6 3 15 6 6 13 8 8 0

F 6 6 6 8 4 0 0 1 11

<20

20-30

30-40 Age 40-50

50-60

60-70

Primary Highest level of Secondary education University attained Post-grad

Approach to recruitment

During their initial training, local partners were asked to identify their chosen target audience and to outline its demographics (its composition by age, gender, educational level, income and political values). They were then instructed to recruit their narrative workshop groups carefully to be representative of their wider audience.

112 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Egyptian narrative workshop demographics

Nine local partner organisations ran 12 narrative workshops across Tunisia with 93 participants in total between February 2020 and October 2020. Five of the narrative workshops were completed in February or March 2020. Seven of them (with fishermen, tourism workers and rural farmers) were completed in October/November 2020, under restrictions imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Table 5: Demographics of the people in the narrative workshops.

Residents Students Activists Workers Marginal Groups

Members of Rural farmers Red Sea Urban Urban 2 University Fishermen Tourism EIPR (mostly women)

24 Number of participants 10 7 12 5 12 20 3 (in 3 different workshops) Location Quseir Helwan Alexandria Cairo Cairo Rasheed Upper Egypt Minya

M 4 3 5 2 8 20 2 3

F 6 4 7 3 4 0 1 21

<20

20-30

30-40 Age 40-50

50-60

>60

Primary Highest level of Secondary education University attained Post-grad

Approach to recruitment

During their initial training, local partners were asked to identify their chosen target audience and to outline its demographics (its composition by age, gender, educational level, income and polit- ical values). They were then instructed to recruit their narrative workshop groups carefully to be representative of their wider audience. The de- mographics of the groups did not only reflect the priorities and limitations encountered by local partners, but also which communities could be safely reached during the pandemic. Audiences were selected primarily according to gender, oc- cupation, location and faith.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 113 Mauritanian narrative workshop demographics

Seven local partner organisations ran 12 narrative workshops across Mauritania with 48 participants in total between October and November 2020. All of the groups were undertaken using risk mitiga- tion measures during the Covid-19 pandemic. Audiences were selected according to their ethnicity, gender, age and socio-professional status/occupation.

Table 6: Demographics of the people in the narrative workshops.

Journalists & Small scale fisheries Farmers, herders Local leaders & Parliamentarians Communicators & local fishing & rurals

Semi- Community Art/Tr Local/ Radio TV Online Municipality Parliaments prof Farmer Herder Rural leaders Fish indi fish

Number of participants 4 3 4 4 4 3 5 4 4 5 4 4 Location of narrative Nouakchott Nouakchott Nouadhibou Kaedi workshop M 2 2 2 3 3 1 4 4 4 3 4 1

F 2 1 2 1 1 2 1 0 0 2 0 3

<20

20-40 Age 40-60

>60

None

No formal Highest level of Primary education Secondary attained University

Post-grad

Students Business Secondary school pupils Mixed

Business Owners & West North South Hodh Assaba Guidimakha University Entrepreneurs of city of city of city residents residents residents

Number of participants 11 7 4 4 4 4 4 4 Location of narrative Nouakchott Nouakchott Nouakchott Atar workshop M 5 4 2 2 2 2 2 2

F 6 3 2 2 2 2 2 2

<20

20-40 Age 40-60

>60

None

No formal Highest level of Primary education Secondary attained University

Post-grad

114 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Approach to recruitment

Partners followed a culturally appropriate methodology for recruiting participants using networks of contacts. This typically involved approaching a representative figure (for exam- ple the head of a village, or a community rep- resentative) and asking if they could arrange for the relevant gathering to take place with the appropriate gender, ethnic and tribal balance.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 115 Limitations of the methodology

Demographics

In all three countries, the methodology had limitations and did not reach a representative sample of the country.

In Tunisia, most of the groups took place in the north-east and in the middle/south of Tunisia. The vulnerable north-west forest region was not represented. Three narrative workshops were run in the governorate of Nabeul, in Al-Maamoura, Selimane and Korba. The overall sample also had a higher proportion of better educated participants than in the national population. Some communities (for example farmers, foresters and people employed in the tourist industry) were not represented. More men than women participated in the narrative workshops.

In Egypt, significant parts of the population (including people working in the services and industrial sector, as well as informal workers and slum dwellers) were not represented. Three out of the 12 narrative workshops were undertaken with farmers, and nearly all the participants were women farmers. While this provided an opportunity to explore conversation with rural women, it is not reflective of the wider farming workforce in Egypt.

As highlighted in the main text, the recruitment approach used in Mauritania meant that educated individuals, seen as good representatives of a particular community, were more likely to participate in the groups. As a result the narrative workshops may have captured a cohort of participants with a relatively high level of education and high climate literacy, in contrast to the general population. Language

In Tunisia and Egypt, the narrative workshops were undertaken in the relevant local language and recorded. The recording was then transcribed and translated into English before being analysed, although in Egypt the analysis was undertaken by the same Arabic speaker who had undertaken the transcription.

In Mauritania, the narrative workshops took place in several different local languages. Research participants were not willing to have their voices recorded, so the narrative workshops were recorded using notes. The notes were then translated into English before being analysed. The specific limitations of the approach in Mauritania are discussed on page 92.

The process of note taking and translation introduces potential bias into the research. In a project focused on culture and language, undertaking the analysis in translation also limits the depth and richness of the conclusions.

116 CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project Responses to the narrative workshop script

Local partners were new to the idea of delivering a workshop script. Some found the process complex and therefore difficult to complete accurately. Many research participants were unfamiliar with the idea of a focus group, and this may have affected their responses to the process.

In Mauritania, some participants expressed worries that researchers had a hidden agenda which may have influenced their responses. In both Egypt and Mauritania, research facilitators and participants expressed discomfort with the idea of talking about their values in a public forum, viewing this as a personal topic not suitable for public discussion. In a few cases facilitators did not even bring it up, as they felt uncomfortable doing so.

In Egypt, some participants were illiterate. The test narrative was read aloud to the group to prompt discussion. The workshops with participants who could not read followed a slightly different, more organic structure to the rest of the workshops. Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic

When the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global pandemic in March 2020, this project was put on hold. Narrative workshops were restarted in September 2020 using a Covid-19 risk management strategy and following WHO and national guidelines for gatherings.

As a result of these measures, some participants felt less comfortable than they otherwise would have done. The project has not explicitly taken into account any shifts in cultural attitudes as a result of the pandemic, although this has been explored in a different Climate Outreach report.175 This limitation may be particularly important for the Tunisian results, as all the narrative workshops were undertaken before the pandemic started in November 2019. The pandemic also meant it was impossible to undertake fieldwork in Jordan, as originally planned.

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 117 References

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Background photos Page 28: Carthage, Tunisia. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/130649623@N05/20554748712/ Page 60: Karnak, Luxor, Egypt. - https://unsplash.com/photos/pvFtrzwuc6g Page 86: Ouadane, Mauritania. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/carsten_tb/48046072098

CLIMATE OUTREACH • Communicating climate change in Tunisia, Egypt and Mauritania: A global narratives project 123 CLIMATE outreach