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UN PhotoWORLD BANK / CLIMATE ACTION EDUCATION
STORY: WORLD BANK / CLIMATE ACTION EDUCATION
TRT: 04:44
SOURCE: WORLD BANK
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 29 AUGUST 2024, WASHINGTON DC, USA / FILE
FILE – ENGLAND
1. Aerial shot, flooded farms
FILE – MOZAMBIQUE
2. Med shot, wilted wheat crops
3. Wide shot, teacher writing on black board in a classroom at school
29 AUGUST 2024, WASHINGTON DC, USA
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Shwetlena Sabarwal, Lead Economist, Education / Lead author of the report, World Bank:
“Education is a powerful but underutilized catalyst for climate action, both for pro climate behavior change and also for green skilling. An additional year of education can increase climate change awareness by 9 percent. At the same time, education also needs to be protected from climate change. In the last year and a half, more than 400 million students were impacted by climate related school closures. Students are also losing learning because of high temperatures. With just $20 per student, governments can do a lot to protect the education system and the childrens’ education from climate change.”
FILE - PERU
5. Aerial shot, Lima
6. Aerial shot, pregnant mother walking her daughter to school
7. Wide shot, classroom, teacher writing on the board and student walking s towards teacher and standing next to him
29 AUGUST 2024, WASHINGTON DC, USA
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Shwetlena Sabarwal, Lead Economist, Education / Lead author of the report, World Bank:
“So, there are three key recommendations. The first is that governments must act now to protect education systems and adapt education systems to a changing climate. And a big part of this is tracking how often schools are closing because of extreme climate events. The second recommendation is that governments can do a lot to use their school systems to make children understand climate change, and what action they can take, especially for adaptation. So they can do this by ensuring foundational skills like literacy and numeracy for all, and by incorporating practical, context-relevant climate curriculum. And finally, governments can do a lot to really use their higher education systems for green skilling and innovation. And a big part of this is explaining to students that green skilling opportunities are there for low- and middle-income countries in a variety of sectors, for a variety of skill levels, and making skilling opportunities available in flexible and accessible ways.”
FILE - PHILIPPINES
9. Aerial shot, view of cityscape road traffic in Alabang, Las Piñas, Metro Manila, Philippines
10. Wide shot, Public elementary grade school pupils line up after early morning routine exercises before going to classrooms in Laguna
11. Wide shot, teachers prepare students for t upcoming national achievement test in Bacoor
29 AUGUST 2024, WASHINGTON DC, USA
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Shwetlena Sabarwal, Lead Economist, Education / Lead author of the report, World Bank:
“A good example is Philippines. Philippines has started systematically tracking how often schools are closing because of extreme climate events, and not many other countries are doing this. And this will be the first step to let countries adapt their education systems to climate change. There are also some good examples of countries that are really prioritizing foundational skills and good climate curriculum. Sierra Leone and South Korea stand out. And then there are some countries that are doing a fabulous job in really using their higher education systems to spur green skilling and innovation. And here, Portugal, Vietnam, and India stand out.
FILE – MOZAMBIQUE
13. Wide shot, park on a cloudy day
14. Close up, heavy rain
FILE – INDIA
15. Wide shot, rainfall in a village
FILE – LIBERIA
16. Wide shot, classroom full of students
29 AUGUST 2024, WASHINGTON DC, USA
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Shwetlena Sabarwal, Lead Economist, Education / Lead author of the report, World Bank:
“So, the most interesting thing has been to see some of the misunderstandings people have about education and climate change. So, the first one is that people assume that education works, but only in the long run. We have to wait for these young people to grow up to see climate action. This is not true. Young people are acting now, and they are also influencing the behaviors of their parents. So, in India, climate messaging to children improved the climate attitudes of their parents by 13 percent. Parents were much more receptive to climate messages when it came from their children. The second misunderstanding is that these school closures that are happening because of extreme climate don't really matter that much. Students will be able to catch up. But we know from Covid that they don't. Poor children, in particular, don't catch up. In the last year, affected students in low-income countries lost 18 days of school on average because of extreme climate, and 18 days is what it takes to learn two-digit addition with carryover. We cannot ignore this problem.”
A staggering 400 million students globally experienced school closures from extreme weather since 2022, according to a new World Bank report.
The report examines the detrimental impacts of climate change on education in low- and middle-income countries and offers solutions to harness education to spur climate action.
It also estimates that a one-time investment of $18.51 per child can mitigate the impact from climate shocks.
New analysis in the report, “Choosing Our Future: Education for Climate Action”, shows that the climate crisis is hitting education the hardest in low-income countries, with 18 school days lost annually on average, compared to 2.4 days in wealthier nations.
A 10-year-old in 2024 will experience three times more floods, five times more droughts, and 36 times more heatwaves over their lifetime compared to a 10-year-old in 1970.
And even when schools are open, students are losing learning due to climate. In Brazil, students in the poorest 50 percent of municipalities could lose half a year’s learning due to heat alone.
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