In recent years, the education sector has felt the effects of climate change. As the 2024/5 GEM Report reported, many low- and lower-middle-income countries are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather events. and the number of medium- to large-scale disasters is projected to increase from 400 annually in 2015 to 560, or about 1.5 each day, by 2030.

The evidence is clear that education can play a critical role in the response to climate change, especially through the inclusion of climate change content in curricula, and should be invested in as part of the solution.

Climate finance, however, is being hotly debated in the aftermath of the COP 29. Is there enough and for the right areas? This blog argues that climate finance presents an opportunity to help schools withstand climate events. Integrating education into climate finance initiatives may also enhance the capacity for adaptation and mitigation efforts.

A brief history of climate finance

Climate finance gained traction with the 1992 Earth Summit. The Kyoto Protocol subsequently introduced mechanisms that facilitated investments in emissions-reduction projects in developing countries. The Global Environment Facility was established in 1991 and the Climate Investment Funds in 2008. The 2009 Copenhagen Accord was pivotal, committing developed nations to mobilize USD 100 billion annually by 2020, leading to the creation of the Green Climate Fund in 2010. The 2015 Paris Agreement further reinforced these commitments.

At the COP28, 45 countries endorsed a Declaration calling for nations to build climate-smart education systems through the four pillars of action of the Greening Education Partnership: greening schools, curricula, teacher training, and community engagement.

In 2021/22, average annual climate finance flows reached almost USD 1.3 trillion, nearly double 2019/20 levels. Government climate finance commitments surged to USD 288 billion, up from USD 179 billion in 2021. However, the education sector received just USD 13 million for climate finance initiatives in 2021/2 — or just 0.001% of the total of both private and public finance — as this figure shows.

Climate finance is estimated at USD 1.3 trillion but education gets a tiny fraction

Distribution of climate finance (%), 2021/22

Source: Global Center on Adaptation and Climate Policy Initiative (2023).

Meanwhile, at the COP 29 this month, the outcomes of the New Collective Quantified Goal agreed by 200 countries aim at tripling finance to developing countries, from the previous goal of USD 100 billion annually, to USD 300 billion annually by 2035. It also aims at scaling up finance to developing countries, from public and private sources, to USD 1.3 trillion per year by 2035.

These commitments were seen as unsatisfactory by many. “We categorically reject this insufficient final text, a marginal inflation-adjusted increase from the previous $100 billion annual goal only first achieved in 2022, which wholly discounts our collective efforts across civil society and UNFCCC touchpoints for the past three years,” Vivek Venkatram (UNESCO Youth Representative) told us on behalf of the NECYA (Network for European Youth NGOs on Climate Action).

“The NCQG text – inadequate in quantum, structure, and its unecessarily distant start-date of 2035 – proposes a vague $1 trillion voluntary quantum consisting of unspecified financing from both developed & developing countries and risks deepening debt burdens on developing countries under the guise of “climate finance”. Further, we reject the developed countries’ low-ball annual quantum commitment of $300 billion, which falls woefully short of the scientific consensus calling for a need of at least $6 trillion in public, grant-based, and locally-accessible funding by 2030.”

How can the education sector benefit from climate funds?

The crux of the issue is that climate finance is typically managed by entities outside the education sector, so education ministries can find it difficult to access the funds. The 2024/5 GEM Report argued that effective access to climate finance hinges on several key components.

First, a national climate plan must clearly outline the education sector’s role in climate preparedness and establish a coordination mechanism. This plan should define the responsibilities of ministries to ensure robust disaster risk management and secure adequate resource allocation for the education sector.

Various countries leverage climate finance for education. Grenada aims to increase the number of schools with disaster management plans. While government agencies are encouraged to design their own continuity and emergency response plans, recurrent funding for disasters is primarily allocated to the National Disaster Management Agency. Strengthening the coordination within the Ministry of Education for preparedness planning and providing clearer guidance for schools on disaster plan preparation are essential to join the agendas. Dedicated staff with the necessary expertise can further enhance these efforts. A clearly defined role for the Ministry of Education within a coordinated national mechanism is crucial for effective and equitable resource mobilization in climate finance.

Thailand has developed a National Adaptation Plan that incorporates climate education into its strategy. It has a coordination mechanism for accessing international funds, ensuring budgetary support for government agencies and establishing integrated budgeting for climate change actions. While the plan’s current focus is stronger in sectors such as health and agriculture, there is potential to enhance the role of education, which could further secure resources for educational initiatives.

Second, a dedicated national agency can bridge international and domestic funding. This helps overcome the fact that accessing climate finance from entities like the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility can be challenging for developing countries due to complex processes and stringent criteria.

Kenya has a national designated agency for the Global Climate Fund and two national accredited entities, the National Environment Management Authority of Kenya and KCB Bank Kenya Limited, to implement projects.

Rwanda’s National Environment Fund, meanwhile, channels, programmes, disburses and monitors climate finance and facilitates direct access to international funds such as the Green Climate Fund. The fund is accessible to line ministries, districts, private entities and civil society.

Third, while international finance often supports projects on a case-by-case basis, a comprehensive approach will maximize risk preparedness. For example, the Global Partnership for Education’s Climate Smart Education System supports climate finance for up to 35 of the most climate-vulnerable countries, in collaboration with UNESCO, UNESCO IIEP and Save the Children. It helps education ministries to access climate finance and provides technical assistance for evidence-based planning, cross-ministerial coordination and building greener, more resilient education infrastructure.

The World Bank’s Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery also emphasizes a comprehensive framework for disaster risk reduction in education. Its Global Program for Safer Schools integrates technical advice, risk-informed investment designs and risk reduction considerations into education infrastructure. Between 2014 and 2023, it supported 35 countries, influencing the design and implementation of over USD 3.1 billion worth of school infrastructure projects. The World Bank’s Pacific Safer Schools Program also collaborates with governments, the construction industry and non-governmental organizations in the region to reinforce school buildings and infrastructure.

Finally, effective risk assessment and cost estimation are crucial for the education sector to comprehensively address its needs. This includes costing up the capital investment needed in education sector plans that incorporate disaster preparedness and management. Belize’s Education Sector Plan 2021–2025 emphasizes the need for hurricane-resistant facilities and effective risk mitigation strategies: 89% of the education budget is dedicated to staff costs, with the remaining 11% for training, scholarships, facility maintenance and materials.

Building the Climate Resilience of Children and Communities through the Education Sector (BRACE) retrofits and constructs climate-adaptive schools in countries such as Cambodia, South Sudan and Tonga. It aligns with the international School Safety Framework and is a partnership between the Global Partnership for Education, Save the Children and GCF, whose Board will review the co-financing arrangement for approval in mid-2025.

Climate finance offers valuable opportunities to enhance disaster preparedness and resilience within the education sector. Accessing climate finance can be challenging, but overcoming these obstacles is feasible and can lead to substantial benefits. Initiatives like BRACE demonstrate how targeted investments can strengthen education systems and support sustainable development in vulnerable regions.

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In his poem The Right to Dream (1995), Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano starts with “Who knows how the world will be in 2025!” and goes on to imagine a better future. Unfortunately, 2025 is coming up, and with each year passing our survival is at stake. This year alone, millions of people worldwide experienced extreme climate events, groundbreaking temperatures, genocides, and deadly exposure to toxic chemicals and pollution leading to mass death, injury, displacement, poverty, and trauma. Why have our education systems not caught up with this crisis?

Schools continue to be battlegrounds for the building of societies, and education can either be utilized to uphold the status quo or create a just and sustainable future. In a world where climate disasters are disrupting access to education, where eco-anxiety is prevalent among youth, and where pollution impacts of the health of millions of children, we must ensure that young people are equipped to tackle societal issues and the biggest issue facing our generation – the climate crisis.

Yet, we still lack comprehensive climate justice education. The Global Education Monitoring Report at UNESCO and the MECCE Project’s recent global mapping showed that the world scored only 50% in a test on how extensively their education systems cover climate change in their curriculum and syllabi. It also showed that most of the content related to climate change is still only taught in a science class, and not covered across other subject areas.

Attending public schools in Texas, I saw this playing out in practice. I saw how climate change was briefly mentioned and only framed as a future issue that will impact polar bears. The solutions that were brought up didn’t go beyond recycling and reducing one’s personal carbon footprint. It wasn’t until I interned for PODER’s Young Scholars for Justice (YSJ) program as a teenager, that the pieces began to fall into place. The YSJ curriculum centers environmental justice organizing, BIPOC movement history, local Indigenous cultures, and a critical analysis of social-political structures. Through various lessons, art and poetry workshops, guest speakers, and participating in organizing I was able to put words to describe the what, why, and how of the inequalities I had experienced and observed around me. It was also the first time I realized that traditional knowledge is a critical part of climate solutions. The cosmological stories of plants, tree spirits, Bodhisattva etc passed down to me from my Hakka & Indigenous Taiwanese ancestors were full of wisdom. The cultural knowledge I had grown up with was valuable outside my home.

Over the years, I’ve worked on numerous campaigns, from fighting against the petrochemical industry and for access to clean and affordable water, to advocating for fossil fuel phase out and cumulative impact policies. But it was only because the climate justice education I received, through PODER, through my mom’s stories, through community, through radical professors, through organizing allowed me to turn despair into action. I see education as a practice of freedom, as an opportunity to reclaim culture, rewrite history, and reimagine our world.

This is what led me to co-create environmental justice curricula and programming alongside our incredible BIPOC team, through my nonprofit Start:Empowerment.

I believe it is imperative for all K-12 students to have access to comprehensive climate education, one that centers traditional ecologies, justice, critical consciousness, social-emotional learning, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) and action.

We must go beyond simple awareness of the climate crisis to understanding its social-political root causes and solutions. We owe it to the next generation to provide them with the tools and knowledge needed to tackle the climate crisis and systemic oppression. Only then, can we imagine and build a different world – and I sincerely hope that our future generations will be given the right to dream. Perhaps in 2075 – who knows what the world will be!

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Africa contributes a measly 3% of global carbon emissions, yet no continent is feeling the heat – literally – as much. Rising temperatures are killing our livestock, and coastal areas face the brunt of rising sea levels. It’s a harsh reality brought on by a world that has prioritized convenience over sustainability.

Growing up in Nigeria, environmental consciousness wasn’t a class; it was a lifestyle. It wasn’t some abstract concept – it was turning our backyard farm into a living example of sustainability. We didn’t need to go to the market for fruits or vegetables; we cultivated them ourselves. We didn’t just burn weeds; we learned to compost them. This wasn’t unique to my family – it was a cultural wellspring, a deep understanding that protecting the environment benefits us all. At school, our curriculum had a lot of home economics and understanding cultural nuances. Every Friday, we would learn about the farmland and would till the ground of our school and clear the bushes to turn them into compost, harvest them, and take them to the school kitchen.

Then, I moved to Rwanda for university, one of the countries with the highest forest-land ratio on the continent. Here, too, the environment is a national priority. Every last Saturday of the month, the whole country comes out to clean the environment between 08:00 and 11:00. The strong community involvement in environmental cleanup reinforces my desire to be conscious of the health of my surrounding environment. 

My experience proves that our climate change education already exists, and more than that, it’s embedded in the culture. And so I realized that the problem wasn’t with African education. It was with climate education elsewhere. The solution isn’t forcing Africa to change. It’s about the rest of the world catching up. 

The developed world, the biggest polluters, needs to take responsibility for the mess they helped create; rising temperatures affecting food availability and prices are a direct consequence of their actions. Climate justice isn’t just about helping vulnerable countries adapt to a changing climate; it’s about addressing the root causes that push people towards environmental degradation simply to survive.  

Everything is interconnected. The planet is a complex system where every variable affects another. Rising temperatures disrupt agricultural production, pushing food prices up. This is why Africa has 65% of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land, yet insufficient to feed its inhabitants. My father’s backyard poultry has suffered damage as some chickens have died recently due to rising temperatures. This creates a vicious cycle for people already struggling to put food on the table. As the saying goes, you can’t force a hungry or angry man to care about their environment, as they’re much more likely to satisfy their hunger than protect a tree or the wildlife around them. This is global warming at a granular level. That’s why social safety nets are crucial. We need to give people the ability to focus on the future, not just survive the day. I am studying planetary health and think that the global government and entities like the UN have a role in ensuring that justice is served. 

My experience in Nigeria wasn’t some anomaly. It was a model – one the world could learn from. In my home country, we understood the importance of traditional cultural practices – practices like composting chicken manure, a technique I learned from a young age, many of which are for the benefit of the environment. This knowledge, passed down through generations, needs to be celebrated and incorporated into curriculums around the world, as the new report by the GEM Report and MECCE Project, Learning to Act for People and Planet makes clear. I support the youth petition they are coordinating on this. Education should be influenced and should add to what already exists culturally. 

Perhaps what developing countries can learn from us is how we have been able to integrate nature close to us. Nothing beats stepping barefoot into nature and feeling connected with Mother Earth. In Rwanda, where I now live, most people have some knowledge about farming. Meanwhile, on my first visit to the United States, I was amazed to see that people have to buy soil to plant anything. This disconnect from nature discourages appreciation for nature and fuels a cycle of destruction. 

This isn’t just about Africa. It’s about our planet’s future. We all share this Earth, and a sustainable future requires a united effort. Let’s learn from each other, in-and-outside school, and build a world where environmental consciousness isn’t a privilege, but a common thread that binds us all.

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I vividly recall being in the 6th grade, spending weeks meticulously cutting out used cereal boxes to build my very own shack in the simulated city of El Hopa – a land of hopes and dreams. We were embodying the role of villagers from a rural area, faced with increasing agricultural hardship due to unpredictable climates and attracted by the promise of moving to the big city. As I placed my little shack, a labour of love, I felt connected to my new city. And with it came apprehensions and fears for my future. My fears were justified as a simulated “typhoon” ripped through El Hopa, swept away my shack – and along with it – my hopes and dreams for the future. 

Fast forward to high school, with the painful memory of my carefully-built shack being swept away still etched deep in my mind, I raised my hand in the back of Psychology class, “How does our identity in social groups affect climate change?” With the rise of polarisation in society, I realised that climate change – despite being an inherently science-based issue – has become a point of contention.

I learned that day in class, it’s not all doom and gloom. When we cooperate over common goals that transcend our individual and group interests, we set aside our differences and form a shared sense of identity. The key to globally-coordinated action, therefore, is to reframe climate change as a shared superordinate goal, irrespective of one’s geography, political affiliations, or socioeconomic status.

And that’s when it all started to make sense – El Hopa mirrored this very concept! My devastation at the destruction of my “home” brought about a sense of connectedness – not just to my peers, but to the lived realities of those who face the real and devastating effects of climate change each and every day. Given the transboundary nature of climate change, those who cause the most pollution are too far removed from the consequences of their actions. El Hopa brought the alarming climate science to life – making abstract climate phenomena deeply personal and tangible. The experience gave us a unique window to empathise with the harsh realities of people in the Philippines, where typhoons have intensified due to climate change, and the resilient people of Tuvalu, who are adapting to preserve their disappearing island nation. Living thousands of miles away, I came closer to understanding the existential climate threat faced by the 3.6 billion people in areas highly susceptible to climate change.

A shift in climate education is fundamentally needed to develop our understanding of the scientific consensus surrounding climate change and to build a socio-emotional narrative necessary to promote climate action. I had the privilege of attending a school that had a holistic emphasis on service alongside academics – and climate education has had a profound influence on my advocacy.

Once we strengthen the human-to-human connection, we are more united in achieving a common goal despite speaking different languages, holding different ideologies, or hailing from different places. That shared humanity should be encouraged through climate education but needs to go a step further by advocating for individual climate action. At school, students engaged in climate fundraisers and awareness raising; however, there was limited personal sacrifice. I noticed pushback from the student population towards environmentally positive initiatives such as ‘Veggie Wednesdays’ and restrictions on food deliveries. In contrast, when Singapore was confronted with haze pollution – caused by slash-and-burn practices across regional palm oil plantations – we experienced the health effects firsthand and banded together to take action. The difficulties we encountered highlighted the interconnectedness of environmental issues: We became more aware of the dire situation faced by native orangutans, left with nowhere to flee as their habitats were engulfed by the encroaching fires and the plight of nearby villagers, who suffered the worst of its effects.

Change often starts from the individual and ripples outwards in the community. Consequently, schools need to be a driving force for climate action in their own backyard. Given the formative role schools play in educating the adults of tomorrow, climate education needs to not only bring to life climate issues in other countries but also empower individual and collective action.

Climate education is not the endpoint. Rather, it should aim to build a climate-positive mentality that drives individuals to take action, within their own means, across all facets of life. Let me illustrate this with an issue close to home, Singapore: Despite being a leader in climate mitigation, there is unfortunately a rampant use of single-use plastics across food courts in Singapore. If climate education fosters a climate-conscious mentality, students might bring their reusable cups the next time they order their favourite drink, thus spurring institutional change. Our shared calls for accountability and action – to corporations, elected officials, and world leaders – are made infinitely stronger when they have a concrete basis: change in our very own backyard.

Just as the El Hopa simulation allowed me to forge a profound connection with those affected by the harshest effects of climate migration, climate education could be the crucial link between awareness, empathy, and action. By feeling the struggles of our companions near and far, we cultivate a climate mindset that not only comprises a deeper understanding of climate science but also underpins our collective resolve to take action. The GEM Youth Petition on Climate Education embodies this very spirit, inviting global leaders to prioritise holistic climate education and act now to ensure that the communities most vulnerable to climate change are not left behind. I urge you to add your name. 

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As a young climate activist, my heart aches when I think about the destruction we’re inflicting on our planet. We have one Earth, one chance to make a difference. There’s no Planet B to fall back on. However, we can still find hope and innovation in unexpected places. Through gaming, we can create virtual worlds where we can practice sustainable living and bring those lessons back to our own reality.

I firmly believe that education is paramount in addressing the pressing environmental challenges of our time. However, traditional classroom methods often fall short in engaging students, especially when tackling complex topics like social issues and climate change. This is precisely why I’ve wholeheartedly supported the youth petition being hosted by the GEM Report at UNESCO, which is advocating for a more action-oriented and socio-emotionally focused climate change education in schools. Recognizing this gap, I’ve turned to gaming as a powerful tool to foster environmental awareness and inspire action among young people. 

My journey began in grade five when I realized that many of my classmates were disengaged from their studies. Inspired to make a difference, I conducted workshops for teachers on game-based learning and created educational lessons in a gaming environment for my peers.  

As I progressed through school, my passion for climate and quality education grew. I recognized the potential of using games to help children understand the intricacies of environmental issues in a fun and interactive way. Through games, we can simulate real-world scenarios, such as the consequences of water scarcity or the benefits of renewable energy, and encourage students to think critically about their impact on the planet. 

My podcast, “#EachOneTeachTen – An Amazing World Of STEM” began in 2020 with the mission of inspiring individuals to engage students in the classroom with STEM and game-based learning and take action on societal and environmental problems like climate change. I firmly believe that each of us has the power to make a difference, no matter how small our contribution may seem. The logo on the wall behind me, “You have all the power within you,” serves as a constant reminder of this belief. 

I’ve developed numerous game-based lessons that focus on climate education. These lessons allow students to explore different scenarios, experiment with sustainable solutions, and experience the consequences of their actions. By engaging with these virtual worlds, students can develop a deeper understanding of climate change and a sense of agency in addressing it. 

One of my most successful game-based lessons focused on water conservation. In this lesson/game, players were tasked with managing their household’s water usage and facing the consequences of water scarcity. By experiencing the challenges firsthand, students were more likely to understand the importance of conserving water in their daily lives. 

I believe that game-based learning can also be a valuable tool for STEM education. By incorporating real-world problems into game-based challenges, we can help students develop the skills and knowledge they need to become innovative problem-solvers. For example, I’ve created Minecraft challenges that focus on climate sustainability, encouraging players to explore renewable energy sources, reduce their carbon footprint, and protect biodiversity. 

In addition to my own initiatives, I’ve been inspired by the work of organizations like UNESCO, which have developed Minecraft challenges focused on peace and climate sustainability. These challenges offer opportunities for students to learn about important global issues while having fun. 

We must remember that everyone, regardless of age, gender, or background, has a role to play. But change doesn’t happen in isolation. It begins with each one of us. Gaming is more than just entertainment; it can be a powerful tool for education and social change. By using games to engage students in climate education, we can inspire a new generation of environmental activists and problem-solvers. 

‘Gaming for Good, a mission so bold,   

In virtual worlds, minds unfold.   

With wisdoms of climate, water, and earth,   

Together, we nurture a sustainable rebirth.’ 

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According to the 6th National Communication in 2018, efforts in Mexico to promote education and public awareness of climate change are based on the international legal framework and the national education policy. This blog post shows what my school is doing to realize this imperative.

What is the point of denying what is evident? Both the extreme heat with the severe droughts and forest fires that affect crops and livestock in the dry season as well as the low temperatures with cold fronts and icy waves in autumn and winter, are challenging meteorological phenomena. Even floods or the devastating hurricane Otis in Acapulco in October 2023, which left chaos and pain, are symptoms of something bigger calling for our attention. The imperative for us teachers is to promote a high-quality climate change education that includes learning to be (socio-emotional), to know (cognitive), to do (action-oriented), and to live together (justice-focused). This will empower students with knowledge, skills, values, habits and tools that help them be more resilient, responsive and compassionate, so they can see the future with hope.

As part of the American School Foundation of Guadalajara in Mexico and as grade 8 Spanish teacher and Spanish curriculum specialist in lower secondary school, I am constantly looking for relevant topics to link climate issues into what I teach in order to create meaningful experiences for students.

I decided to try something new, linking the grade 8 Mexican Spanish curriculum and climate change. From December to January this year, 71 students in my class worked on a political cartoons project. The goal was to create an awareness campaign about climate change, transforming some recent local, national or world news, chosen by them, into political cartoons. The challenge was to select them after consulting different sources, analysing the information to get more width and depth and find a connection between their topic and climate change. They had to define their standpoint, look for a better and creative way to visually synthesise what they wanted to communicate, which had to be humorous. They also had to use at least one of six cartoon rhetorical figures that we saw in class. They knew from the very beginning that they were contributing to an awareness campaign about climate change and that, at the end of the project, they were going to visit other classes to generate dialogue and inspire new actions. 

Just as the GEM Report and the MECCE project are collecting data worldwide on the extent of green coverage in education content in curricula and syllabi, my school is currently assessing internally who is embedding what about climate change into the curriculum and how.

In early childhood, we found that efforts tend to work on sensitizing young students to experience love and connection to nature through observing, listening, planting, harvesting or exploring. In primary school, students learn how things are happening, without creating panic, they learn to love nature (‘a ha’ experiences) and about the fact that all our actions have impacts. In lower secondary school, they learn more science, how and why things happen and try to find innovative solutions. In upper secondary school, students are confronted with ethical choices linked to reality: to me and the collective.

As an adult, it is time to bring all these abilities together to stand for climate smart actions. Examples of this are the school garden promoting outdoor activities or the Green Committee consolidating events like the Earth Day celebration. This opens new options to be more conscious about why it is so important to implement sustainability education in our school.

The most significant aspect of this emergent movement is the dynamic generated by the collaboration among all parts of the community: teachers, students, parents, administrators, staff and external institutions. It is like a web that is constantly interweaving and increasing its sphere of influence, depending on the thoughts, feelings, intentions and decisions of people in all levels, focused on common goals. Each time that we find new connections, we become more aware of our role to actively generate positive change. Every colleague who is creating innovative learning situations in class using different approaches or cross-cutting topics (critical thinking, systems thinking, sustainable habits of mind, Sustainable Development Goals, climate change, social and emotional learning, science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics etc.) is contributing to modifying limiting mental models in our society and reshaping the future.

It is our collective responsibility getting schools ready to tackle climate change without delay!

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According to a survey of 16- to 25-year-olds in Canada, 60% believed that the formal education system should focus more on the social-emotional dimensions of climate change. Respondents indicated that they would also prefer more climate change content in classes, mental health support, reassurance, positive and hopeful messaging, and teaching about the urgency of climate risks. 

Youth voices on climate action will be front and center at a high-level breakfast briefing hosted by the GEM Report and partners during this week’s High-Level Political Forum taking place at UN Headquarters in New York during which global progress towards SDG 13 is under review. Angela Busheska, a young engineer from North Macedonia named as one of Forbes 30 under 30 on youth action and holding governments to account for their climate commitments will also be in attendance. Follow the event live from 8.15 AM New York time today on the GEM Report’s LinkedIn page.

Systematic reviews have concluded that the political dimensions of climate change are often missing in formal education. Climate change is primarily taught in science subjects. An analysis of 55 articles written between 2017 and 2020 highlighted that justice-driven climate change education was difficult to implement in formal education due to current structures, curriculum standardization and accountability mechanisms. Climate justice was often taught in non-formal settings, with student and teacher activists learning about justice dimensions from each other and acting as educators for their communities.

Although young activists and advocates in the Global North and the Global South had been undertaking actions for climate justice for years without recognition and media coverage, the Fridays for Future movement, spearheaded by Greta Thunberg in 2018, is often credited with expanding local and national youth engagement and awareness efforts of climate change to a global scale. Discussions with school strikers for climate action show that students are learning from their participation in the strikes, complementing their often insufficient climate change education in schools. In turn, they are also becoming climate change educators. Students are teaching themselves the knowledge that they need to engage with climate change issues outside of classrooms, such as dealing with regulations, negotiating with police, organizing a web presence and developing policy demands by improving their competencies in political engagement. They also teach their teachers how to reducing the school footprint. 

Youth activists have supported climate science as new ambassadors and communicators for scientific consensus and climate adaptation and mitigation. An analysis of 50 youth-led climate initiatives, of which 30 were initiated by youth, found that most were aiming to exert political pressure. The skills focus in these initiatives were advocacy and communications, literacy and leadership related to climate change. 

Students have also highlighted inadequacies in school textbooks. In Berlin, students analysed actions discussed in geography, chemistry and biology textbooks aimed at 11- to 18-year-olds in Australia, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States. High-impact solutions (e.g. living car-free) received little or no mention while low-impact solutions (e.g. recycling) were discussed more extensively. Some of the proposed solutions had not been updated for 25 years, making textbook reform urgent. 

A lack of national and global efforts on climate change has been portrayed as a human rights violation. By the end of 2022, 2,180 climate change cases had been filed, of which 1,522 were in the United States. Litigation by youth has been a sign of increasing political involvement in climate action, although cases tend to be dismissed early. Analysis of 23 cases in 14 countries shows that where a first decision was rendered, only 3 cases were heard on their legal merits: in Colombia (on the government’s failure to reduce deforestation in the Amazon), Germany and Norway. In the US state of Montana, a court ruled in favour of young plaintiffs who alleged that the state violated their right to a clean and healthy environment by allowing fossil fuel development without considering its climate consequences. Youth litigation also has a transnational dimension, where young people from the Global South call out climate injustice for which the Global North is largely responsible. However, these international cases have been dismissed in most contexts. 

At the higher education level, climate activism also focuses on university policies and approaches. Fossil fuel divestment movements at universities and colleges are often led by students. In the United States, students and others have pushed 141 higher education institutions to divest their endowments from industries producing fossil fuels since 2012. Analysis of 220 Canadian universities and colleges found 38 active divestment campaigns, of which 31 were initiated by students, with 6 institutions then committing to varying degrees of divestment (Maina et al., 2020). There are also growing calls by scientists and researchers for universities to facilitat further academic advocacy and activism in climate and ecological emergencies, shifting the focus from primarily publications onto public actions, and providing space for academics to engage in such efforts. 

University students have advocated for climate inclusion within their curriculum, for instance in health and architecture education. Students from 2,817 medical schools in 112 countries reported that climate change is taught in less than 15% of medical schools worldwide. Students led climate action–related activities in another 12% of medical schools. Medical students founded the Planetary Health Report Card to inspire medical schools to engage with the subject. Since 2019, more than 60 medical schools in Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in the report card, catalysing the inclusion of integrated curricula in many of these institutions. Climate change has also received attention in architectural education. Over 4,000 architects in 18 countries declared a biodiversity and climate emergency, with over 2,500 architecture students and teachers signing a declaration calling for curriculum change in architectural education. A review of 71 studies on the integration of sustainability education into architecture highlights the need to shift from educator-centred teaching to student-centred learning methods with collaborative, reflective and deep learning strategies.

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