Blog by Sarah Beardmore, Strategic Partnership and Capabilities Team Lead, Global Partnership for Education (GPE)
COP29, the global climate change conference held in Baku, Azerbaijan this year has finally come to a close. Dubbed the “finance COP”, the negotiations went overtime to agree a quantified goal for climate finance to support countries with their climate transitions. With a finance gap of at least $1.3 trillion, the international community has committed – despite objections from some countries that it is far from sufficient – to mobilize $300 billion in climate finance by 2035.
To transition away from fossil fuels at the pace needed to stay within reasonably safe levels of temperature rise, at least some of the $300 billion for the climate transition should be directed toward education. The World Bank asserts that education is the single strongest predictor of climate change awareness; for example, studies found that students who attended a one-year university course on climate reduced their individual carbon emissions by 2.86 tons of CO2 per year. Global green transitions will also require skilled workers for an estimated 100 million new jobs, up-skilled workers for most existing jobs, and re-skilled workers for another 78 million jobs which will disappear. And for the most climate-impacted countries, education is even more important. Those with more years of education exhibit greater disaster preparedness and response, experience less adverse effects and recover more quickly from disasters.
Investments in education can therefore have very strong climate benefits, and investments in climate adaptation can have very strong education benefits. Investing in the nexus of both climate and education is therefore a really smart buy.
Blog author, Sarah Beardmore (GPE) moderating a panel at the Qatar Pavilion at COP29 on education as a tool for climate resilience / Photo Credits: © GPE
The COP29 Presidency seems to have recognized the critical role that education plays. For the first time ever, education was included in the official COP Presidency program, as part of the multi-sectoral “Baku Initiative on Human Development for Climate Resilience.” This initiative aims to address intersectoral synergies and complementarities between greening education, health, social protection, decent jobs, and skills development to enhance climate resilience. In support of the Baku Initiative, UN agencies, multilateral development banks and multilateral climate funds issued a joint statement confirming their “collective commitment to advancing human development as a cornerstone of climate resilience” and to continue to support “the mobilization and catalyzation of climate finance that is age and gender-responsive, to promote strategic initiatives in education, health, social protection, employment, and skills development.”
The “Baku Guiding Principles on Human Development for Climate Resilience” also provide a prominent place for education. The second Guiding Principle calls for investing in integrating quality climate change education at all levels and monitoring progress against climate literacy benchmarks by integrating it into national and international assessments. The third principle calls for climate-resilient and low-carbon systems, and the fourth focuses on green skills, qualifications and occupational standards. While these Baku commitments are conceptual until operationalized, the official inclusion of education in a COP Presidency agenda is a move in the right direction.
This is a particularly positive step forward building on the leadership of the UAE at COP28 last year, which dedicated a day to education and launched the Declaration on the Common Agenda for Education and Climate Change. With 41 founding signatories at COP28, the declaration has now jumped to 91 signatories at COP29 and the momentum is building. Countries which endorse the declaration commit to integrating education into their climate strategies – both in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) – and to invest in the implementation of those strategies. The endorsement of Ireland would be welcomed, bringing the Declaration up to 92 signatories.
The next milestone is February 2025. Updated NDCs are due, and with the trajectory of current commitments still putting the planet on a pathway of at best 2.6 degrees Celsius warming, the updated strategies need to do better. Only 24% of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) specifically target or consider the education of children and young people, and 12 of 58 National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) consider the education sector. As climate finance can only flow to support national climate strategies, it is therefore no surprise that education is the principle objective in only 1 out of 591 projects across four key multilateral funds and only 1.5% of climate-related development finance went to the education sector in 2021. It is time to unleash the power of education systems, which are typically centrally managed public systems that reach into every community through the school networks that are at the frontlines of the climate emergency. It is time to commit to putting education at the heart of the climate movement.
GPE youth leaders watch the immersive VR experience “Education in the eye of the storm” at COP29 / Photo Credits: © GPE
The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) is committed to this ambitious agenda. As the world’s largest fund for education and an inclusive partnership which promotes education system transformation in the Global South, GPE is supporting ministries of education to ensure their systems are climate-smart. Through grant financing, technical assistance initiatives, and an innovative partnership with the Green Climate Fund and Save the Children, GPE is expanding its support to climate-impacted countries to integrate climate change into their education strategies, helping build climate-smart education systems that reinforce school resilience, develop foundational and green skills, and support students as agents of change.
GPE’s work demonstrates that there are strategies that work. Countries facing urgent climate impacts are already making huge efforts to build resilience and ensure education continuity in the face of environmental shocks. For example, in Cambodia, a $5.8 million GPE grant is supporting the government in constructing new school facilities that integrate climate-resilient features, including improved drainage systems, rainwater harvesting, and extensive tree planting to combat soil erosion. This initiative also includes the training of educators and community leaders to shore up their response capabilities to further enhance the climate resilience of the education system. In Chad, GPE has invested $10.8 million to build 180 climate-resilient classrooms and equip schools with essential water and sanitation facilities, targeting the most climate vulnerable regions to ensure equal and safe access to learning opportunities for all students. And in Honduras, the government is integrating climate change education within preschool curricula to prepare young learners to understand and act on climate adaptation from an early age, thereby cultivating a generation of environmental stewards.
These kinds of strategies will make the difference in preparing young people to be agents of change not only in the future but even now as they influence their parents and communities. They will also save lives, and with unprecedented climate emergencies occurring every week somewhere in the world, it’s time to get behind the Declaration, and invest in climate-smart education.
Photo Credits: © GPE / Title photo: GPE youth leader Ngimou Victorine Nchokuno addresses the audience at an event on the critical role of youth and teachers at COP29
The Irish Network for Education Worldwide (INEW) works in close partnership with the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). A heartfelt thank you to Sarah Beardmore and evervbody at GPE for this kind contribution to our blog!
