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Embedding climate change education into higher-education programmes

Climate education is seen as a key driver for behavioural change, yet it is usually not continued universally to higher-education level. With the increasing demand from both students and employers, we propose methods that incorporate climate education from multiple disciplines into current curriculums.

In the Paris Agreement on climate change, adopted in 2015, there was an international commitment to limit the increase in average global temperature to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. To achieve this, greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced by 43% by 2030 and reach net-zero by 2050 (ref. 1). Clearly, this will require a global effort by all sectors of society, including those sectors that are not immediately considered as direct contributors. There is international consensus that a key driver of behavioural change is education and training. The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement call on governments to educate, empower and engage all stakeholders and major groups on policies and actions relating to climate change2. As part of a broad curriculum, many countries now include climate change education at high-school level. Indeed, the United Nations is calling for climate education to become compulsory in schools from 2025 to better equip children to cope with global warming in the future3. However, climate education is often not continued to higher-education (HE) level. Specialized HE courses often omit the topic of climate change, which leads to students graduating with a lack of understanding and awareness of the issues. These students may then go into employment where decisions are made without consideration of climate impact and environmental sustainability. Yet it is at the level of HE that students feel most empowered to make a difference and embrace positive changes. Thus, there is a strong argument that all university degree programmes should include climate change education in the syllabus if net-zero targets are to be met by 2050 in a collective manner.

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References

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  1. University of West London, London, UK

    Anil Padhra

  2. Emirates Aviation University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

    Elham Tolouei

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  1. Anil Padhra
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Padhra, A., Tolouei, E. Embedding climate change education into higher-education programmes.
Nat. Clim. Chang. (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01847-6

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  • Published: 30 October 2023

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-023-01847-6

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