As part of the Paris Agreements, each nation is required to produce a ‘Nationally Determined Contribution’ outlining how they plan to meet their climate action targets. These are updated every 5 years and the UK government recently published their 2025 NDC, which is an exciting step forward in terms of climate education pledges, with some of the most direct references to its importance from government policy to date. Here’s a bit more information on what has been committed to!
Youth and Children
The document outlines the need to engage and include young people in both the “design and implementation of climate-related policies” and highlights the importance of equipping children with the knowledge, skills and behaviours to tackle the climate crisis. Developing relationships with nature was also included, as well as improving access to green careers. The Department for Education also launched Youth Focal Points for Sustainability and Climate Change in collaboration with SOS-UK (Teach the Future’s parent charity) in 2023 to further engage youth voice.
Education and Skills
Excitingly, education is emphasised in the NDC with the government committing to doing the following:
- Providing a skills system that supports the energy transition
- Preparing our children and learners to thrive in a changing world
- Delivering an education estate that is prepared for net zero and resilient to climate change
- Elevating youth voices in developing climate change policy
Whilst these four goals are encouraging, it is disappointing to see that there is no mention of the reforming curriculum besides a little bit for Wales and the UK’s oversea territories. For the UK to reach its climate targets, the integration of climate in the curriculum must be a key part of education policy. Additionally, unlike elsewhere in this document, there is a distinct lack of concrete commitments or policy to back up the four education goals. They will nonetheless prove incredibly useful in holding the government to account on climate education.
The nations
The document also references some commitments and policy specific to devolved nations:
- In Northern Ireland, the government has developed a ‘Green Skills Action Plan’, with a program to provide free training opportunities for upskilling and reskilling in the green transition, especially in relation to green technologies.
- In Scotland, the government has published a ‘Learning for Sustainability Action Plan’ envisioning all 3-18 education settings to be ‘sustainable education settings’ by the end of the decade. Additionally, their post-school education ‘Purpose and Principles’ set out targets for green skills.
- In Wales, the government has introduced a new ‘Curriculum for Wales’ with climate change and sustainability as a key focus. They have also pledged to invest in developing the skills needed for a low-carbon, circular economy.
Overall, these commitments represent a massive leap in the right direction, and show a hopeful view of climate education and broader climate action in the UK. However, the curriculum continues to be missed out in climate education policy which has the potential for truly preparing everyone to be a part of the solutions to climate change. It’s also important to remember that some of the key pledges made are still just promises at this stage, and the government is yet to publish concrete guidance on how a lot of them will be achieved. To fully prepare young people for the climate crisis, we must integrate it across all subjects, and Teach the Future will continue to advocate for this.
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