The role of education in climate action
Countdown to COP29: Cambridge's Global Director for Climate Education reflects on a climate action event in Azerbaijan and Cambridge's achievements in climate education in 2024
By Christine Özden
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Pianeta Scuola news. Turin, September 25, 2024 – The urgency of the climate crisis is undeniable. We’ve just experienced the hottest summer on record and the latest IPCC report shows ‘the scale and pace of climate change poses unprecedented challenges for humanity’.
As I reflect on the panel discussion I took part in at the Times Higher Education University Impact Forum: Climate Action 2024 in Azerbaijan, last week, I feel a renewed sense of focus and ambition.
I believe we have the consensus that climate action matters and agreement that education plays a key role in that, but together we need to address the barriers that are stopping this action happening at scale.
Held in Baku, Azerbaijan, where COP29 is being held this November, the theme for the THE forum was “Prioritising Climate Action on the Global Higher Education Agenda” and brought together university leaders, policymakers, and industry representatives.
I joined the opening panel discussion, chaired by Nigar Arpadarai, the UN Climate Change High-level Champion for COP29, to discuss why climate action is fundamental to the success of all Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the role universities can play in supporting this. It was inspiring and thought-provoking to hear the thoughts and ambitions of other global leaders on this topic.
Five people sitting on chairs on stage, with a green and white banner behind them at the event
Below I’ve summarised some of the points I shared as part of the panel.
Christine Özden speaking at the Cambridge Festival in March 2024 is the role of universities in climate action?
• Universities are at the centre of research innovation ecosystems. We create value through spinouts, startups and scientific and entrepreneurial talent. In Cambridge, there is a very strong green tech community and the UK’s leading clean tech innovation network, as well as other expert research centres, such as the University of Cambridge’s Global Food Security and the Centre for Climate Repair.
• Universities influence policy making and global dialogue. Through Cambridge University Press's Higher Education publishing, we've united academics globally to create educational materials on the climate crisis for undergraduates and graduates. We publish the latest cutting-edge research through our journals addressing climate science, policy, law, and economics. For example, our new Cambridge Prisms series addresses current global challenges with journal titles and topics closely reflecting the SDGs. We've also impacted wider societal discussion with our book publishing aimed at general readers, such as There is No Planet B, by Mike Berners-Lee, and Five Times Faster, by Simon Sharpe.
• students contributing to councils, advisory bodies, local charities, and participating in climate assemblies. Universities also have significant influence through, and on, local supply chains.
The importance of education for SDG13 - climate action – and driving all SDGs forward
• Building knowledge and capacity to meet climate change is crucial for achieving SDG13 and all SDGs; education plays a central role. The new World Bank report - Choosing Our Future: Education for Climate Action - shows that with each year of education climate awareness increases by nearly 9 percent, based on data from 96 countries. Climate education helps children and young people understand and address root causes of issues, shift behaviours toward sustainability, and develop skills for economic transformation.
• Education also fosters critical thinking to challenge unsustainable models and supports daily sustainable choices. To inspire ambition, we need high quality education, that offers "constructive hope in action" for students and to boost teacher confidence in general, as well as their capability to integrate climate education at subject level.
• We need to drive dialogue amongst sectors. It is essential to foster collaboration between industry and education to enhance the appeal of key sectors, to engage students early and support them in making informed decisions about their education and career choices.
• Despite its importance, education is hugely overlooked in the climate agenda and receives minimal climate finance. According to the World Bank report, a mere 1.5 percent of climate finance went to the education sector in 2021. Increasing this funding could enhance climate mitigation and adaptation efforts.
Four key achievements at Cambridge in 2024
I'm proud of what we’ve achieved so far this year towards our mission of empowering a generation of learners with the skills and knowledge to tackle the climate crisis.
1. Launching Cambridge Climate Quest
One of our most significant milestones was the launch of an innovative climate change course in India, in partnership with Cambridge Zero, designed to help students develop climate awareness and become engaged in climate and sustainability issues. So far, Cambridge Climate Quest has reached over 7,000 learners from 146 schools across the country.
And it’s growing. We will be working with the Sri Lanka National Institute of Education (NIE) to develop a bespoke version of the Cambridge Climate Quest for students in grades 9 - 12 across the country. In June, I met with Sri Lanka’s President Honourable Ranil Wickremesinghe, Minister of Education Sunil Premajayantha, Director General of the National Institute of Education Professor Professor Praia Sethunga, Education Secretary Thilaka Jayasundera and their teams. We discussed the importance of climate education, and how it aligns with Sri Lanka’s vision for education, which includes equipping future generations with the knowledge and skills to tackle the impacts of climate change and drive a more sustainable future.
2. Calling for more climate education in schools
Earlier this year, we launched a paper on empowering learners through climate change education, and urged leaders and educators worldwide to collaborate in developing and delivering climate change education to make learners ready for a climate impacted world.
We also called for the UK government to appoint an independent review to gather evidence and advise on the climate knowledge and skills young people need and how to embed those in the education system. A YouGov poll commissioned by Cambridge showed support for this, with more than 65 percent of the British public supporting a change to the school curriculum to include more content on climate change, and over 70 percent thinking a greater focus on climate change at school would help students better understand how to tackle it.
Our UK exam board OCR’s recently published Striking the Balance report also revealed that young people and teachers want more on climate change and sustainability, and with a more global perspective. As part of the research for the report, our survey of UK teachers showed that 64.4 percent agreed or strongly agreed that GCSEs need to be updated to include issues around climate change, nature and sustainability.
Our teams in International Education are building a research community to learn more about the themes, issues and approaches that matter most to educators and school leaders around the world on climate change education. With this knowledge and understanding, this community can influence the direction of climate change education. This is a global community joining together to drive local action.
3. Advocacy
Climate action matters to us, and we know talking about it matters too. So far this year, myself and other leaders across the organisation highlighted the crucial role of education in tackling the climate crisis at events such as the THE Impact Forum, London Book Fair, Education World Forum, the Festival of Education, London Climate Action Week, and the Cambridge Festival. These events are important as they give us the opportunity to speak to our communities of teachers, young people, authors, researchers and policy makers about how they can make a difference.
4. Collaboration and partnerships
Partnerships are key to our work on climate education. Earlier this year, as part of a cross-Cambridge University group talking about climate education, convened by Press & Assessment and Cambridge Zero, we brought together colleagues from across the University for an event where leading academics and researchers presented research and practice around engineering for a sustainable future.
Participants were able to identify links between creative and innovative sustainability- and climate-related thinking and research to explore opportunities for climate and sustainability education within the design, development and delivery of curriculum, assessment and teaching and learning materials for engineering subjects, from primary through to the end of secondary education. We will be publishing the event summary in due course.
Cambridge sponsored the Sustainability Hub at the Festival of Education in July 2024
Looking forward with hope
At the THE University Impact Forum, I was struck by the energy and power of educators and academics across the region towards a shared global mission.
Looking ahead to COP29, where climate finance will be top of the agenda, my plea is how can we better align financial support to education, as one of greatest drivers of climate action.
I urge representatives at COP29 to use this significant annual moment for conversation and action on climate change, and for institutions, organisations and governments to step up and be bold in their actions and commitments.
We need recognition of the critical role of education; its effectiveness for raising awareness and capacity building.
As the world faces a climate crisis, education must be part of the answer.
Find out more about climate education at Cambridge
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