Call to embed climate change education across curriculum

A group of climate scientists and academics have called on Bridget Philipson to ensure that there is greater emphasis on sustainability and climate change education across the national curriculum.

In an open letter to the education secretary they say that few national priorities are ‘more critical than how we equip the next generations for the future’, adding: ‘This is especially urgent today, when our need to scale up efforts to combat the climate and environmental crises may be compromised by growing skill shortages and talent gaps.’ The letter goes on to note that currently, within the national curriculum, climate change content is restricted to science and geography. It describes the prescribed relevant content in these subjects as ‘minimal’. 

Instead the signatories say they are keen to see young people ‘understand the realities and potential impacts of climate and environmental change’ through the ‘whole curriculum’, and urge the curriculum review panel to make climate change and environmental sustainability a key part of its recommendations - calling on external expertise when necessary.

The letter has been jointly coordinated by the Centre for Climate Change and Sustainability Education at University College London (UCL), and Global Action Plan, an environmental charity. Signatories include Professor Lord Nicholas Stern, who carried out the ‘Stern Review’ on the economics of climate change in 2005/06, as well as Professor Sir David King, the government’s chief scientific adviser from 2000 to 2007. Lead signatory Professor Nicola Walshe of UCL was previously head of geography in three secondary schools. Professor Walshe commented: ‘If we just focus on science and geography, it is likely either to create more anxiety or turn people off. A multi-disciplinary approach allows us to explain the issue through different lenses, different perspectives at appropriate times.’

The call for evidence by the curriculum and assessment review, led by Professor Becky Francis, closed in November last year, and the DfE has said an interim report will be produced in the coming months which will  outline key themes and initial recommendations to be explored. A full report is then expected to follow in the autumn. Global Action Plan say they are ‘reasonably hopeful’ that provision of sustainability and climate change education has been reviewed by Francis and her team, but are ‘unsure….how deeply this vital area has been reviewed, or how much sustainability education expertise has been called upon. We are yet to see, for example, the establishment of an official expert subgroup’.

In a blog post (https://tinyurl.com/56s2k5zj) last month the Department for Education (DfE) set out ‘everything we are doing in education to tackle climate change’. This included updating the DfE’s Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy to make sure ‘teachers and pupils understand the support that is available to them and how their schools can thrive in a sustainable future’.  The blog also highlighted the National Education Nature Park, led by the Natural History Museum, which aims to bring together land from schools across the UK into a virtual nature park. The DfE also say that they hope to have all schools implementing their own ‘Climate Action Plans’ by the end of this year. They describe a Climate Action Plan as ‘a way to guide schools towards sustainability in a way that is unique and manageable for each individual school’.  

The full text of the open letter can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/4hkaau3n