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The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27) is taking place in Egypt, from November 6th to the 18th. Education International will bring the Teach for the Planet campaign to COP27 to advocate for climate justice, quality climate education for all students, and a just transition for all workers.

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The Education International delegation attending the Conference in Egypt will advocate for the following critical changes:

1. Raise mitigation ambition.

To save humanity from climate catastrophe, we need drastic carbon emission cuts: 50% by 2030. Yet plans to cut ambitions as laid out in nationally determined contributions are not nearly ambitious enough. For COP 27 to be successful, governments must step up their ambition, and ensure that plans to decarbonise are realised through a just transition in collaboration with workers.

2. Ensure quality climate change education for all.

Education is a powerful tool to support both mitigation and adaption efforts and should be recognised as such at COP 27. Governments must finance and implement reforms to include quality climate change education in curricula across subjects and grades, as well as in initial teacher training courses and professional development opportunities.

3. Ensure a just transition for all workers including educators.

Decent work, quality jobs, and meaningful social dialogue are the core of the just transition concept. Climate change is already impacting educators’ working conditions, working lives, and workloads. Social protection systems must be scaled up to protect all workers, including teachers, researchers and education support personnel.

4. Step up action on adaption, including in the education sector.

Extreme weather events are directly compromising the safety of students and educators and disrupting education. For example, 22 000 schools were destroyed during the floods in Pakistan in September 2022. Indirect consequences of climate change such as hunger and poverty in areas where families’ livelihoods are lost to drought or floods also impact teaching and learning. All education infrastructure must be safe, sustainable, and resilient to climate impacts. Ensuring universal access to quality, gender-responsive education should be prioritised to support the adaption needs of communities.

5. Commit more climate finance and fund loss and damage.

Governments, especially high-income countries who have been the leading contributors to climate change, must fulfil and exceed their objective to unlock one billion dollars in climate financing per year. Funding is needed to support loss and damage for impacted countries, as well as adaption and mitigation efforts. A financing facility for loss and damage must be created, recognising the differentiated responsibilities of developed and developing countries.

Use our COP27 Advocacy Toolkit and join our campaign for quality climate education for all at COP27!

Tune in! Education International events at COP 27

The Education International delegation will be hosting and speaking in several events during the Conference. Find out more about our events below and tune in online!

Quality climate change education for all: What is it and how do we achieve it

November 9 | 17:00 to 18:00 EET

The world need quality climate education for all. But what defines “quality” when it comes to climate change education? What does it look, sound, and feel like in the classroom and in communities? What impact does it have? And what steps do we have to take to make it a reality? This event will explore the key components of quality climate change education from the perspective of teachers, students, and policymakers and consider concrete strategies to achieve it.

Moderator: Antonia Wulff | Research, Policy and Advocacy Director, Education International

Panelists:

• Jennifer Cooper | Brent District Joint Secretary, National Education Union (NEU), UK
• Peter Wallet | UNESCO Teacher Task Force
• Saher Rashed Baig | Youth activist, global youth advocate for climate action, human rights and right to a healthy environment

The hybrid event will take place at the UNESCO pavilion at COP27, on Wednesday, November 9th, from 17:00 to 18:00 EET. To join online, click here to register. The event will also be livestreamed on the EI website.

Educators on a heating planet: Ensuring a just transition in the education sector

November 10 | 11:00 - 12:00 noon EET

The climate crisis can be felt in the education sector in the here and now. Educators’ work and lives are being impacted by climate change in countries across the world. To ensure the right to quality education for all students and the right to decent work for all educators in the context of the climate emergency, education systems need to be urgently transformed.

This panel will discuss concrete strategies to ensure a just transition in the education sector. It will explore how to adapt education institutions to be safe and resilient to extreme weather events, as well as carbon-neutral and sustainable. It will also look at the role of quality education to ensure students are climate literate and have the knowledge and skills to take part in the green economy and demand a just transition. Finally it will look at the role of educators in mobilising alongside other workers, students and civil society for a just transition, decent work for all and climate justice more broadly.

Moderator: Antonia Wulff | Research, Policy and Advocacy Director, Education International

Panelists:

• Joy Hernandez | Communications and Advocacy Officer, ITUC-AP
• Sifiso Ndlovu | CEO, Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association
• Jenny Cooper | Brent District Joint Secretary, National Education Union (NEU), UK
• Mitzi Jonelle Tan | Climate activist, Fridays for Future, Philippines

The hybrid event will take place at the Climate Education pavilion at COP27, on Thursday, November 10th, from 11:00 to 12:00 noon EET. The event will be livestreamed on the EI website and social media.

More climate education at COP27

Education International delegates will also be taking the floor in other events, including:

• Youth and educators for global climate action: Participation, collaboration, and implementation of UNESCO’s greening education partnership

November 10 | 09:00 – 10:30 EET

This event highlights youth participation, collaboration, and input in the development, design, and implementation of Greening Education Partnership led by UNESCO. This intergenerational, intersectoral panel centers youth voices in conversation with civil society, educator, philanthropy, think tanks, professional associations, and labor to reflect on the process and opportunities present in the Partnership.

Sifiso Ndlovu, CEO of the Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association, will be speaking for the teaching profession on this panel.

• Inaugural meeting on Greening Education Partnership: Getting every learner climate-ready

November 10 | 12:30 – 13:30 EET

The UN Secretary General’s Transforming Education Summit strongly confirmed that education must be transformed to fully contribute to solutions to the global climate and environmental crisis.

The session will: present the new Greening Education Partnership, its aim and purpose, and how it will function; build on the Member States support at TES, this session is to mobilize commitment and action from key stakeholders relevant to ACE; discuss coordination and contribution of all relevant actors in support of the education partnership; and collect pledges and commitments from key stakeholders.

Antonia Wulff, Research, Policy and Advocacy Director of Education International, will be participating in the panel discussion.

Click here to register and join the event online!

• Climate education: Empowering youth and adults with knowledge and skills for a sustainable future

November 14 | 15:00 - 16:30 EET

The event will bring together global youth activists, educators, government, labor and NGO leaders to discuss links between climate education and opportunities for civic engagement, economic opportunity, and a just transition.

David Edwards, Education International General Secretary, will be contributing to the discussion.

• Youth demand quality climate education: Outcome of global survey

November 15 | 14:30 – 15:30 EET

This session will be an occasion for a deep dive into the youth demands that have been compiled in the ‘Youth demand quality climate change education’ publication. Voices of young people will be brought together to highlight what they think is quality climate change education and how they wish the current education systems to change.

The expert panel will discuss the ways and means to translate youth asks and demands into concrete actions, particularly into curriculum guidelines for policymakers and educators. Antonia Wulff, Research, Policy and Advocacy Director of Education International, will be participating in the panel discussion.

The event will take place on Tuesday, November 15th, from 14:30 to 15:30 EET. To follow the event online, click here to register.

Another key event is the Ministerial session on climate education which will take place on November 10, from 16:00 to 17:30 EET. The session will feature a dialogue between Ministers of education/environment and young people on concrete ways to transform education to tackle climate change.

The session will be livestreamed here. Tune in!

Activists are the catalyst: Human rights and inclusion concerns in Egypt

COP is usually a key moment for environmental activists from around the world to exercise their right to protest government inaction on the climate crisis and to put forward their demands. At COP26 in Glasgow, education unionists marched alongside other trade unionists, indigenous activists, youth, and locals numbering about 100,000 people. COP27 will not be the same.

Egypt’s government has a history of violating human rights, yet has been given the opportunity to host this crucial global meeting. The government has announced that there will be demonstrations permitted at the Conference but these are very likely to be controlled by the government. Meanwhile, many activists, researchers, journalists, political figures and trade unionists and others remain imprisoned unfairly and the Egyptian regime continues to crack down on civil liberties.

Education International calls on the Egyptian government to immediately release all those detained for practicing their rights to freedom of expression and to ensure freedom of speech and assembly for all participants at COP27 without fear of reprisals.

The Egyptian Human Rights Coalition on COP27 provides more information about the individuals arbitrarily detained and what you can do to support the call for their release and to open up civic space in Egypt.

Sign the petition here.