WILBERFORCE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES (WJSS) Special Issue Number 1, October 2019 43 CULTURAL DRIVERS OF CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA Jackson T.C.B Jack Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Federal University Otuoke, Bayelsa State 08037598165; jackjt@fuotuoke.edu.ng ORCID:orcid.org/0000-0003-4326-8544 Abstract This study examined cultural drivers of climate change in the Niger Delta. Anchored on the risk society theory and relying on both primary and secondary sources of data, the study demonstrated that climate change in the region is exacerbated by attitudinal and behavioral dispositions associated with negative environmental consumption patterns that are deep rooted in and sustained by predominant cultural values, norms and practices. The study recommended that behavioral change especially through the promotion of a culture of sustainable natural resource utilization is expedient in mitigating climate change impacts in the Niger Delta. This can be achieved by mainstreaming mitigation and adaptation policies to address cultural and behavioral practices that intensify climate change and its impacts in the region. Key Words: Climate Change, Cultural Drivers, Environmental Consumption, Niger Delta 1. Introduction Climate change is increasingly being recognized as the greatest threat to the physical environment as well as human communities. This is because changes in the climate can pose deleterious effects on the natural ecological systems which provide life support for the earth‟s flora and fauna. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) defined climate change as “a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods” (UNFCCC,1992). Drawing from the foregoing definition, it is deducible that while climate change refers to changes in the climate overtime, it can either be as a result of natural variability or human activities. It is however disturbing to note that contemporary changes in the earth‟s climate is largely associated with anthropogenic than natural factors. According to the International Panel on Climate Change (2007), increasing concentration of Green House Gases (GHGs) in the earth‟s atmosphere and the consequent depletion of the ozone layer are the major drivers of climate change. Green House Gases include toxic gaseous substances such as Carbon-dioxide (CO2), water vapor (H2Ov), chlorofluorocarbons, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and halocarbons which are introduced into the atmosphere from burning of fossil fuels in the process of meeting the daily energy, production and consumption demands of man. Subsequently, the impacts of climate change are enormous as it is known to precipitate rise in sea levels, increased drought, rapid storms, unstable rainfall patterns, crop failures etc. (IPPC, 2007;