A RECENT survey by Students Organising for Sustainability UK demonstrates that 68 per cent of pupils want to learn more about the environment and climate change. Young people are demanding information and want to act in response to the climate emergency.
But this right-minded aspiration isn’t being met. A 2019 survey conducted by Oxfam on behalf of the UK Student Climate Network found that 75 per cent of teachers feel they have not received adequate training to educate students about climate change.
The issue is clear. As is the solution. It’s time we formalised the Northern Ireland curriculum to include climate change education. We simply cannot afford to wait years for this to happen. Across the UK, Northern Ireland has the highest household carbon emissions for its population size, so it is critical that we equip the next generation with the carbon knowledge that they need to help protect our planet.
Put simply, Carbon Literacy is an awareness of how carbon dioxide, costs and impacts the environment through our everyday activities. When we are aware of this, we can make informed choices about actively reducing our emissions. It is the future generation who will go on to become policy makers and innovators, it is they who will navigate us through the effects of climate change and find solutions to this global crisis, but we can all start to take action here and now.
Of course, climate change is an inter-generational challenge, that affects us here in the present as well as in the future. People, nature, and infrastructure are all vulnerable. We need to increase our efforts to protect our society, economy and environment.
Research led by Queen's University, for example, estimates that the annual cost of floods in the UK has reached £340 million, and that this is set to worsen as global temperatures rise. The same report estimates that Belfast could save £283m a year from 2030 and create over 700 jobs if the Belfast Climate Commission’s most ambitious carbon reduction policies were realised.
There is a clear challenge ahead for Northern Ireland in meeting the Department for the Economy’s 2050 decarbonisation targets, and this transformation will certainly need the support, energy and creativity of the next generation.
Schools and community groups across the region have the opportunity to participate in Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful’s new suite of Carbon Literacy programmes, which are funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, and delivered in partnership with the Carbon Literacy Project.
The programmes - which include ‘Carbon Literacy for Teachers,’ ‘Carbon Smart Students,’ ‘Carbon Literacy for Youth Leaders,’ and ‘Carbon Smart Youth Groups’ - will deliver targeted training to teachers, youth leaders and young people.
Teachers or youth leaders who participate in the training will be given a full set of resources that they can use to take their students through similar training or can choose to deliver a new, Open College Network, Level 2 accredited GCSE (equivalent) entitled ‘Reducing Carbon Footprints Through Environmental Action’. It’s an excellent opportunity to become part of the solution.
Participation in our Carbon Literacy programmes remains optional, yet we know students want to engage, so I call on teachers, youth leaders and schools to commit (details at www.keepnorthernirelandbeautiful.org) so that, together, we can educate and encourage positive, individual action, thus equipping our young people for the future.
:: Dr Ian Humphreys is chief executive of Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful
