Geographical education is an important part of the present, and in order for it to be qualitative, it is necessary to master a number of competencies. This is especially true now, when the world is faced with many global challenges. Geographical competence plays an important role in the formation of an educated, globally oriented personality capable of understanding and responding to complex challenges that arise in the modern world. Having mastered geographical competencies, students and adults will not only have knowledge of this field, but will also be able to independently analyze world problems from a geographical point of view. The work analyzes the origin and concept of the general term "competence," and reveals the essence of the concept of "geographical competence." Particular attention in the work is paid to the formation of these competencies in students in geography lessons, and it is shown what role geographical competence plays in understanding global challenges on specific examples.