Education is at the heart of addressing climate change, WISE experts say

Experts have highlighted the importance of education – especially among the youth of today – in tackling climate change at the 2021 WISE Summit.

A session titled Learning to Care: Educating for Sustainability, was held on the second day of WISE’s biennial conference, which – held in-person and an online – has brought together thousands of speakers and delegates from around the globe. WISE is the global education think tank of Qatar Foundation.

Max McCabe, Chief Operating Officer, The Education Outcomes Fund, spoke about leveraging the power of the education system to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. “We need education to stop being this neglected child of the climate movement,” he said.

Detailing three specific focus areas, he highlighted education for climate literacy, saying: “We first need to educate children and young people about the scale of the crisis – and the scale of the crisis is hard to comprehend.

“Every single person on this planet will have their physical and mental health significantly impacted if we continue on our current path. So, first, we need to educate people so they understand this, and then we need to ensure that education actually serves as a route to empower young people to recognize that they can be the agents of change.

“If we properly educate people about the climate, it will change how people consume, or stop consuming; who they vote for; the jobs people take. This is how we can use education to have a ripple effect, both across the decades and across the generations.”

The second focus area, according to McCabe, is education for just transition. “We need to shift our economic system to a greener, and more sustainable future, and education has to play a vital role in this,” he said
And he also highlighted the role of education as a tool for adaptation and resilience, explaining that with climate change affecting the entire world, education is needed to help build the tools that will enable people to adapt.

Jesse Driver, International Educator, Green School, told the session about the importance of role models for children. “Bring in the kind of people you want your students to be,” he said.

“What you want your students to do, find those people, bring them in, surround your kids with role models. Teachers need to be able to be interpreters for professionals. So, if you’re a teacher, you need to be able to use your teacher skills in such a way that you can help this professional relay their message to kids.

“We need to go forward with the intention of bringing professionals into the classroom. We need to provide a bridge between classes and the outside world, and we need those targeted role models to do it with us.”

The session also involved Dr. Peter Sutoris, Environmental Anthropologist, UCL London, and was moderated by Anver Versi, Journalist, New African Magazine.