Climate Education
EARTHDAY.ORG Helps Get Climate Education Onto The EU’s Climate Plan
November 9, 2025
When the European Union published its updated climate pledge this week, something remarkable happened: Climate education took center stage.
After years of advocacy, meetings, and movement-building, the European Union, EU, has added climate education directly into its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement. For us at EARTHDAY.ORG (EDO), who have championed climate literacy for over a decade, advocating for inclusion of climate education in NDCs since 2017, this is a watershed moment.
Climate education is not just about combating the climate crisis—it’s a critical foundation for training the global workforce, equipping everyone with the green skills needed to thrive in an evolving economy, and empowering businesses to grow sustainably in a rapidly changing world.
Kathleen Rogers, President, EARTHDAY.ORG
Afterthought to a Cornerstone
Just one year ago, the EU’s NDC made only a passing mention of climate education with a single sentence buried deep in a technical document. But through sustained engagement by EARTHDAY.ORG and our partners, that sentence has grown into two meaningful paragraphs packed, with the ambition to integrate climate education across school curricula from kindergarten through grade 12.
This milestone didn’t materialize overnight. Behind the scenes were over 60 bilateral meetings, several COPs and UN conferences, hundreds of calls, dozens of petitions, and countless emails.
Knowledge fosters awareness, comprehension, and critical thinking. Education is a fundamental tool in building climate resilience. Just as literacy paved the way for the first Industrial Revolution, climate education will ignite the next revolution, one that addresses the climate crisis.
Max Falcone, Global Advisor, EARTHDAY.ORG
From Brussels to Bonn, EDO and its coalition partners pressed a simple but powerful idea: that fighting climate change must start in the classroom. It was a message that caught far far beyond the borders of the European Union.
Climate education transforms communities and inspires action. Across Brazil, the projects of Limpa Brasil – Let’s Do It! show that when people unite around a common purpose, they become protagonists of the energy transition and the building of more sustainable cities. The work of EARTHDAY.ORG strengthens this network of active citizenship, connecting education, the environment, and collective responsibility in every state of the country.
Edilainne Muniz Pereira, Director of Limpa Brasil – Let’s Do It! São Paulo, SP, Brasil
The Link Between Learning and Livelihoods
At the heart of EDO’s campaign is the conviction that education and the economy are inseparable in the climate era. According to the World Bank report Choosing our future: Education for climate action, jobs that require green skills are growing faster than the number of people trained to fill them. The World Economic Forum found that job postings requiring at least one green skill increased 22.4% from 2022 to 2023.
Today, 152 countries now embed climate education in these national commitments.The EU’s move now sends a powerful message: green skills are not a side project, but the foundation of a sustainable economy.
Education is not only about knowledge; it’s about purpose, transformation and collaboration. As we face the realities of the climate crisis, empowering young people with climate literacy becomes an act of leadership.I value EARTHDAY.ORG’s commitment to education that embodies the excellence and entrepreneurial spirit needed to build a more sustainable future.
Purdey Morgan, Climate Content Marketing Manager, Saïd Business School, University of Oxford Oxford, England
Building a Global Standard
With the EU’s adoption, more than 60 nations have now used EARTHDAY.ORG’s model language for climate education in their NDCs. What began as a campaign has become a global standard.
Climate education is the engine of the energy transition. That’s why we value the role of EARTHDAY.ORG in creating green jobs and preparing citizens to face the challenges of the 21st century.
Renata Moraes, Founder of the Brazilian Coalition for Climate Education (CBEC) Rio de Janeiro, RJ Brasil
As the world gathers in Belém, Brazil, for COP30, EDO will push the conversation further to focus on how to finance the teaching of climate education worldwide.
Integrating climate education into national strategies is fundamental to empowering our citizens and strengthening the resilience of our ancestral communities. In Guatemala, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources works closely with Mayan territories to promote knowledge, adaptation, and sustainable livelihoods as part of our national energy transition. EARTHDAY.ORG’s global efforts amplify this vision, ensuring that education becomes a bridge between traditional wisdom and the scientific innovation our century demands.
Ing. Andrea Lucrecia Fión Góngora Directora Dirección de Cambio Climático Ministerio de Ambiente y Recursos Naturales
If you would like to support EARTHDAY.ORG please pledge to support climate and environmental literacy.
The critically important role of education cannot be overstated. It’s time for other nations to step up and show solidarity by supporting by adding meaningful climate education into their own NDCs. The time to act is now. Mitigating climate change requires a united and engaged global community— to ensure that no country is left behind in the race for a sustainable future.
Rodolfo ‘Ropo’ Beltran, Regional Director, South America, EARTHDAY.ORG
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