Climate education: a challenge to UNICEF and UNESCO : Ramesh Shrestha

Climate change has become a social, scientific and environmental issue that every child needs to understand in their local context for their anthropogenic future. It is their future! Regular global conferences have done little in resolving the climate crisis. We need a bottom-up approach through formal education on climate crises in every school across the globe to design solutions as appropriate to save the future generations.

A small spark

Fifteen years old Greta Thunberg was supposed to start her ninth-grade school on 20 August 2018, but instead she sat against the stone façade of the Swedish Parliament with a play card that read ‘School Strike for the Climate’. In front of her was a pile of leaflets with the message “We kids most often don’t do what you tell us to do. We do as you do. And since you grown-ups don’t give a shit about my future, I won’t either. My name is Greta and I’m in ninth grade. And I refuse school for the climate until the Swedish general election.”

Greta Thunberg on 20 August 2018. The image sparked global youth movement against climate crisis

It was the spark that ignited global movement on climate change led by the youth around the world. Campaigns and demonstrations are important but they are transient in nature. It does not resolve the issue. Any required positive change could be instituted only by proper education and support of the public. This is yet to happen with regards to the climate crisis.

A lot of technical innovations have been put in place such as wind farms, electric vehicles, solar energy farms, etc. These are important but are not likely to resolve the crisis.

What are we missing?

Just about 29 per cent of the world population are school going age children. Climate change education must be incorporated in all formal education systems throughout the world. At the moment only Italy and New Zealand have incorporated climate related curriculum in schools. Mexico is on the way to becoming the third country to introduce climate in school curriculum. Climate change has become a social, scientific and environmental issue that every child needs to understand in their local context. There may be small fragments of issues related to climate in geography in the existing curriculum but that is simply not enough for children to understand and manage the climate crisis and its negative consequences on humans and nature. Climate change curriculum must be creative in preparing the coming generations for rapidly changing ecology. There is no other way!

Where do we begin?

It will be challenging to conceptualise this anthropogenic issue for many children but it has to start. School curriculums are country specific, oriented towards local history, geography, geopolitics, environment and employment opportunities. Educationists will have many ifs and buts issues on what to include and how much to include, etc. We are at a stage where we can no longer waste time on such semantics. Let the best not be an enemy of the good. The basic components should answer these basic issues: What is climate? How is it changing? How is it impacting you? How to mitigate? And how to adapt to change? All of these have to be taught in a local context so that children can internalise the real issue of climate change. For a child in Niger, melting glaciers in Nepal is of no concern. For her the issue is desertification of parts of her country.

Our issues

As the climate is a global phenomenon without borders almost every country in the world has been affected by the climate crisis. The most common experiences of people are unpredictable weather conditions – floods, cyclones, hurricanes, rising atmospheric temperatures, acidification of ocean waters, desertification, uncontrollable wildfires, melting of icecaps, air pollution from industrial emission, and mountains of garbage. These are not new issues but their frequency and intensity are increasing. Lack of effective solutions over the past five decades intensified the occurrence of these events. All these activities have direct negative impacts on human lives, properties and nature.

These are the issues that every grade/age-appropriate school curriculum must address in whichever way they relate to local conditions in relation to climate adaptation and mitigation. Can we? Yes. Do we have another choice? No.

Planetary emergency

The impacts of the climate crisis are not just above phenomenon. It is having impacts on food production, water shortage and shrinking biodiversity. These events impact market prices hence people’s living standards. These are the issues at heart children and youth must understand as they are the ones who will be in responsible positions as they grow and move on to the working age generation. A big challenge is how to make them internalise this, beyond Facebook, Tik Tok, shopping, holidays and entertainment?

Mitigation, adaptation and finding solutions are all very country specific. Efforts must be made to design a set of appropriate information for each grade in schools keeping in mind the broad climate issue. In essence the focus should be on the tree but making reference to the forest. It is the only way to prepare children for their uncertain anthropogenic future. We are at a stage when we have no luxury of choices.

What about the United Nations?

In global Conference of Parties (COP) sessions on climate, countries made many commitments to tackle the climate crisis. As these commitments are non-binding, they have just become cheap talk show of leaders on the global stage. While countries are doing whatever they can, UNICEF and UNESCO should join hands and start a global movement on reforms in school curricula to include climate education as mandatory subject.

UNICEF and UNESCO did a marvelous job in mobilising the entire word for ‘Education for All’ in 1990. It is now time to come together for a similar action on Climate Education for the future generation.

Ramesh Shrestha can be contacted via: ramesh.chauni@gmail.com

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