UNITED NATIONS, Oct 30 (IPS) – By 2024, the climate crisis will have disrupted education for millions of students around the world, weakened the workforce and hampered social development on a large scale. As extreme weather patterns prevent students from accessing a safe and effective learning environment, the United Nations (UN) and the Geneva Global Hub for Education in Emergencies (EiE Hub) continue to urge the international community to help the most climate-sensitive areas build resilient education systems that empower both students and teachers.
On October 28, members of the EiE Hub released a statement calling on stakeholders and world leaders to put children’s education at the center of global discussions at the COP30 to be held in Belém, Brazil in November. Without urgent intervention, it is expected that tens of millions of children will be at risk of falling behind in their education, threatening long-term economic development and stability.
“Children are more vulnerable to the impacts of weather-related crises, including stronger and more frequent heat waves, storms, droughts and floods,” Catherine Russell, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), said in January. “Children cannot concentrate in classrooms that offer no respite from the sweltering heat, and they cannot go to school when the path is flooded or when schools are washed away. Last year, severe weather kept one in seven students out of class, threatening their health and safety and impacting their long-term education.”
According to figures from UNICEFaround half of the world’s school-age children have access to quality education, with an estimated 1 billion children living in countries described as “extremely high risk” from climate shocks and natural disasters. Members of the EiE Hub estimate that at least 242 million students will experience disruptions to their education due to climate-related events by 2024, with more than 118 million students affected by heat waves in May alone. In addition to hindering the quality of learning and teachers’ ability to teach effectively, climate-induced disasters and shocks also increase the risk of school dropout and expose children to increased safeguarding risks.
These risks are especially serious in communities in the Global South, where the impacts of climate-induced disasters are most pronounced. Frequent climate shocks devastate local economies, undermine adaptation efforts and exacerbate pre-existing inequalities. Women, girls, displaced persons and persons with disabilities are disproportionately affected; they are at greater risk of violence, negative health impacts, loss of livelihood opportunities and higher rates of child, early and forced marriage.
In August, a report published by UNICEF and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) found that approximately 5.9 million children and adolescents in Latin America and the Caribbean could fall into poverty by 2030 due to the loss of education due to climate change if governments do not act quickly. This represents the most optimistic scenario, as the projected number of young people falling into poverty could be as high as 17.9 million.
According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Asia-Pacific region is considered the most climate-sensitive environment in the world, with communities in coastal and low-lying areas disproportionately affected by rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns. Furthermore, these communities rely on fishing and agriculture, climate-sensitive economies, putting them further at risk.
A World Bank report titled Gender dimensions of disaster risk and resilience highlights the increased vulnerability of boys and girls during climate-related shocks and how this affects them in different ways. In Fiji, scores of households losing one or both parents to natural disasters have been intensified by climate change, underscoring the link between families experiencing the loss of a parent and increased rates of school dropout and child labor.
The report also shows that girls who have lost both parents are 26 percent less likely than boys to enter the labor market within five years of a disaster, and are 62 percent more likely to marry in the same period. In Uganda, the World Bank has found that the risk of child labor often increases for both boys and girls after a natural disaster.
“If children and young people do not have the resources to meet their basic needs and develop their potential, and if there are no adequate social protection systems in place, inequalities in the region will only be perpetuated,” said Roberto Benes, UNICEF Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Despite this, education systems receive only a small percentage of available climate and government funding. From 2006 to March 2023, it is estimated that only 2.4 percent of funding from multilateral climate action budgets will go to climate resilience programs for schools. According to EiE Hub, less than half of NDCs met child sensitivity standards during the last Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs 2.0) cycle, and have therefore been largely overlooked by governments.
EiE Hub calls on governments, donors and civil society groups to make education an important part of the dialogue on climate action going forward, especially in the discussions at COP30. The organization emphasizes the importance of increasing investment in climate-resilient education systems – especially in vulnerable and conflict-affected areas – as every dollar a government invests in education can increase national GDP by around $20.
In addition, the organization also emphasizes the need to involve children and young people in climate policymaking and to invest in resilient school infrastructure and climate education. By integrating green skills and climate education into the curriculum, education can become a powerful tool for resilience and climate action.
IPS UN office report
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