More than 400 million students have been affected by climate-related school closures since 2022, according to a recent report. The report emphasizes that for less than $20 per student, schools can adapt and minimize learning losses.
The role of education in combating climate change is highlighted as crucial. Education not only reshapes behaviors but also develops skills and spurs innovation necessary to address the climate crisis. Better-educated individuals are more resilient, adaptable, and equipped to create and work in green jobs, which are essential for driving solutions.
Despite its importance, education remains largely overlooked in the climate agenda. Almost no climate finance is allocated to education. Redirecting more climate funding towards education could significantly enhance both mitigation and adaptation efforts related to climate change.
Climate change poses a substantial threat to education itself. Millions of young people are losing days of learning due to climate-related events, with low-income countries being the most affected. If this lost learning is not compensated for, it will negatively impact future earnings and productivity, exacerbating inequality within and across countries.
Governments are urged to act now to adapt their education systems for climate change. Key takeaways from the report include:
- The economic losses and human costs of climate change are vast. Climate action remains slow due to information gaps, skills gaps, and knowledge gaps.
- Education is vital in addressing these gaps and driving global climate action.
- Better-educated individuals are more resilient and critical for spurring innovation and developing climate solutions.
- An additional year of education increases climate awareness by 8.6%.
- Education can empower young people with green skills for new jobs while augmenting skills for existing ones.
- Despite its importance, education receives minimal attention in climate financing.
- Climate-related school closures result in significant learning losses; even when schools remain open, rising temperatures affect students' ability to learn.
Governments can harness education for climate action by improving foundational STEM skills, mainstreaming climate education, building teacher capacity, prioritizing green skilling, and fostering innovation in tertiary education.
The report outlines four essential facts about green skills:
1. Green skills encompass technical, STEM, sector-specific skills as well as non-technical socio-emotional cross-sectoral skills.
2. Any job or sector can become greener with the appropriate skill set.
3. These skills apply not only to new jobs but also augment existing ones.
4. The demand for these skills can be unpredictable and inequitable.
Many countries experience multiple climate-related school closures annually due to increasing frequency and intensity of heatwaves, floods, storms, and droughts caused by climate change. These closures result in significant learning losses yet remain largely untracked.
For further details on this topic:
Choosing Our Future: Education for Climate Action