Education and public awareness of climate change are essential to promote and achieve sustainable development. The various international bodies, NGOs and governments are engaging in enhancing the quality and inclusion of education to combat climate change and this was reflected in the fourth sustainable development goal of the 2030 Agenda.   

“Some say I should be in school. But why should any young person be made to study for a future when no one is doing enough to save that future? What is the point of learning facts when the most important facts given by the finest scientists are ignored by our politicians?“

Greta Thunberg

In September 2019, the global climate strike movement gathered a total of six million people globally, of which about two million were students who walked out of schools. Such momentum raises the question of the role of education in the fight against climate change. The EU’s youth is becoming more aware of the contemporary issues that affect them and more vocal in particular about revamps that should be made to the education system and about the need to make climate change issues more visible and understandable. Europe’s youth is becoming increasingly committed to the fight against global warming. In response, EU institutions have been slowly recognising the immense value of young people’s perspective in the discourse on this urgent issue. 

According to a flash Eurobarometer survey, 41% of the EU youth believes that climate change, environment and eco-friendly behaviours are not sufficiently taught in schools, ranking second in the list of priorities. When ranking the EU priorities, 67% of the respondents (aged 15 to 30) believed protecting the environment and fighting climate change should be one of the main priorities of the EU. The second priority accounted for 56% of participants who believe education and training should be improved. 

The effects climate change may have on enrollment and long-term education, as well as the role of education in raising awareness about the environmental challenges, may explain the response of education towards climate change. Although researchers and organisations have been unable to assess the long term effects of natural catastrophes on education, increasing climate change-related disasters puts at risk the ability of children to enrol and follow educational programmes, as well as their academic performance. This phenomenon was notably observed in 2007, in Bangladesh, when Cyclone Sidr destroyed and damaged over 8.000 primary schools affecting about 103.664 children.

According to UNESCO, “education is critical in helping populations understand and address the impacts of climate change, and in encouraging the changes in attitudes and behaviour needed to help them address the causes of climate change, adopt more sustainable lifestyles and develop skills that support different modules of economies, as well as to adapt to the impact of climate change”. This argument is also supported in the book Climate Change and the Role of Education (2019) which discusses how education is not only linked to climate literacy but should also aim to change individuals’ attitudes and behaviours. Through climate education, people become more aware of what is at stake and may adjust their lifestyles accordingly to take significant actions. UNESCO believes education is an enabler for decision-making, increases adaptation and mitigation capacities, and empowers people to adopt more sustainable lifestyles.

Nevertheless, despite the urgent need to address climate change-related issues, topics related to these problems are taught in very few classrooms globally. Even though there are several pedagogical resources available, they are not used nor disseminated properly in classrooms mainly due to barriers such as 1) school programmes’ constraints, 2) lack of confidence by teachers, 3) resources mainly dedicated to research, and 4) a limited number of local examples. 

As to overcome these barriers, UNESCO, as part of the ESD programme, supports, on the one hand, countries in integrating climate change into their education systems by the means of technical guidance material and teaching/learning resources, and, on the other hand, schools and training institutions in implementing a “whole-school approach” where sustainability is integrated into the management of school facilities. 

Initiatives that aim to educate on climate change and sustainable development must understand the mechanisms of behavioural change. Throughout the years, a broad range of teaching resources have been made available online (see the Science Education Resource Centre at Carleton College, the Climate LIteracy and Energy Awareness Network, the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research Centre for Science Education, and NASA’s Global Climate Change). These resources include climate-related teaching aids, large datasets and repositories of climate data, teaching materials such as videos, models, and simulations; the level of expertise varies greatly from one resource to another, covering a wide range of learners.

Young Europeans have also taken matters into their own hands by setting up and joining youth-led climate education initiatives. Examples of this are Europe on Track and the Alliance for Climate Education organisations that offer non-formal education and training that aims at supporting young people’s understanding of climate change. Training the next generation also triggers a snowball effect: young people becoming climate-aware will then discuss with friends, family members and relatives about the environmental issues, bringing the debate to the table and raising awareness in their communities in their turn.

Not only education is a key step in addressing the climate change issue, but also that climate change has serious consequences on the quality of and accessibility to education. And yet, it appears that climate education is missing from conventional school programmes across the globe, including EU member states. With school strikes, the next generation has voiced its concerns on the climate change issue as well as its yearning for more climate education. Although the EU is addressing parts of the issue, there is still a long way to go and government initiatives are still scarce. Educational tools have been put in place as a sign of recognition of the problem and as proof of the willingness and need to include young people in the battle against climate change through education (see the EU climate educational tool). But this is only the first step. It is now time to step up efforts if the EU doesn’t want to have to resit the most important exam for our planet.