UNESCO-IBE at COP28 – putting education at the forefront of efforts to combat climate change

January 8, 2024

Blog UNESCO-IBE at COP28 – putting education at the forefront of efforts to combat climate change

The visibility of education at the COP28 event was a historic outcome. For the first time, the link between education and progress on climate action is being realized, as outlined in the 2015 Paris Agreement.

While the literature and data surrounding climate change education are building, governments and policymakers need to understand the systemic effects of climate change and to develop strategies to enhance climate responses through education.

To respond to this need, UNESCO – IBE is currently partnering on two reports to examine curriculum content on environment, climate change, and sustainability; to be released in early 2024:

The integration of Content related to the Environment, Climate Change, and Sustainability in the Curriculum of the Arab States.
Global Study to the extent to which education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Climate Change Education (CCE) are core components of school curricula around the world.

UNESCO-IBE was delighted to present the findings of the Arab States study at the CoP 28 Education Pavillion in Dubai. Through this ongoing research and other concrete actions, UNESCO-IBE will contribute significantly to the evidence-based curriculum content for education and climate change.

Some findings that have emerged:

In a recent survey of 58,000 teachers worldwide, nearly all (95 percent) believed that it is important to teach about climate change. Fewer than 40 percent of teachers expressed confidence in teaching about the severity of climate change, 32 percent felt they could explain climate change in their local context and only 23 percent felt ready to teach about climate action.
70 percent of young people surveyed said that they have heard about climate change, but cannot explain what it is (27 percent), can only explain the broad principles (41 percent), or do not know anything about it (2 percent).
The MECCE Project, a key source, has compiled and analyzed a broad array of relevant government documents including UNFCCC national submissions, national curriculum frameworks, education sector plans, and the curriculum of grade 9 science and social science subjects. Many such documents reflect the status of CCE in 24 NAWA countries.

These and other uncomfortable findings have galvanized states to take action:

So far, 39 countries have signed and endorsed the Declaration for Climate Change and Education which was launched at the gathering.
127 countries have committed to integrating climate change and sustainability into their curricula.
UNESCO-IBE is part of the Greening Education Partnership and is Empowering learners and teachers for climate action to develop a global standard on integrating climate change into the curriculum – through Greening Curriculum Guidance.