Climate change and sustainability in science and social science secondary school curricula

There is an urgent need to transform the way climate change and sustainability are taught in classrooms and at schools. Learners must grasp the environmental impacts of climate change, how climate change relates to their own context and what actions can be undertaken and contribute to making societies more sustainable, equitable, just and climate-resilient.

The findings presented in this publication indicate that accelerated efforts are needed. In a study of over 530 Grade 9 science and social science curricula from 85 countries worldwide, we found that 69 per cent of curricula contained no references to climate change, while 66 per cent had no references to sustainability.