UNESCO has reaffirmed its leadership in catalysing cooperation for climate education in Asia-Pacific towards ensuring that every learner is climate literate and prepared to take individual and collective action in fighting the climate crisis. That message underscored the side event, ‘Building a Greener Future: Education as a Climate Solution’, at the 11th Asia-Pacific Forum for Sustainable Development, which was held at the United Nations Conference Centre on 21 February 2024, in Bangkok.
The event was co-organized by the UNESCO Regional Office in Bangkok (UNESCO Bangkok), the Global Partnership for Education (GPE), Save the Children, Plan International, World Vision International, the United Nations Children's Fund, and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat.
The event featured spirited discussion among a panel of regional government, youth, civic, and philanthropic stakeholders who explored education’s critical role in offering climate solutions and equipping children and youth to become active ‘change agents’ catalysing a more equitable and sustainable future in Asia-Pacific. Discussion foregrounded the fundamental importance of climate education for empowering a new generation in working towards a safer and greener future for all. There were roughly 70 onsite and 116 online participants via Zoom conferencing, with additional viewers joining a Facebook LIVE broadcast.
In her opening remarks, UNESCO Bangkok Regional Director Soohyun Kim emphasized the need to integrate Climate Change Education into a transformation of education systems worldwide, a goal articulated in the UN ‘Transforming Education Summit’, of 2022. She further underscored the critical importance of youth engagement and teacher capacity development and urged the integration of sustainable development education across all learning levels, from early childhood education to lifelong learning:
Alarmingly, experts estimate that that 244 million children will be deprived of access to education this year alone. Meanwhile, one billion children worldwide are at significant risk of bearing the brunt of the climate crisis, jeopardizing their health and hindering their capacity to learn. Nearly 90 per cent of the global health burden related to climate change is borne by children under five, with young children in the climate-vulnerable Asia-Pacific region facing an unequal burden across all nurturing care components, along them health, nutrition, early learning, responsive caregiving, and security and safety.
Additional opening remarks were offered by Mr Roger Yap Chao, Jr., Assistant Director of the Education, Youth, and Sport Division, ASEAN Secretariat, who shared that ‘the ongoing development of the ASEAN Environmental Rights Framework highlights that young people and children have the right to meaningful participation in decision-making in climate action.’ Congresswoman Honorable Madame Cynthia K. Chan, Vice Chair of the Committee on the Welfare of Children, House of Representatives, Republic of the Philippines, recounted her first-hand experience of Super Typhoon Odette, of 2021, noting, ‘Young people suffer disproportionately in such crises due to vulnerable living conditions, disruptive education, and reliance on external support systems...These challenges underscore the importance of addressing the vulnerabilities of the youth in building resilient communities amidst climate change’, but that there remains a ‘beacon of hope in education.’
Speakers of the side event shared perspectives and insights into actionable solutions including Ms Chan; Ms Anita Paudel, of Nepal’s National Planning Commission; Ms Monika Budha, a youth speaker from Nepal; Ms Mau Rima, a youth speaker of World Vision International, Cambodia; and Ms Deepali Gupta, Advocacy and Regional Partnerships Specialist (Asia-Pacific), of GPE.
UNESCO is the secretariat of the Greening Education Partnership, a collaborative global bringing together governments, intergovernmental bodies, civil society, academia, youth, and the private sector to drive robust, coordinated, and holistic initiatives aimed at equipping every learner with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes necessary to confront climate change and promote sustainable development.
