Climate Change Education for Mitigation and Adaptation

Abstract

This article makes the case for the education sector an untapped opportunity to combat climate change. It sets forth a definition of Climate Change Education for Sustainable Development that is comprehensive and multidisciplinary and asserts that it must not only include relevant content knowledge on climate change, environmental and social issues, disaster risk reduction, and sustainable consumption and lifestyles, but also a focus on the institutional environment in which that content is learned to ensure that schools and education systems themselves are climate-proofed and resilient as well as sustainable and green. The article presents evidence-based findings on the factors that influence skills, attitude and behaviour change the most, in order to determine what works for formal and non-formal climate change education content, including environmental education, climate change and scientific literacy, and education for sustainable lifestyles and consumption. The evidence shows that educational interventions are most successful when they focus on local, tangible, and actionable aspects of sustainable development, climate change and environmental education, especially those that can be addressed by individual behaviour. Finally, given that the majority of evidence that exists is anecdotal, often in case study format without monitoring and evaluation processes in place that could lead to quantitative as well as qualitative data, the article highlights remaining questions and areas of research that need to be investigated in order to guide effective climate change education policy and practice.