To date 40 countries have stepped up to support climate education in their climate goals – Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The Paris Agreement requests that each country outlines their post-2020 climate actions every five years. These actions are essentially what an NDC is. The Minister of Climate of Brazil, the host of the next COP climate conference has called all governments to integrate climate and environmental education in the 2025 NDCs update.
“It is essential to include processes of climate education and climate environmental education, both in the formulation and implementation of the NDCs, to ensure they are truly aligned with the 1.5’C mission.”
– Marina Silva Minister of Environment and Climate Change of Brazil
Furthermore, the United Kingdom’s NDC puts emphasis on the Department for Education’s Strategy which sets out key actions in climate education and green skills. The Dominican Republic’s NDC aims to have integrated climate change fully into teacher training institutions by 2030. The European Union, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Vanuatu, Argentina, Cabo Verde, Gambia, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Myanmar, Costa Rica, Jordan, Antigua & Barbuda, Marshall Islands and many more have all integrated climate education into their NDCs. You can learn more about which countries are backing climate education and which need to do much more by using our Climate Education NDCs Tracker.
World Bank Report Education for Climate Action Report highlights that less than 1 in 3 mention climate education, and less than 1 in 4 mention green skills.Therefore it is time for all parties to the UNFCCC to integrate climate education in their NDCs and adopt policies aimed at greening curricula as this will lead to growth of the green economy. According to the World Bank, green transitions will need some new skills for new jobs. But more importantly they will need additional skills for existing jobs. A global green transition would require green skilled workers for an estimated 100 million new jobs, India alone could create up to 35 million new green jobs by 2047. Learn more about key takeaways from the WB report in this Earthday.org summary.
Climate Education = Green Skills = Good Jobs
The Paris Agreement Article 12 specifically addresses the importance of education, training, and public awareness as essential components for effective climate action. While the specifics of how education is incorporated into NDCs can vary by country, the encouragement to include climate education is inherent in the broader goals of the Agreement.
At EARTHDAY.ORG we are calling on all governments to integrate
climate education in their NDC as it is one of the requirements
for meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.
A position which EARTHDAY.ORG and the Climate Education Coalition has been advocating for years. This call is supported by the young generations as well. More than 100 youth organizations united in the Climate Education Coalition support the call for climate education in the NDCs. Additionally, UNESCO has created the Greening Education Partnership which serves as a platform for countries and stakeholders for advancing the climate and environmental education cause. Furthermore Education International (teachers unions) , representing more than 30 million teachers worldwide has designed the Climate Education Ambition Report Card analysing the standard of commitments for climate education in the NDCs.
Widespread climate education is crucial to winning public support for climate friendly government policies worldwide, whether by backing the transition toward renewable energy and away from fossil fuels or limiting the production of plastics. As Minister Marina Silva said, climate education in the NDCs is necessary for achieving the goal of 1.5’C.
