By Ananya Chopra, founder of SDGs for Children In 2019, together with my brother Ayush Chopra, we founded SDGs for Children, a non-profit organisation dedicated to promoting the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). I first learned about the goals when I was 9 years old. Inspired by my school exhibition’s message to spread knowledge about the agenda, we started creating short YouTube videos on each of the 17 SDGs to address social issues such as girls’ education, the climate crisis, and bullying. Our mission is to educate and empower children to act towards a more sustainable and equitable ..read more

By Priyadarshani Joshi, Senior Policy Analyst at the GEM Report and Marcia McKenzie, MECCE Project Director, University of Melbourne and University of Saskatchewan Education has the potential to play the central role in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. The GEM Report is introducing a new series to advance dialogue on the interrelationships of education with the other Sustainable Development Goals. The first paper in the series focuses on climate change and is written in partnership with the Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Change Communication and Education (MECCE) project. Releas ..read more

By Natalia Kucirkova, Professor of Early Childhood Education and Development, University of Stavanger; and Professor of Reading and Children’s Development, The Open University The intersection of self and nature, a longstanding focus in sustainability studies, is increasingly becoming a prominent topic in discussions about digital education policy and practice. The shift means looking beyond just test scores and focusing on how education interacts with the wider environment. UNESCO refers to this as the ‘green and digital education connection’, embracing a more interconnected understanding of ..read more

By Francesca Borgonovi (OECD), Helke Seitz (OECD) and Ottavia Brussino (J-PAL Europe)* Climate change is a defining challenge of our time. The urgency to address climate change has never been more apparent: 2023 was on course to be the hottest year on record. The consequences of rising temperatures are profound.   The Paris Agreement has been instrumental in increasing climate mitigation ambitions internationally: as of September 2023, 105 countries had pledged a net-zero target, with 90 aiming to reach this target by 2050. The rapid emergence of a new clean energy economy has led th ..read more

By Sukie Yang and Kai Feng, doctoral students at the University of Pennsylvania and 2023 GEM Report fellow Floods killed more than 800 people in Nigeria, Niger, and other nearby countries between June and October, 2022. The floods were deemed the “most devastating” in a decade by the people of Nigeria. Tragically, more than 1.3 million people had to relocate because of the floods, and over a million hectares of farmland were damaged. As people gather for the annual COP summit this week, it seems fitting to highlight the findings of our background paper prepared for the 2023 GEM Report on the i ..read more

By Sheldon Shaeffer, Chair, Board of Directors, and Evelyn Santiago, Executive Director, Asia-Pacific Regional Network for Early Childhood (ARNEC) A better understanding of, and a stronger response to, the impacts of climate change is essential — especially regarding young children. Research results and the related discourse arising out of the recent COP28 conference on climate change have expanded the evidence base for that conclusion. Climate change is only one of the components of the ‘polycrisis’ now facing the world, i.e. the simultaneous occurrence of several catastrophic events – a ..read more

By Justin van Fleet, President of Theirworld, a global children’s charity Investing in early years care and education might not seem the most obvious way of tackling the climate crisis. Why would investment in the world’s babies and toddlers aid efforts to mitigate the disastrous effects of climate change unfolding all around us right now? After all, it’s the very definition of a grown-up problem: urgent, life-threatening and riven with complicated political and diplomatic disputes. The truth, however, is that no matter how great our efforts to address the crisis, the problem is an enduring em ..read more

He Pākehā ahau Nō Airani, nō Ingarangi, nō Kōterani, nō Bohemia, no Moravia hoki ōku tūpuna I whānau mai ahau i Whakatāne I tupu ake au i Rangiora Kei Waiheke tōku kāinga ināianei He whaea ahau He kaiako ahau Ko Sarah Hoult tōku ingoa I am Pākehā. My ancestors came from Ireland, England, Scotland, Bohemia and Moravia. I was born in Whakatāne. I grew up in Rangiora. My home now is on Waiheke Island. I am a m ..read more

By Anja Nielsen, Senior Policy Adviser for Education and Youth, UK Committee for UNICEF The release of AR 6 Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, the contribution to Assessment Report 6 from Working Group I of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), is a sober reminder of the urgent need for climate action – one brought into stark relief by recent disasters. From extreme heatwaves on the west coast of the United States to famine-causing droughts in Madagascar to deadly floods in China, these past few weeks have shown the devastating impacts of weather-related disasters ..read more

Listen to this blog In the middle of the pandemic, the world’s youth has not lost its focus on the planet’s biggest challenge. School children in Germany are setting up a political party, Klimaliste, standing in local elections. The party has policies aimed at ensuring the Paris agreement climate pledges are not breached. It’s also born out of annoyance at support that the Green party is giving to the local car industry rather than to renewable energy. After years of environmental activism and little change, it seems children’s anger may be the most important and effective campaign for c ..read more