Climate Education
Why Every Environmental Movement Needs the Classroom
June 5, 2025
Each June 5th, World Environment Day unites individuals around the world to consider the health of our planet. When we discuss climate action, we tend to focus on big moves such as government led global climate talks, protests, clean tech innovation, and policy shifts. These all matter. But one of the most powerful tools we have is often overlooked: education.
Not as a sidebar or awareness campaign, but as a fundamental strategy. If we’re looking for long-term solutions to the climate crisis, we have to begin in the classroom.
All too often, climate education is treated like a “nice to have if there’s time” kind of thing, an add-on rather than a core requirement. But the data says otherwise. In EARTHDAY.ORG’s 2024 Climate Education Report, data highlighted that the majority of parents, educators, and students all called for more climate education. Why? Because education isn’t simply the transmission of information; it shapes how young people interpret the world, how they act in the face of crisis, and how they envision their future.
Good climate education doesn’t stop at awareness. It creates agency.
Climate change, plastic pollution, biodiversity loss, these are massive problems. And for many students, school is where they first learn about them.
Often, it’s through teachers, classroom projects, or activities like Earth Day that students begin to understand how human activity impacts the world around them.
Climate education and environmental knowledge help students to engage with difficult emotions such as fear and anxiety, then move toward action. They teach problem-solving, critical thinking, and community leadership, equipping a generation that’s not just aware, but able to act.
When learning is tied to real-world issues, students feel like they’re part of something bigger, and that their own actions, no matter how small, matter.
Education becomes experience. Ideas become habits.
Around the world, students are turning classroom lessons into action: organizing community clean-ups, planting school gardens, starting recycling programs, or speaking to assemblies about climate issues in their own communities. These aren’t huge one and done global initiatives, but they’re real – and accumulative – and they make climate action visible. In these small moments, education becomes experience and ideas become habits.
Earth Day plays a key role here. It’s one of the few times in the school calendar when climate issues take center stage. Earth Day events encourage hands-on learning: community clean-ups, tree plantings, art projects, debates. These activities don’t just engage students, they remind teachers, principals, and even parents that students can lead.
Recently, EARTHDAY.ORG launched a student-initiated project initiative for Earth Day 2025 called the “Earth Day Showcase.” Hundreds of educators around the world guided their students to participate and share their Earth Day project. It’s a powerful way to show children that their education and voices truly matter.
Not every student will grow up to be a climate activist. But all of them will grow up to be voters, consumers, workers, and decision-makers whose everyday choices impact the planet. That’s why climate education is about more than one-day events.
When environmental topics are woven into regular classroom subjects – science, geography, literature, even art — they help form critical thinkers who can understand complex issues and contribute to real solutions. These are the individuals we’ll need in the years ahead. The ones that are not just aware of the crisis, but ready to lead and adapt.
If we want change, we can’t ignore the role of education.
As we mark World Environment Day this June, we recognize that no single day will solve the crisis. But it is a perfect opportunity to ask: what would happen if we treated education as central to every environmental effort? What if we invested in climate literacy the way we invest in energy, policy, or infrastructure?
Because ultimately, education is infrastructure. It’s the foundation that supports everything else. You can’t build a green economy without a generation that understands sustainability. You can’t fight misinformation if people aren’t taught how to evaluate evidence. You can’t expect bold leadership without preparation.
A strong environmental movement starts in the classroom.
The climate crisis demands many things – innovation, leadership, urgency – but none of it will be sustainable without education. World Environment Day reminds us that protecting the planet is not just about what we do today, but also what we teach for tomorrow.If we want lasting change, we have to start in the classroom. If you are an educator or a student, please consider using our free climate education resources.
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