Taking action for climate change: teaching about, through and for climate literacy in schools

Abstract

Climate change caused by global warming is already transforming life on Earth. It is the defining challenge of our time, the most significant issue facing all citizens today. Evidence of climate change is compelling. With heat waves in the US, wildfires in Europe, floods in Asia, and famine in the Horn of Africa, summer 2022 clearly illustrates the reality of climate change.

In 2015, 193 countries adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), one of which is climate change (UN General Assembly, 2015). In December 2015, at the Paris Climate Conference – the 21st meeting of the Conference of the Parties, otherwise known as COP21 – 195 countries adopted the first-ever universal, global climate deal, officially agreeing to maintain global warming below 2 degrees Celsius. This commitment marks an unprecedented international consensus on the need to transition from fossil fuels within the next few decades. Indeed, the window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all is rapidly closing (IPCC, 2022).

To maintain hope and a sense of agency, climate literacy has to be part of the solution to the challenges posed by a warmer Earth. Situated in the fields of Education for Sustainability and Global Citizenship Education, climate literacy is recognised as a core action for addressing climate change. Climate literacy helps students understand and address the impacts of the climate crisis, empowering them with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes needed to act as agents of change.