he climate crisis is accelerating in real time, with daily headlines telling of relentless floods, wildfires, cyclones, and heat waves that leave no corner of the globe untouched. The scale of the crisis makes the impact of individual actions seem as insignificant as a drop in the vast ocean of challenges. It is especially so when the world systemically continues to rely on fossil fuel energy production, making it difficult for individuals to embrace a low-carbon lifestyle.
Then do we still need to educate and empower people to be part of the solutions to climate change issues? The answer is a resounding YES. Education can raise public awareness of the scientific cause-and-effect relationships underlying climate change. It empowers individuals to make informed decisions to reduce their carbon footprint. Few are aware how foregoing a single beef burger is equivalent to saving 2,000 plastic cups (more than 5 years at the rate of one cup per day).
Once we know scientifically what contributes the most to CO2 emissions and how we can reduce and offset our own carbon footprint, we can educate others. This cascade effect has the power to catalyze systemic change through collective action, civic movements, and the voices of consumers demanding that systems, governments, and corporations reconfigure their models toward a net-zero society.
So it is welcome that COP28 will feature a space dedicated to seeking ways to empower every citizen to be climate literate—the Greening Education Pavilion. Climate literacy gives citizens the knowledge and skills to take climate action as well as helping make them aware of their rights in terms of climate justice.
A first step to develop a comprehensive climate literacy education program is to establish a baseline understanding of existing knowledge levels. While an increasing number of studies are defining and assessing climate change literacy, there is a lack of internationally accepted, standardized instruments. This is mainly because, although the causes and effects of climate change are universal and interconnected, mitigation and adaptation measures can be locally specific. For example, although greenhouse gasses are common causes of climate change, the measures needed to adapt to sea level rise in Indonesia may be different from those needed for rapid desertification in Mongolia. Therefore, international organizations and research institutes must collaborate to develop assessment tools that encompass standardized, universally applicable core elements of climate literacy, along with optional domains and questions tailored to local contexts.
Climate change education must extend beyond school education and aim to transform society as a whole. We need climate-literate professionals in every field, from small business owners and journalists to farmers, teachers, architects, city planners, homemakers, parents, and civil servants. Gender, age, skill level, income level, and geographical location should not be barriers to participation. Fortunately, an increasing number of networks and initiatives are recognizing the importance of implementing climate change education through a whole-of-society approach. Examples include the Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCEs), the Green Education Partnership, and Scotland’s Learning for Sustainability Action Plan 2023-2030. For instance, RCE Cebu in the Philippines engaged researchers, fishing communities, homemakers, and students to raise community awareness on the vital role of the local mangrove forest in mitigating climate change impacts. After seven years of collective efforts, the community successfully rehabilitated the damaged forest.
Climate change education should move beyond the transmission of scientific knowledge to engage learners in action-oriented, innovative educational activities. Initiatives such as the Net-zero Youth Ideathon in Thailand, the Action for Climate Empowerment Hackathon organized by UN Climate Change, and using technology to facilitate North–South collaboration through digital storytelling on fast-fashion consumption are a few great examples of effective action-oriented climate change education.
Teachers and adult learning educators play a pivotal role in achieving successful climate change education across all age groups. According to a recent UNESCO study (2021), only 53% of the national curriculum worldwide addresses climate change. In the same study, 95% of teachers surveyed expressed that teaching climate change was important but less than 30% of them indicated readiness to teach the subject. A recent analysis of 140 national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions; NDCs) submitted as of October 2022 examining the pervasiveness and quality of climate change education is even more disturbing. Only four out of 140 countries included time-bounded climate change education in their NDCs with monitoring and evaluation strategies indicated. None of the 140 NDCs included teacher unions, nor consulted teachers in the process of developing their NDCs.
The urgency of climate change underscores the paramount importance of ensuring that every citizen is climate literate and empowered to take meaningful climate action. As the international community convenes at COP28, it is imperative that we include a national roadmap for climate change literacy and action as a top priority on the agenda. As Greta Thunberg urged in her recent book, “to avoid the worst consequences of the climate and ecological crisis, we can no longer pick and choose our action.” No one is too small to make a difference.
Editors’ Note: This article was included in our COP 28 special edition, which was published on November 21, 2023, and which you can find here. All articles were written with that publication time frame in mind.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations University.
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Universal Climate Literacy is the Path to Net-Zero
Photo via AdobeStock
November 24, 2023
Climate education helps individuals understand the science underlying climate change but also empowering them to make better-informed sustainability decisions. Universal climate literacy can catalyze systemic change through collective action, writes Jonghwi Park.
T
he climate crisis is accelerating in real time, with daily headlines telling of relentless floods, wildfires, cyclones, and heat waves that leave no corner of the globe untouched. The scale of the crisis makes the impact of individual actions seem as insignificant as a drop in the vast ocean of challenges. It is especially so when the world systemically continues to rely on fossil fuel energy production, making it difficult for individuals to embrace a low-carbon lifestyle.
Then do we still need to educate and empower people to be part of the solutions to climate change issues? The answer is a resounding YES. Education can raise public awareness of the scientific cause-and-effect relationships underlying climate change. It empowers individuals to make informed decisions to reduce their carbon footprint. Few are aware how foregoing a single beef burger is equivalent to saving 2,000 plastic cups (more than 5 years at the rate of one cup per day).
Once we know scientifically what contributes the most to CO2 emissions and how we can reduce and offset our own carbon footprint, we can educate others. This cascade effect has the power to catalyze systemic change through collective action, civic movements, and the voices of consumers demanding that systems, governments, and corporations reconfigure their models toward a net-zero society.
So it is welcome that COP28 will feature a space dedicated to seeking ways to empower every citizen to be climate literate—the Greening Education Pavilion. Climate literacy gives citizens the knowledge and skills to take climate action as well as helping make them aware of their rights in terms of climate justice.
A first step to develop a comprehensive climate literacy education program is to establish a baseline understanding of existing knowledge levels. While an increasing number of studies are defining and assessing climate change literacy, there is a lack of internationally accepted, standardized instruments. This is mainly because, although the causes and effects of climate change are universal and interconnected, mitigation and adaptation measures can be locally specific. For example, although greenhouse gasses are common causes of climate change, the measures needed to adapt to sea level rise in Indonesia may be different from those needed for rapid desertification in Mongolia. Therefore, international organizations and research institutes must collaborate to develop assessment tools that encompass standardized, universally applicable core elements of climate literacy, along with optional domains and questions tailored to local contexts.
Climate change education must extend beyond school education and aim to transform society as a whole. We need climate-literate professionals in every field, from small business owners and journalists to farmers, teachers, architects, city planners, homemakers, parents, and civil servants. Gender, age, skill level, income level, and geographical location should not be barriers to participation. Fortunately, an increasing number of networks and initiatives are recognizing the importance of implementing climate change education through a whole-of-society approach. Examples include the Regional Centres of Expertise on Education for Sustainable Development (RCEs), the Green Education Partnership, and Scotland’s Learning for Sustainability Action Plan 2023-2030. For instance, RCE Cebu in the Philippines engaged researchers, fishing communities, homemakers, and students to raise community awareness on the vital role of the local mangrove forest in mitigating climate change impacts. After seven years of collective efforts, the community successfully rehabilitated the damaged forest.
Climate change education should move beyond the transmission of scientific knowledge to engage learners in action-oriented, innovative educational activities. Initiatives such as the Net-zero Youth Ideathon in Thailand, the Action for Climate Empowerment Hackathon organized by UN Climate Change, and using technology to facilitate North–South collaboration through digital storytelling on fast-fashion consumption are a few great examples of effective action-oriented climate change education.
Teachers and adult learning educators play a pivotal role in achieving successful climate change education across all age groups. According to a recent UNESCO study (2021), only 53% of the national curriculum worldwide addresses climate change. In the same study, 95% of teachers surveyed expressed that teaching climate change was important but less than 30% of them indicated readiness to teach the subject. A recent analysis of 140 national climate plans (Nationally Determined Contributions; NDCs) submitted as of October 2022 examining the pervasiveness and quality of climate change education is even more disturbing. Only four out of 140 countries included time-bounded climate change education in their NDCs with monitoring and evaluation strategies indicated. None of the 140 NDCs included teacher unions, nor consulted teachers in the process of developing their NDCs.
The urgency of climate change underscores the paramount importance of ensuring that every citizen is climate literate and empowered to take meaningful climate action. As the international community convenes at COP28, it is imperative that we include a national roadmap for climate change literacy and action as a top priority on the agenda. As Greta Thunberg urged in her recent book, “to avoid the worst consequences of the climate and ecological crisis, we can no longer pick and choose our action.” No one is too small to make a difference.
Editors’ Note: This article was included in our COP 28 special edition, which was published on November 21, 2023, and which you can find here. All articles were written with that publication time frame in mind.
The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations University.
