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Leaders from inter-governmental institutions, education, academia, civil society, and business joined on 19 January 2021 to plan for a year of action to transform education, at the first meeting of the High-Level Advisory Group of Mission 4.7.

Mission 4.7 is a joint initiative of UNESCO, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the Ban Ki-moon Center for Global Citizens and the Center for Sustainable Development (CSD) at Columbia University.

Launched on 16 December, the Mission’s objective is to accelerate the implementation of , which calls upon governments to ensure that learners acquire the knowledge, awareness, values and capability for action needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), through Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and Global Citizenship Education (GCED).

Opening the meeting, Ms. Giannini stated, in reference to the climate crisis: “2021 must be a year of action for the planet, and action on target 4.7. We have no time to further delay”. “Education systems can help make peace with nature – by ensuring that that learners are prepared to address increasingly complex global challenges and support a vision of development that is economically inclusive, socially just and environmentally sustainable.”

The Mission pledged to mobilize and advocate for governments to commit to ESD at the , which will be held virtually from Berlin in May, and to call for a joint commitment from ministers of education and the environment in November for COP26, via the pre-COP in Milan. The World Conference will kick-start – the framework for the next ten years of Education for Sustainable Development and roadmap to transforming education to meet the SDGs.

Professor Jeffrey Sachs stressed the need for resources to achieve Target 4.7, in the context of the overall funding gap for education. “Without education there is no economic development or sustainable development or peace in this world. We want to make every government aware in the next couple of months of the importance of ESD,” said Prof. Sachs. “Our job is to bolster UNESCO’s leadership and their role at the core of the multilateral system and the owner of SDG 4.7. We want UNESCO’s leadership to shine and resonate.”

Monsignor Sorondo linked the initiative to the Pope’s Global Compact for Education, and the need to integrate a humanistic perspective and content into education, to ensure the development of the whole person.

Dr. Andreas Schleicher (Director, Education and Skills, OECD), amongst other participants, reiterated the need for 4.7 to be not only taught as cognitive knowledge, but through action-based curriculum. “Most young people are aware about the sustainability agenda. Most young people think it’s important, but don’t see agency to actually play a role,” said Dr. Andreas Schleicher. “It is usually dealt with academically, it’s not experiential, and not about agency. We need more to inspire actions from young people.”

The members of Mission 4.7 agreed that political support is needed for national and international financing, and promoted the critical advocacy of Target 4.7 through the United Nations Economic and Social Council and United Nations General Assembly. Suggestions were made from the group to dedicate the International Day in 2022 to Target 4.7.

Members re-committed their support to the objectives of the Mission, specifically:

• To advocate for, inspire and mobilize governments and non-governmental actors to acknowledge the importance of ESD and GCED and commit to integrating them into their policies ensure implementation of government commitments at the classroom level;
• To facilitate the exchange of good practices and mutual learning  for enhanced collaboration and transfer of knowledge; and
• To mobilize resources and promote the engagement of champions and the establishment of innovative partnerships with diverse actors at global and national level.

Ms. Giannini, in her closing remarks, pledged to take the objectives of the Mission forward as part of UNESCO’s overall coordination and implementation of SDG 4.

The meeting was attended by co-Chairs of the Mission - UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education, Stefania Giannini; Professor Jeffrey Sachs, President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network; Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, Chancellor of the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences; and Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah, Chairman of the Sunway Group. Other members present included Hon. Irina Bokova, Former Director-General of UNESCO, Dr. Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills, OECD, Mr. Ramu Damodaran, Chief of United Nations Academic Impact, and other high-level stakeholders in education and civil society.