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Stepping up finance to get every learner climate-ready

Ensuring that every learner is prepared to take on the adverse effects of the climate and environmental crisis remains a challenge. The increasing global temperatures and the growing frequency of devastating natural disasters pose a serious threat to present and future generations. Studies on the impacts of climate change estimate that annually, 175 million children will be impacted by natural hazards alone.

5 October 2023

Last update:15 March 2024

In Pakistan, dangerous floods have destroyed or damaged nearly 27,000 schools^.In Madagascar, devastating tropical storms have displaced over 88,000 people interrupting learning for affected students. Heat waves have brought an increasing number of destructive wildfires, further exacerbating climate change.

Considering this alarming future, the need to equip people with the tools and knowledge to tackle the climate crisis has become more urgent than ever. Through education and the early adaptation of climate-friendly attitudes and behaviours, we can empower learners to take action in becoming active agents of change. Transforming the way climate change is taught in classrooms and adapting it through school infrastructures, policies and practices, ensures that learners and their learning environments are resilient in the face of climate-induced disasters.

Addressing the critical funding gap

Despite acknowledgement of education’s pivotal role in addressing the climate crisis, there remains a critical funding gap when it comes to financing the programmes and incentives working in support of climate change education. The ’s Nonstate actors in education report reveals a steady increase in the proportion of official development assistance (ODA) going towards climate change but education; including climate change learning, has not kept the same pace. In fact, the proportion of ODA to education overall has decreased from 14.7% in 2003 to 9.7% in 2021.

Existing education and climate-related funds addressing the climate crisis do not explicitly focus on the greening of education; a ‘whole-institution’ approach that incorporates sustainability into schools, curricula, teacher training and education systems’ capacities and communities.

To address these funding challenges and coordinate efforts, the Greening Education Partnership, a global alliance comprising over 1000 member organizations and 80 countries- with its mission of ‘getting every learner climate-ready - convened a meeting of key stakeholders and partners to consider the establishment of a UN Multi Partner Trust Fund (UN-MPTF) for Greening Education adjacent to the 78^th session of the UN General Assembly, the SDG Summit and the Climate Ambition Summit in New York on 21September 2023. The meeting aimed to co-create a new UN-MPTF that would be the first UN-wide climate education financing fund designed to effectively channel finance from a diversity of partners including multilateral and bilateral donors, private sector and philanthropies, multilateral and vertical funds into a single unified effort: One pot, by one UN.

Unfortunately, the climate funds we have today don’t adequately address education. To strengthen our impact on mitigation, adaptation and resilience, we need closer collaboration between the education and climate communities.

Stefania Giannini, Assistant-Director General for Education, UNESCO

The meeting, led by UNESCO, UNFCCC, UNICEF, UNEP, UNITAR focused on the global strategy for financing greening education and provided a platform for countries to discuss their climate change education commitments.

How much financial support is needed?

The MPTF aims to mobilize US$ 50 million in its first year, doubling it in 3 years’ time - with the overall ambition of growing it further by 2030. This ambitious target will not only help lay the foundation for integrating climate change into classrooms but also support the Greening Education Partnership’s broader programme of work. By moblizing its extensive network of organizations, partners, governments and civil society actors, the Partnership’s target goal is to impact the quality of climate change education for more than 800 million learners worldwide. Additionally, through its ‘pillars of transformative education’ on greening schools, teacher training and community involvement, the Partnership aims to support 500,000 schools, 50 million teachers and engage around 8 million young people for a successful green transition by 2030.

What are the next steps?

For successful implementation and to achieve the funding target in due course, countries and other education stakeholders will need to take a closer look at the impacts of climate education and develop clear guidance on where funding is most needed.

We must think about how climate finance goes into education. How do we create a system where even if the money is going towards environmental protection agencies, the money is also accessible to education to ensure that climate change is integrated into the whole education ecosystem?

H.E. Yaw Osei Adutwum, Minister for Education, Ghana

Discussions on funding sources and strategy will continue in the lead-up to COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates later this year, where members of the Greening Education Partnership plan to introduce the MPTF into the climate space.

At the heart of the Greening Education Partnership's mission lies the empowerment of learners of all ages, with a special focus on mobilizing young people to learn about their planet and actively contribute to the sustainability of their communities. If our goal is to get every learner climate-ready, we must take decisive action today to secure the necessary financing for climate education.