In an open letter recently sent to education secretary Bridget Phillipson, climate scientists, academics and leading educators called for climate change to be more comprehensively included in the school curriculum.
The letter says there are 'significant and worrying gaps' in climate change knowledge that must be addressed. It called for climate change and sustainability to become embedded across the curriculum for all children up to age 18 – and not just restricted to science and geography.
The importance of climate change
We know education can play an important role in the climate crisis, from raising awareness among young people to shaping their attitudes and outlooks. The United Nations has even described education as a 'critical agent' in addressing the issue.
One study showed that effective climate change education can significantly reduce individual carbon emissions through changing behaviours. Students who completed an intensive university course on climate change were surveyed five years afterwards and were found to have made significant changes in their personal and professional lives as a result.
Their behaviours concerning waste, home energy, transportation and food all showed changes that were attributed to the course. It reduced their individual carbon emissions by 2.86 tons of CO2 per year. The study showed that implementing a similarly impactful climate education programme over a 30-year period could cut emissions by 18.8 gigatons of CO2 – equivalent to the annual energy use of 2.5 billion homes.