President Joe Biden's new administration is reportedly planning an "all-of-government" approach to tackling climate change, which is precisely what we've been calling for in Teach the Future - but will this approach include climate education?
President Joe Biden's new administration is reportedly planning an "all-of-government" approach to tackling climate change, which is precisely what we've been calling for in Teach the Future - but will this approach include climate education?
Biden has not yet expressed any plans to increase or improve climate change education during his administration, but many of his supporters call for this. In November, two of Obama's Secretaries of Education, a former Secretary of Interior and two EPA Administrators penned an open letter to Biden. They told him that:
"Supporting students today in learning about climate change and providing the opportunity to explore and consider climate solutions will increase the resilience of our society as well as our competitiveness in a green economy."
One of the authors of this letter was Christine Todd Whitman, the 50th Governer of New Jersey, the first State to add climate change to its K-12 education standards (June 2020). In a statement she said:
"This generation of students will feel the effects of climate change more than any other, and it is critical that every student is provided an opportunity to study and understand the climate crisis through a comprehensive, interdisciplinary lens,"
Yesterday Biden signed an Executive Order to rejoin the Paris Agreement, the 12th Article of which states "The Paris Agreement recognizes the importance of climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information, and asks Parties to cooperate in taking appropriate measures." We hope that this, paired with increasing pressure from former Cabinet members, will drive Biden to implement a cross-curricular approach to teaching climate change. As John B King Jr, ex-Secretary of Education said:
"By including representation of education in a cross-agency plan, the Biden-Harris Administration can help to acknowledge the critical role education can play in climate solutions and help our country build long-lasting change to advance a more sustainable society."