Making the Case

Making
the Case

Climate change is a huge issue for our planet, and our children will be the most affected. In addition to the physical threat, climate change is taking a massive mental health toll on children with eco-anxiety on the rise. Children today will face many more extreme weather events than generations before them and 77% of children are more concerned about climate change than anything else (BBC). Climate education has enormous potential to educate and empower students to take climate action and reduce eco-anxiety, but it is currently being underutilised. In fact, if just 16% of children in middle & high income countries receive climate education – it would have the same impact as removing 504 million cars from the road. To put this in perspective, this is equivalent to all the cars in Europe and 1/3rd of the cars in the world (Brookings Institute).

In fact, if just 16% of children in middle & high income countries receive climate education - it would have the same impact as removing 504 million cars from the road.

To put this in perspective, this is equivalent to all the cars in Europe and 1/3rd of the cars in the world (Brookings Institute).

Nature Connectedness At The Heart Of Our Schools – Sarah Dukes

There is demand from students and teachers for climate change education around the world.

65% of pupils want to learn more about the environment and climate change, yet 42% of children aged 9-18 report that they have learned nothing about the environment at school (BBC). 9/10 teachers believe that climate change education should be compulsory in schools, yet only 3/10 teachers feel equipped to teach it (UN Survey). Young people who learned about climate change in primary and secondary education have been reported to show reduced vulnerability and increased adaptive capacity to natural disasters and climate change in adult life (The Lancet). 25% of the global population is under the age of 18. The potential for climate education and climate action is huge on many levels: to reduce future CO₂ emissions, create green skills and nurture future leaders. Children have not contributed to the climate crisis but will be the most impacted by it – making this a child rights issue. Quality climate education for all children is crucial to ensure climate justice.