UNESCO launched something called the Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative in 2023 to help the world's most climate-vulnerable countries "mainstream climate change adaptation and environmental sustainability into education sector plans, budgets and strategies." The initiative provides targeted technical assistance valued at between $400,000 and $700,000 per country.
For context: the World Bank estimates that adapting education systems for climate change costs about $18.51 per student. UNESCO's technical assistance to an entire country costs less than what some American school districts spend on a single administrator's salary.
In the Caribbean last September, climate smart meant a workshop for five countries. Grenada's Permanent Secretary of Education stood up and noted that after Hurricane Beryl, "in Carriacou and Petite Martinique, nearly 98 percent of the infrastructure was lost. These are the very foundations on which education depends, and we are still rebuilding."
The climate smart response: curricula and teacher training "to prepare learners for a more extreme, changing climate."
In Zimbabwe, climate smart meant a risk analysis workshop in Harare where ministry officials identified main climate change stressors. UNESCO created geospatial analyses showcasing climatic data since 1978 for each school location. Schools can now see exactly how the climate has been changing around them for nearly fifty years.
The initiative is helping countries develop the Green School Quality Standard, which "sets the minimum requirements on how to create a 'green school' by promoting an action-oriented approach." The standard recommends that all schools set up green governance committees including students, teachers and parents to oversee sustainable management. Schools that have lost 98 percent of their infrastructure can form committees to oversee what remains.
The Funding Gap
Education receives approximately 1.3% of climate-oriented bilateral aid. Some reports put it at 0.03% of total climate finance. The percentages shift depending on what gets counted, but they all point the same direction.
| Resource | Amount | What It Funds |
|---|---|---|
| Total annual climate finance (2021/22) | $1.3 trillion | Everything |
| Education's share | 1.3% | Preparing 1.3 billion children |
| BRACE initiative (largest education investment) | $70 million | Three countries, to "demonstrate approaches" |
| UNESCO technical assistance | $400,000-$700,000 | Per country |
One report phrases it this way:
"Climate finance is typically managed by entities outside the education sector, so education ministries can find it difficult to access the funds."
Education ministries are being asked to integrate climate change into curricula, train teachers on adaptation strategies, conduct risk analyses, strengthen disaster management, build climate-resilient infrastructure, and develop climate-sensitive data systems. Entities outside their sector control whether they get funding to do any of it.
At COP28 in 2023, the largest investment of climate finance in the education sector to date was announced: $70 million from the Green Climate Fund for something called BRACE—Building the Climate Resilience of Children and Communities through the Education Sector. The initiative will "demonstrate approaches to integrate climate change into the education sector including in curriculum, educational management and climate resilient infrastructure, initially in Cambodia, South Sudan, and Tonga."
Seventy million dollars. For three countries. To demonstrate approaches.
In 2024, 242 million students' schooling was disrupted by extreme climate events. Heatwaves were the predominant hazard, with over 118 million students affected in April alone. Bangladesh and the Philippines experienced widespread school closures. Cambodia shortened the school day by two hours. In Mozambique, children were hit by Cyclone Chido and Cyclone Dikeledi in two months, affecting 150,000 students.
Climate Smart in America
The U.S. Department of Education's 2024-2027 Climate Adaptation Plan notes that an estimated 36,000 public schools nationwide lack adequate cooling, and that because of climate change, schools are "cooling down slower at the beginning of the school year and heating up faster at the end of it." The plan emphasizes supporting schools in ensuring "equitable access to healthy, safe, sustainable, and modern learning environments."
The Department manages a Green Ribbon Schools recognition award, coordinates a monthly newsletter, and hosts an annual Green Strides Tour. It has curated "a climate training resource for employee awareness and understanding." Employees can now learn about climate interventions and examples of successful strategies used throughout various governmental agencies.
New Jersey became the first state to integrate climate change education across all content areas in 2020, setting aside $4.5 million in grants to support and train educators. That's about $5 per student in a state where September 2023 brought unprecedented rainfall causing 150 flood-related school closures.
Colorado created an official seal of climate literacy granted to high school students who demonstrate mastery of the topic. Students can now earn a seal certifying they understand what's happening to the planet they're inheriting.
1.3 billion school-age children live in regions highly susceptible to climate change. Education receives 1.3% of climate finance and carries responsibility for preparing humanity's future.
Education ministries are forming green governance committees and waiting for entities outside their sector to decide whether they can access funds. Children are learning about climate change in buildings that are heating up faster and cooling down slower, taught by teachers who never received climate training, in systems that receive 1.3% of climate finance and carry responsibility for preparing humanity's future.
At COP29 in November 2024, UNICEF noted that progress for children made at COP28 "has not yet translated into significant child-sensitive climate policy initiatives or investments." Less than half of current national climate plans are child or youth sensitive. Just three percent were developed through participatory processes involving children.
UNESCO continues expanding its Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative to 35 of the most climate-vulnerable countries between 2024 and 2026. The technical assistance will help ministries strengthen evidence-based planning, improve cross-ministerial coordination, and integrate climate change data into education sector management. Countries will learn to demonstrate approaches. They will develop frameworks and standards. They will become climate smart about preparing children for catastrophe with 1.3% of the resources being spent to create it.
-
Child-responsive climate finance: Just 2.4% of climate finance between 2006 and 2023 supported child-responsive activities, with only one project out of 591 focused on education as its principal objective.
-
UNESCO's Greening Curriculum Guidance: In 2024, UNESCO released a practical manual providing the first common understanding of what climate education should consist of with detailed expected learning outcomes by age group from 5-year-olds to 18+.
-
National climate plan gaps: While 59% of countries' Nationally Determined Contributions include commitments to education, only 39% have a national law, policy, or strategy for climate change education.
-
UNICEF's new climate finance access: At COP29, UNICEF and the Green Climate Fund marked UNICEF's newly announced accreditation to help close climate finance gaps with a child-focused lens.