So says the statement issued by the Co-Chairs of the Education and Environment Ministers summit at COP26 last Friday. This was the meeting I skipped on Friday.
There's a 6 point preamble (in that awful, stilted UNESCO-speak) followed by 8 commitments (only 7 of which actually are commitments ...). Here's a taster:
We commit to the integration of sustainability and climate change in formal education systems, including as core curriculum components, in guidelines, teacher training, examination standards and at multiple levels through institutions.
We similarly commit to the integration of sustainability and climate change in professional training, public awareness and information activities, and other areas of non-formal and informal learning. We consider it crucial to support out of school activities geared towards sustainability.
We commit to enhancing multi-stakeholder and cross-sectoral collaboration with strong partnership between our education and environment sectors.
and my favourite:
We commit to highlighting education and learning within adaptation efforts including national adaption plans (NAPs) and Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) measures, and to increase our efforts to ensure that our education systems are resilient in the face of climate change.
...................................
I'm told that these only apply to the UK and Italy as other countries will be pledging separately. I'm also told (by those who know) that although they might be waffle, they're important waffle as they set markers that can be referred back to and built on. I'm wondering how well these integrate with the DfE's draft plan that's been launched. We shall see.
Respond