UN Climate Change and UNESCO Launch New Webinar Series to Prepare Teachers for Climate Education

UNESCO and UN Climate Change have launched the third installment of their climate change education webinar series, set to engage over 1,500 participants globally, including teachers, educators, and policymakers. This initiative, running from May to December 2024, aims to enhance the integration of climate change and sustainability into educational frameworks by focusing on policy, planning, and financing, with a special emphasis on teacher training programs and the resilience of education systems.

The "Greening teacher training and education systems’ capacities" series is a continuation of a broader effort that began in 2022. This initiative is part of the Greening Education Partnership (GEP), which was launched at the UN Transforming Education Summit in September 2022. The GEP is a global initiative striving for comprehensive and coordinated action to prepare learners worldwide to be climate-ready. The inaugural series in 2022 centered on greening education policies and curricula leading up to COP27, while the 2023 series focused on greening school infrastructures in anticipation of COP28.

This new series is particularly related in light of a recent UNESCO global survey involving 17,000 young people. The survey revealed that 70% of respondents felt inadequately prepared to face climate change challenges based on their school education. However, it also highlighted a strong demand among youth for robust climate change education, seeking actionable knowledge rather than mere theoretical understanding. Similarly, a UNESCO study found that 95% of teachers recognize the critical importance of climate change education.

Simon Stiell, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, emphasized the evolving nature of climate education during his address to the UNESCO Executive Board in Paris. "At one point, climate education was simply about science—understanding our atmospheric system, the relationship between the sun, sea, forest, and air, and the drivers of change and its impacts. Now, education in the age of climate change is very different," Stiell noted. "Our task is to educate and inspire a new generation of professionals, embedding an understanding of climate change and its solutions in every aspect of education."

The webinars will be publicly accessible and cover strategies to empower educators in teaching climate change effectively. This includes fostering skills for green employment and advancing eco-conscious teacher training and education system capacities. The series is being co-implemented through the ACE Hub, a three-year collaboration initiated in 2022 between the UN Climate Change secretariat and the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. The ACE Hub promotes education, awareness, training, and public participation in climate action globally.

Additionally, at the June UN climate change meetings, discussions will focus on embedding climate change education at all levels—from early childhood to professional and lifelong learning. The ACE Dialogue and ACE Poster Gallery will feature perspectives from teachers, policymakers, educators, youth, and children, aiming to enhance the capacity of education systems to deliver high-quality climate change education.

This webinar series represents a significant step towards equipping future generations with the knowledge and skills necessary to tackle climate change, fostering a globally coordinated effort to integrate sustainability into education systems.

Register here to participate in the 2024 webinar series.