Climate Education
Preparing the Next Generation for a Changing World
January 23, 2026
Across the globe, education systems are beginning to recognize that the climate crisis is not only an environmental challenge but also a societal and economic one. In England, a major review of the national curriculum has put forward ambitious proposals to reshape climate education to equip students with the knowledge and skills they will need in a rapidly evolving world.
The curriculum and assessment review recommends that climate education become a central, cross cutting element of learning. Rather than confining climate topics to isolated science lessons, the recommendations would embed climate and sustainability across core subjects and introduce age appropriate climate content beginning in primary school.
Connecting Classroom to Careers
The backdrop to these proposals is the rapid expansion of the global green economy. As renewable energy deployments, sustainable infrastructure, and climate adaptation sectors scale up, the demand for workers with green skills is rising faster than the supply. Integrating climate education across subjects helps create a pipeline of talent prepared not only for explicitly “green jobs”, but for roles across sectors where sustainability literacy is increasingly essential.
Climate education prepares students for future opportunities in domains projected to grow significantly as nations pursue decarbonization and resilience. Countries that strengthen climate literacy at all levels of education can position their workforce strategically in the emerging global economy, while also enabling young people to navigate climate-related challenges in any career they choose.
Lessons From Argentina and Beyond
Countries around the world are also innovating in how climate and sustainability are integrated into education systems. In Argentina, for example, national policy frameworks like the Comprehensive Environmental Education Law, establish environmental education as a right and require it to be taught across subjects and at all levels, both in schools and through public sector training. Laws like these aim to mainstream environmental literacy and ensure broad understanding of climate change, renewable energy, biodiversity, and sustainability as core civic competencies.
While Argentina’s policies reflect a broader commitment to environmental education across society, other nations, such as Germany and France, are embedding climate learning directly into school curricula, teacher training programs and vocational pathways. Globally, countries are recognising the link between education, climate goals and workforce needs.
Climate Education in National Climate Planning
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the climate action plans countries submit under the Paris Agreement, are increasingly recognizing the role of education in climate action and workforce development. In the first rounds of NDCs in 2015, only about 40 out of 133 countries referenced climate or environmental education in their climate strategies. Today, that number has grown dramatically, with 152 countries meaningfully including climate education in their updated NDCs as of COP30.
These NDC commitments span curricular inclusion, teacher training, community awareness programs, and connection to workforce development. Some countries explicitly link education to job creation and skills development for just and green transitions, underscoring that climate education is not just a social good but an economic imperative. An example of this is Cambodia’s NDC 3.0 submitted in July 2025, which talks of measuring efforts to “enhance preparedness & capacity building in the energy sector” and specifically “workforce development via climate adaptive design certifications”. This approach equips citizens with the knowledge and skills to thrive in a green economy, benefiting both people and the nation; a true win-win.
Toward a Climate-Ready Generation
As nations revise education policies and climate plans, integrating climate literacy and green skills training across learning stages is becoming central to preparing young people for the dual challenge of climate impacts and economic transformation. England’s curriculum review highlights that climate education is not peripheral but essential to personal resilience, civic engagement, and economic opportunity in the 21st century.
By aligning climate education with workforce development and national climate commitments, policymakers can help ensure that today’s learners become tomorrow’s innovators, leaders and skilled professionals in a sustainable global economy.
By embedding climate literacy and green skills across all levels of education, countries can prepare a generation ready to meet climate challenges while thriving in a sustainable economy. Aligning curricula with workforce needs and national climate commitments ensures that today’s students become tomorrow’s innovators, leaders, and skilled professionals, ready to build resilient communities and a greener future. Supporting initiatives like EARTHDAY.ORG’s Pledge to Promote Climate and Environmental Literacy helps turn these commitments into real classroom action and meaningful change.
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