Education is crucial to combat the degrading actions of the climate crisis and get people to adapt to climate change. Yet, not much attention is being paid to its usefulness.
A 2019 study published by UNESCO estimates that if at least 16% of students in developed countries were thoroughly educated on the dreariness of climatic change as well as steps to stall the process, the planet could experience a significant reduction in the realities of environmental hazards.
There would also be indirect benefits to be experienced. Such would include the generation of about 60 million new jobs. Based on recent stats from specialist bodies, economic impacts from these could amount to up to $25 trillion in aggregate economic output.
The Importance of Environmental Literacy
This refers to any deliberate action undertaken by a country’s government or an international organization to raise awareness on factors that aggravate and cause climate change. Actions like curriculum modifications to better adjust to increasing consideration all fall under this broad sphere.
To better facilitate the education of all concerned, experts recommend that terms that were once purely technical must be adopted in everyday language to improve comprehension and desensitization. As such, terms like deforestation, carbon footprint, sustainable goals, etc., are becoming more adopted in everyday conversation.
With over $23 trillion in obtainable aggregate funding for all investments related to climate change, a radical and niched-down approach must be made to the educational system to cultivate professionals skilled enough to clinch these benefits.
Developing a Culture of Caring for the Environment
For some communities, changes in the climatic conditions have influenced many unprecedented environmental hazards to occur in that region. For instance, hurricanes and typhoons are expected to intensify and occur more frequently due to worsening climatic conditions.
Caring for the environment in such cases must encompass high-quality climate education to turn youths and even high school students into strong advocates for change in their community. Subsequently, determined contributions from such quarters would not only go a long way to combat climate change but also help people to understand peculiar public policies geared toward boosting the economy’s growth.
An Educational Program to Fight Climate Change
The existing educational curriculums must be disrupted to introduce programs better catered to raise awareness about the looming consequences of climate change and also discuss appropriate measures to combat climate change. These modifications have already been taken to considerable success in some developed countries.
Nevertheless, the growth adoption rate is way too slow to be remarkable. A study, for instance, revealed that a mere 5% of students from high-income communities in the UK feel they know nothing about the peculiarities of climate change.
Some enlightened youths these days keep demanding knowledgeable leaders to recognize the dangers of climatic change and introduce remedial measures. The Fridays for Future movement makes this the most evident as the globe, for the first time, witnessed unification from different youth factions who stood up to organize a mock Climatic Change Conference modeled after the official United Nations Version.
Make the Attainment of Universal Worldwide Education an Urgent Priority
A world where every academic institution has systems in place to educate students on the best approaches to minimize the growth and consequences of climate change would be a very safe world. In countries that are most vulnerable to climate change and other nefarious consequences, combating climate change education leads to more effective solutions being proffered quicker to pressing environmental issues.
In the United States, for instance, Students can embark on several vital projects that aim to conduct a thorough analysis on all factors that influence the growth of the changes as well as draft sustainable plans that aim to mitigate their effects and also find solutions/alternatives for systems contributing to it. Education can encourage people to change their attitudes and behavior; it also helps them to make informed decisions.
Strengthen Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics
Most of the concepts behind climate change, and not just the terminologies, are deeply rooted in STEM disciplines. Concentrating more on these subjects would improve the atypical student’s level of understanding of the ongoing environmental changes around them. Additional resources like the typical essay about global warming, deforestation, and rising incidences of environmental disasters would come in great handy. Students would also be able to better work on approaches to mitigate the severities of the environmental consequences of these changes. Teaching climate change is a must do in these modern times.
Support the Delivery of Environmental Education in Schools
More than just channeling students’ efforts toward realizing a long list of environmental initiatives is accomplished when this collaborative and experiential learning approach is integrated into the academic student experience. It’s one way to start putting a new eco-friendly learning curriculum into practice that aims to deepen students’ comprehension of how humans can maintain a planet in harmony and provide them with the civic engagement abilities necessary to address societal issues like climate change, gender inequality, and poverty.
Build Schools that Reflect Environmental Principles
There’s no more surefire way for students to lose interest and faith in their training than to observe that their trainers are not sticking to their preachings. In other words, academic institutions must ensure they adhere to only green methods to generate their electricity with eco-friendly and aid their transportation.
It’s not enough to go on regular marches proclaiming the benefits of green methods; they also must ensure they take practical steps like discarding fossil-fueled drives in preference for Electric cars and Bicycles.
Conclusion
It will also help build support for a growing call for action from leading advocacy organizations (e.g., EarthDay and The globe’s Largest Lesson) on integrating climate change across the curriculum with a focus on civic action. In other words, this learning approach will help build the mindsets and know-how of the world’s youths to be the drivers now and in the future of climate-smart nations.
