Brussels, Belgium (April 19, 2024): EARTHDAY.ORG (EDO) and the Climate Education Coalition welcome the European Union Council’s decision to emphasize the importance of climate education in the 8th Environment Action Programme Mid-term review.
The European Union’s member states have agreed to recognize the role of environmental and climate education in raising awareness and promoting behavioral changes, such as energy consumption and legislation. This initiative aims to address climate change, as detailed in paragraph 57, PDF).
The 8th Environmental Action Programme entered into force on 2 May 2022, as the European Union’s legally agreed common agenda for environment policy until 2030. It serves as the European Union’s basis for achieving the United Nations 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals.
This decision results from an extensive global campaign promoting the benefits of climate education, led by EARTHDAY.ORG, the Climate Education Coalition, working alongside many other organizations.
“Climate education should be on the curricula of all schools, from kindergarten to Grade 12, worldwide,” says Johnny Dabrowski of EARTHDAY.ORG and the Climate Education Coalition. “It is an important tool in combating climate change misinformation, and it helps to students’ make instinctively planet-friendly choices.”
Additionally, in the lead up to the publishing of Mario Draghi’s EU Competitiveness Report, climate education is increasingly recognised as the crucial mechanism for teaching much needed green skills from an early age and as a vital catalyst for growing the EU’s green economy.
Many European countries like Romania, Italy, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Poland already support climate education as part of their education programs.
“We encourage all nations to incorporate climate education into their Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC’s). Every nation that signed the Paris Agreement is required to establish an NDC and we believe every NDC should include climate education,” says Bryce Coon, Director Climate Education Initiatives, EDO
The EU Council’s recognition of climate education is a vital step toward greening school curricula across all EU member states. This initiative will help create a climate-conscious European society and a skilled workforce ready to meet the challenges of the green transition head-on
About EARTHDAY.ORG: EARTHDAY.ORG’s founders created and organized the very first Earth Day on April 22, 1970. Since then, EARTHDAY.ORG has mobilized over 1 billion people annually on Earth Day, and every other day, to protect the planet. EARTHDAY.ORG’s mission is to diversify, educate, and activate the environmental movement worldwide. As the world’s largest recruiter to the environmental movement, EARTHDAY.ORG works with more than 150,000 partners in nearly 192 countries to build environmental democracy. Learn more at EARTHDAY.ORG. It’s not a day, it’s a movement.
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