Climate Change x Climate Education

To educate is to transform the world. Many people recognize the importance of education, especially in how it empowers young individuals to learn about how they can promote climate action.

However, recent studies show that we might not be doing enough to push environmental literacy. According to UNESCO,
more than half of 50 countries surveyed across all regions make no reference to climate change in their educational plans.

On a national level, 45% of education documents have no environmental themes present. This is why we must continue to push for education in climate change.

The Need for Environmental Literacy

The United Nations SDG Indicator 4.7 priorities the need for the youth to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to practice sustainable development in their lifestyles and promote global citizenship.

However, 2020 statistics showed that less than half of the globe has been able to mainstream these values into their curricula. This is alarming because education is needed to enhance community awareness and combat the damaging impact of human actions.

Conversely, ecosystem imbalance and climate-related emergencies can leave millions of learners with no access to education. Therefore, more people need to be aware of the link between climate change and their day-to-day lives. This is why activists need to be careful in case they find themselves in an echo chamber, failing to carry across the urgency of environmental issues to those outside of their circle. And so, apart from creating government policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance renewable energy developments, experts are continuously stressing the importance of educating children on environmental matters and developing a culture of care for the climate.

How Education Promotes Environmental Literacy

Educators can make use of solid science backed by decades of research to help pupils understand the causes, consequences, and magnitude of the current climate crisis. It’s also important to pass down information about our ecosystems, wildlife, and our interconnectedness. Educated citizens and the youth are also more equipped and more headstrong when it comes to holding leaders accountable regarding
their environmental decisions.

One example would be the global climate strike back in 2019, which was primarily youth-led. Millions of people joined in the hope of rousing national leaders worldwide to step up to the ongoing threat of climate change. Young people successfully called in adults to join them in various countries, despite initially being belittled and told to “stay in class” instead. This demonstrated that the behaviors and decisions made in the classroom inevitably affect the environment.

A Plos One study investigated the long-term impact of an intensive
one-year university course on individual carbon emissions. In the end, the graduates developed a strong personal connection to climate change issues and were able to realize this in their daily behaviors and professional careers.

We are also fortunate that the advancements in today’s technology make it easier to forward environmental educational goals. Tech is now often part of college and university pursuits for
environmental initiatives. Educating those in IT departments in universities, for instance, has led to many creative technological solutions to the problem of a campus’ carbon footprint.

To illustrate, environmental organization, Second Nature, highlights that technology adds to the complexity of the current climate situation, rather than exacerbates it. Further, technology could provide new, rigorous ways to account for measurements, such as carbon emissions.

Moreover, technology can also actively improve the state of environmental education. New Globe, a frontrunner in the education industry, pushes for public education to make way for data-driven learning that is facilitated by technology-run education systems.

Consequently, it is possible to leverage these technological advancements to transform educational outcomes so they reflect today’s sustainability goals. And given that such a large percentage of the youth is well-versed in the latest technology, it’s become an integral tool for environmental education.

Environmental education is the future we all should be investing in to build a more sustainable, equitable world moving forward.