During the RewirEd Summit 2023, which took place on the ‘Youth, Children, Education and Skills’ day at COP28, the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and Dubai Cares organized a High-level event spotlighting the interlinkages between education and climate adaptation. We are convinced that progress in the intended outcomes of both sectors is inextricably linked, both in OECD economies and developing nations. As we discuss in GCA’s flagship report State and Trends in Adaptation 2022, climate shocks can damage education infrastructure and increase the vulnerability of educators and students. At the same time, education is a key factor in climate adaptation as it enhances the adaptive capacity of people, especially children and youth.
At the event, we delivered three key messages.
1. The education sector needs to be ready for the climate shocks of today and tomorrow.
From floods to droughts to heat waves, climate shocks have direct and indirect negative impacts on education.
Direct impacts include the destruction of education infrastructure by floods or hurricanes, the degradation of learning environments due to heat, and the water scarcity challenge faced by schools during periods of drought.
At the same time, there are several indirect impacts. When droughts or floods impact the livelihood of households, many children – especially girls – stop their education to support the family. In many countries, schools are commonly used as shelter after disasters, interrupting the education of students for months at a time.
Climate change-induced displacement and migration disrupt educational continuity and achievement. The Malala Fund estimates that climate disruptions will cause an abrupt end to schooling for at least 12.5 million girls every year globally.
It is important to note that this is not a problem for developing countries only. A study of public schools in the US shows they are not ready for heatwaves in the summer. The US Government Accountability Office estimates that 41% of districts in the country need to update or replace air conditioning systems in at least half of their schools.
2. The education system needs to build the resilience skills of children and young people to deal with disasters.
The education system can play an invaluable role in building resilience. For example, the official death toll from the Japan earthquake and tsunami of 2011 was more than 18,000. More than half of the victims were 65 years or older. Children died proportionally less. Why? Because of the school drills and understanding of what to do in tsunami emergencies. Similarly, implementing preparedness measures for the most common climate shocks in a school district can greatly contribute to empowering communities to adapt to climate change.
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report, “increasing education including capacity building, climate literacy, and information can facilitate heightened risk perception and accelerate behavioural changes and planning.”
3. The education sector, including secondary, vocational, and tertiary levels, needs to provide the skills for the jobs and enterprises that will provide adaptation solutions, products, and services.
Green jobs should not be limited to climate mitigation activities. Climate adaptation jobs are also green jobs. Skills in areas such as climate-smart agriculture, logistics, risk engineering, and resilient housing and infrastructure will be indispensable for adapted communities.
Without a vibrant ecosystem of private companies providing adaptation solutions, households, businesses, and societies will not be climate resilient and adapted. The education sector can play an key role in creating new adaptation markets.
The Sustainable Development Goal on education and its targets are at risk of not being achieved by 2030. Climate shocks will make them more difficult to reach. Unless the education sector becomes more resilient and better adapted to climate change, the increasing frequency and intensity of disasters will impede educational achievements. At the same time, communities and societies will not be able to adapt without the decisive support and leadership of the education sector. The time to act on both is now.
This post was originally published by the Global Centre on Adaptation.
