Can education propel climate action?

While youth in the developing world are anxious about climate change and ready for action, they are constrained by a lack of information and knowledge. In this post, Masood and Sabarwal discuss insights from a new World Bank Report outlining how education can address this disconnect to drive climate action. They also highlight the need to safeguard educational systems from the threats posed by climate change.

“I have heard news that the planet will collapse … and that it can be resolved just by having people change their behaviour … but we are not wanting to change … The solution is here, and everyone is seeing it; we just have to change.”

- Environmental engineering student, Mozambique (cited in Sabarwal et al. 2024)

Nearly 79% of youth across eight low- and middle-income countries (India, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Angola, Tanzania, Colombia, Senegal, and China) believe that their country is in a climate emergency, a recent World Bank survey shows (Sabarwal et al. 2024). This includes about 85% of the young people (17-25-year-olds) interviewed in India. Close to 83% of these Indian youth report feeling terrified of what the future holds because of climate change.

This sentiment is echoed in focus group discussions from across the developing world. One university student shared that climate change gives them “anxiety to the highest level”, while others fear the planet is on the verge of collapse, leaving them feeling “psychologically altered”. Some are so overwhelmed that they struggle to attend classes, or even withdraw from social interactions altogether.

And yet, alongside this fear, there is also a sense of anger and frustration – plus a readiness to take action and demand change. What is stopping them? In many cases, lack of information and knowledge. Among grade 8 students in Bangladesh, 88% claimed that they are ready and willing to take action against climate change. However, only 32% could correctly answer a basic climate-related question.

New data and analysis in the World Bank Report, “Choosing our Future: Education for Climate Action”, highlights this disconnect, showcasing the role education can play to bridge the gap between climate anxiety and climate action. The Report outlines how education can bridge information and skills gaps to drive climate action. It also stresses the need to safeguard educational systems from the threats posed by climate change.

Learning and skilling can help drive climate action

According to the Report, education is the single strongest predictor of climate change awareness globally, with each additional year boosting climate awareness by 8.6%. But the benefits of education extend beyond mere awareness; they also drive action. Evidence from Europe shows an additional year of education is associated with a notable rise in both pro-climate beliefs by 4 percentage points and pro-climate behaviours by 5.8 percentage points.

These benefits also manifest themselves as enhanced resiliency to climate shocks. Global studies demonstrate that individuals with higher levels of education are better prepared for disasters and respond more effectively, experiencing fewer adverse effects and recovering more swiftly (Muttarak and Pothisiri 2013, Wamsler et al. 2012). Education enhances the ability to plan for the future and optimises resource allocation, allowing individuals and communities to navigate the impacts of climate-induced challenges.

These benefits reach far beyond the classroom, extending into the household as well. Teaching students does not mean we have to wait for future generations to see the change – it can spark climate-conscious behaviour today. Educating children not only shapes their own actions but also transforms parental climate attitudes. In the United States, providing middle-school children with climate education led to higher levels of climate change concern among parents (Lawson et al. 2019). Effects were strongest among parents who displayed the lowest levels of climate concern before the intervention. Parents were significantly more receptive to climate outreach when it involved their children or came directly through them. In fact, 67% of youth across the eight countries believe they have influenced their parents to make environmentally friendly choices.

Education also has a vital role to play in fostering skills for green transitions

Climate change demands not only a shift in behaviours, but also the development of new skills essential for adapting to our changing world. As countries begin to uphold their green transition commitments, the demand for skills to foster these transitions is high and increasing. The Report highlights that around 51,000 out of the 1.8 million jobs posted online in India between January 2022 and March 2023 require at least one green skill (for example project management or sustainability solutions). The Report highlights that green skilling opportunities are relevant for most economies and workers, and such education can play a critical role to foster the right set of skills.

There is often a misconception that this demand is only applicable to those with higher levels of education. Yet, many workers are already utilising these skills, with 88% of non-agricultural India workers being in occupation groups demanding some green skills. Many also believe that green transitions require only STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) skills, but analysis from this report shows that skills demand pertains to not just technical competencies but also general and socio-emotional competencies. Among online green job postings in India, only 43% needed a STEM skill at all.

Moreover, this demand is manifesting across many different types of industries. For instance, ‘advise on corporate social responsibility’, one of the most commonly occurring green skills in job postings, is demanded across 20 industries in India.

How to make climate change an education policy priority

Focus on foundations first…

For climate action, it is the overall education attainment and quality that matters most. Amid all the conversation around climate curriculum, it is important to remember that its effectiveness depends on strong foundational skills like literacy and numeracy. An estimated 78% of South Asian 10-year-olds cannot read a simple text today (World Bank, 2022). It is unlikely that meaningful climate education can be built unless these deficits are remedied. Instead, foundational skills can be used to teach climate material. For example, reading lessons can include examples of the benefits of preserving forests and math lessons can integrate lessons on temperature and sea level changes.

…And then climate education

Integrating climate education requires governments to start with existing resources, identify age-appropriate climate concepts for each grade, and enhance local knowledge and community initiatives in the following ways:

Identifying entry points within existing school activities is cost-effective, minimises disruptions, and leverages stakeholder buy-in. For example, in India, UNICEF has integrated climate change and disaster risk reduction themes into existing Ministry of Education initiatives like school safety programmes and youth platforms.
At the same time, learning should be customised for each education level, ensuring that content is understandable, actionable, and meaningful for students. A graduated approach guarantees that every student receives relevant information they can grasp, all while maintaining focus on broader educational objectives.
Contextualising learning to the community setting ensures that students not only learn about climate science and policy in the classroom but also see these principles in action within their educational environments. In recent years, Earth Science curriculum for middle-school students in India was significantly reworked to encourage students to examine their surroundings more critically and engage with the reasons behind how things work.

Introduce flexibility and agility in tertiary education

At the same time, tertiary education remains underused for green skilling. This is in part because of prevailing misconceptions about the nature of green skills. Rejigging tertiary systems to create more flexibility between general and vocational education, enhance accessibility to short-term courses, stackable credentials, and re-skilling and up-skilling opportunities could go a long way.

There must also be close collaboration between industry and tertiary education. These can be fostered through proactive internship programmes, active career centres, and strong alumni networks. An example of this is the MOBILISE project, a collaborative effort between the Netherlands and Tunisia, Egypt and Ethiopia for the strengthening of climate-smart agriculture. The project seeks to meet the demands of the labour market in participating countries by involving partners from the public and private sector, while developing cooperation with local higher educational institutions.

These linkages should also be extended to collaborations across ministries. India’s Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ), for example, addresses the skilled manpower needs for the country’s climate commitments and coordinates with various ministries on clean energy initiatives. It has developed 44 nationally approved qualifications, trained over 500,000 candidates – including more than 100,000 in renewable energy – and created an e-learning system that has provided virtual training to over 4,000 individuals.

Protect education from climate change

Harnessing education for climate action can only work if we also protect education from climate change. The rising frequency and intensity of extreme weather events are disrupting education, leading to significant learning losses and higher dropout rates. The Report finds that between January 2022 and June 2024 alone, an estimated 404 million students faced school closures due to extreme weather events.

In late April and early May 2024, many global and local news outlets reported massive school closures in Asia due to soaring temperatures (see reportage here, here, and here). And the bad news kept coming into June. Odisha extended their summer break by seven days as temperatures soared above 40 degrees Celsius; earlier in the year, the state had ordered the closure of all schools for three days as temperatures rose above 45 degrees Celsius. In Uttar Pradesh, heat-related school closures resulted in the summer break being extended by 10 days. Many states also reduced school timings to ensure student safety amid soaring temperatures.

Estimates from the World Bank Report suggest that low-income countries lost 45 days of instruction, on average, between January 2022 and June 2024 – an average of 18 days per year. School closures result in fewer instructional days, which directly contributes to significant learning loss. To put this in perspective, losing 18 days of school is roughly equivalent to the time needed to teach fundamental concepts such as two-digit addition with carrying.

Climate threats extend beyond school closures. Even when schools are open, students are still experiencing learning losses due to rising temperatures. According to the Report’s findings, an average student in the poorest 50% of municipalities in Brazil could lose up to 0.5 years of learning overall due to rising temperatures.

Governments need to act now to adapt schools for climate change in cost-effective ways. Adaptation investments suggested in the World Bank Report include solutions for lowering classroom temperatures, enhancing infrastructure resilience, and remote learning during closures along with teacher training to facilitate this. The Report estimates that cost-effective adaptation can be as low as a one-time investment of US$18.51 per student.

The time to act is now

Young people are desperate for climate action. By enhancing climate knowledge, skills, and behaviours, education can be a powerful catalyst for this action – yet it remains underutilised in climate agendas. If we fail to mobilise education now, we jeopardise current and future generations. But, if we seize this opportunity, we can unleash a transformative force that propels the climate transition forward.