Editorial Issue 3: The Climate Change Education We Need to Mandate

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Universities around the globe play a pivotal role in preparing students for the inevitabilities of adult life. Increasingly, however, many would argue that these same institutions also share a responsibility to prepare students for a second immovable future; one shaped by climate change. 

In the UK, our national curriculum provides compulsory science education between the ages of 5 and 16, while geography can be dropped at 14. Willingly or not, students that go on to do GCSEs find themselves with a rough idea of how, and why, the Earth is changing in response to the actions of its inhabitants. Climate change, however, is intrinsically complex, leading many to argue that we should elevate our efforts to prepare the next generation of students, and by extension society, for the future that awaits them. In tune with this, UK universities have long promised to adopt carbon neutral goals and practices – but could they be doing more?

Situated at the southernmost tip of continental Europe, Spain looks set to become one of the most heavily affected countries by climate change in the world. By some estimates, 74% of the country is at risk of desertification over the next century. The Spanish government, however, has responded to this forecast with debatably one of the most progressive climate change education policies seen in the western world, unveiling plans for the introduction of a mandated climate change curriculum at both primary and secondary schools. Following a seven-day occupation by climate activists, the University of Barcelona also has recently become the world’s first to introduce a mandatory climate crisis module within higher education (set to be introduced in 2024). This marks a paradigm shift in how universities have responded to climate-related issues. Were UK universities to follow suit, however, we may first need to reconsider which aspects of the climate crisis demand our most immediate attention.  

Historically, the notion of climate change education has been inextricably linked to an increase in STEM education. Focus has almost always been put on understanding the natural and physical sciences with regards to climate change. Over the past decade, however, as the climate crisis has harrowingly worsened, there has been a much needed expansion in what climate change education entails through the inclusion of adequate action that can be taken to combat the issues in our not-so-distant future. Now, as we are at the deep end of the climate crisis, where only monumental collective global consumption pattern change and environmental regulation will give us a fighting chance, the type of climate change education we actually need has also changed. 

Although the scientific approach has been important in raising awareness, there is now a large and diverse body of research which shows that just because people know about climate change does not necessarily lead them to take action to address the climate crisis. Resultantly, what should be at the heart of climate change education is questioning how we foster action to address the climate crisis. Indeed, a 2020 study done at San Jose University in California, where a climate action module was mandated,  analysed changes in student perceptions and behaviour over 5 years upon taking that class; and the results were ones of pro-environmental decisions and actions taken by students. As such, this kind of climate change education is the one that should be mandated across all education levels, including at universities, where individuals are at the starting line of the job market and capable of implementing the actions necessary to deal with the global climate crisis. 

A key aim of climate change education should be to debunk the concept that individual behaviour change such as getting people to think about recycling, transportation and the food they consume, is the key means through which we will achieve environmental healing. And while this focus is important and can lead to change in consumption patterns, which in turn has led to more sustainable lifestyle practices, it is something that we need to question and look beyond. This is particularly essential since big oil companies have purposefully popularised the idea of individual ‘carbon footprints’ to divert attention from their corporate social responsibility when it comes to combating the climate crisis and caring for the environment. 

This education also needs to tackle the universalist framework that currently pervades the rhetoric around the crisis. This idea that we are all in this together and equally responsible for environmental collapse is a falsehood that needs to be addressed and rectified. It is undeniable that certain groups and geographies, mainly in the Global South, are more heavily impacted by the climate crisis, while others have had more responsibility in creating it. Moreover, there are elite groups in society, mostly the global 10%, who are more interested in protecting their own interest than protecting the life and livelihoods of marginalised groups. These facts are some which must be laced through all corners of the climate change education to ensure that these inequalities are addressed. 

Although the popular rhetoric perpetuates this notion that climate change is an apolitical issue, this could not be farther from the truth. For these reasons the climate education that needs to be fostered is not only one that emphasises on knowledge production and acquisition but one that mobilises action through including the anthropological, sociological and economic roots and consequences of the climate crisis. 

Despite the clear backing behind the increase in climate change education as a contributor to tackling the crisis, will it in actuality be enough to create any meaningful change? In order to progress past the passive tone that climate change education has historically taken on, it is critical to think about what exactly this education should include. We can no longer teach these issues as inevitable catastrophes, and a purely environmental one at that.

This strategy, however, has an end to its reach. All is well in educating about these issues, but without an accompaniment of more professional opportunities for young people to use this education, this effort can easily fall flat. Therefore, mandating university education will clearly be a step in the right direction, but it cannot be where it stops.

 If we are to address the climate crisis effectively, what we really need is broad scale structural change in society, changes in how the meat industry and the fossil fuel industry are regulated, changes in how the economy is organised, and ultimately focussing on how to effectively organise to bring about these changes collectively. A focus on collective action is imperative. 

In the UK, there are government initiatives in place to create, maintain and promote ‘green jobs’ by providing training in clean industries such as electric car manufacturing and installing solar panels and wind turbines. This has led to a reduction of the nation’s emissions by almost 50%, even while the economy grows. Although this may seem like an indisputable success, this in of itself highlights the inadequacy of one government to solve the climate crisis. Reducing emissions in the UK by using more electric cars still increases demand for lithium-ion batteries, harming the communities in the Congo, Australia and South America, where rare materials are farmed. Hence, we circle back to focussing efforts towards global climate justice, and educating students on these matters.

Climate justice highlights the need to tackle the human rights issue entangled with the climate crisis; we cannot solve the climate crisis in one country, but ensure no one is left behind as we move towards a more sustainable world. That is why providing an interdisciplinary-based climate change education that encompasses the intersectional and wide ranging impacts of the climate crisis  is vital. It is one that will not only seek to create awareness but mobilise future generations to see this issue as a global issue and actively tackle it, knowing that solving the impact of environmental damage in one country, will not cure it globally. 

Ultimately, however, mandating this kind of climate change education will not yield the results we need and want unless the government explicitly supports and acts on what is taught under environmental education. The creation and expansion of opportunities across all sectors in the economy including the public utilities sector, transportation, education, agriculture, manufacturing and quaternary sector, to cover a few, is not only needed but unnegotiable. Most importantly, if we are to see significant positive results in our lifetime. 

So, tell us, would you want climate change education mandated at university?

Editorial Contributors: Nick Read, Shayeza Walid and Lilly Tozer