Climate change, environmental degradation, and climate shocks have an adverse impact on children’s well-being and their ability to attend school and continue learning. These extreme weather events also affect schools and other teaching and learning infrastructure, in addition to affecting teachers and communities, potentially destroying entire education systems and putting a significant strain on countries’ ability to provide education.
Currently, approximately 1 billion children (i.e. nearly half of the world’s children) live in countries that are at an extreme risk of suffering the impacts of climate change. The situation is further exacerbated in the East Asia and Pacific Region, where 41% of children face 5 or more overlapping climate and environmental shocks and stresses, as compared to a global average of 14%.
Given the increasing frequency of climate shocks, both adaptation and mitigation measures are critical to enable education systems to adequately address climate change so that children continue to learn. Equally, education can be a powerful tool to mobilise climate action and lead the path to more sustainable societies.
The KIX EMAP Hub is organising Webinar 21 aimed at sharing knowledge about how the issue of climate change is being incorporated into various facets of education policy and planning, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands.
The webinar seeks to bring together diverse and critical perspectives from policymakers, education administrators, civil society, and multilateral organisations, in order to unpack the key issues and opportunities in mainstreaming the issue of climate change in education systems. The webinar will also highlight countries’ experiences in this area, including tensions inherent in existing approaches and some alternatives.