A greener, fairer future: Girls’ education and climate action

Dr Renata Dwan

Good afternoon. Good afternoon London and good morning if you’re in the United States or on the East Coast, and good evening if you are joining us from Africa, Asia or the Middle East. We’re delighted to welcome you to our special event, Greener, Fairer Future – the Roles of Girls’ Education in Climate Action.” And my name is Renata Dwan. I’m the Deputy Director of Chatham House and it’s my pleasure and honour to welcome you here today for this event, which we have the great honour and pleasure to co-host with the Malala Fund.

Now, new research, just out from the Malala Fund, points to how girls’ education is being disproportionately affected by climate change. In 2021, at least four million girls, from low and lower-middle income countries, will have their climate – their education interrupted by climate-related events. Yet, and we’ll hear today, girls’ education is a powerful, but underused, tool for tackling climate and as part of our climate solutions. And so, this is what we’re going to be exploring today, with a fabulous panel of climate activists, thought leaders and experts from around the world. We’re going to divide our session into two panels, one which we’ll hear a little bit about the orientations around key events that are upcoming in 2021, and particularly the COP26 that will take place in Glasgow on November, and then, in our second panel, we’ll go into, in a little bit more detail, the report issued by the Malala Fund and some of the key findings.

This event is being livestreamed and it is being held on the record and being recorded today. You’re very welcome and we’d love to hear your voices and thoughts, so please submit your questions in the ‘Q&A’ function over the course of the discussion. I’m happy to draw on you and to call on you, to give you the microphone, or if you’d rather not have the microphone, to read out your question. So, we welcome you all today and we look forward to this discussion.

What we really want to explore today is how can climate smart education for girls and boys contribute to tackling the climate challenges that we face, and what can governments do, what can international action do, what progress is possible for us? So, introducing our first panel to discuss these critical issues, we have no stranger than Nobel Laureate and Co-Founder and Board Chair of the Malala Fund. Malala, welcome to the West – 04:05 today in Chatham House. From Malawi, we have the Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources, the Right Honourable Nancy Tembo. Minister Tembo, welcome.

The Rt Hon Nancy Tembo MP

Thank you.

Dr Renata Dwan

And from here in the UK, the President Designate of COP26, the Right Honourable Alok Sharma, MP. We’re delighted to have you today, Mr Sharma.

So, Malala, I’m going to get the ball rolling straightaway with a question to you. You’ve spent your life campaigning for girls’ education and that’s how the world knows you. Why are you now speaking out about climate change?

Malala Yousafzai

Thank you so much for the opportunity. Well, my goal has always been a world where every girl can choose her own future and complete her education, but we also know that women and girls, marginalised people, and low-income communities are disproportionately affected by climate change, and the people who have contributed least to climate change are suffering some of the worst of the effects, and those effects do include education. So, for instance, like, when families are affected by climate change disasters, such as floods, droughts, and how these disasters then impact their income, as well, girls are the first ones to leave their schools and sometimes they take on the household responsibilities or get married to reduce the burden that their family holds in affording them and in taking care of them. So, girls and women are very vulnerable when it comes to climate change disasters, and as you mentioned, Malala Fund has estimated that this year, climate-related events could prevent up to four million girls, from lower income countries, in completing their educations.

So, girls are the victims, girls are affected by these climate change disasters, but also, when we educate girls, when we provide them with quality education, with climate education, they can become farmers, conservationists, solar technicians and they can fill other green jobs, as well, and critical thinking and problem-solving skills can then allow them to help in their – to help their communities to adopt to climate change and how to tackle the issues of climate change. Also, when girls are educated and when they stay in schools, they get married later in their lives and then they have less children and that also helps us to reduce the impacts of climate change that the population increase brings, and when women and girls are educated, that brings, you know, stronger, low carbon economies and creates more equal workforce. So, you know, just the connection between climate change, gender equality and education is why I’m here and I’m talking about it.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you so much, Malala, and moving to you, Minister Tembo. Malala pointed out that, often, those that are most negatively impacted by climate have contributed least to the problem. In Malawi you are not a huge carbons emitting country and, yet you’re being affected and girls and boys in your country are being affected. What are you doing to keep girls in school and keep them learning about climate change, and what are the resources that countries like Malawi need to do this effectively?

The Rt Hon Nancy Tembo MP

Well, thank you for that question. First of all, the Malawi Government does recognise the need to keep girls in school, and we have a national strategy, climate change learning strategy, and through this strategy, we have developed a curriculum for primary schools and for secondary schools. And my work – my Ministry, working together with the Ministry of Education, have developed teaching and learning materials that have been distributed to primary – public, primary and secondary schools, and therefore, this is being mainstreamed, as a subject, working – teaching through geography and social studies, but also, we have to keep the girls in school. There’s no point having a curricula that has climate change learning and yet, you do not have the girls in school.

So, what we’re doing, the Government of Malawi has made efforts to ensure girls are kept in school. We have free primary education. We have provided scholarships for secondary education for girls and there is a provision of free meals for primary schools, for students in the primary school, where – which is an incentive to keep girls in school. Most of our schools do not have adequate resources and therefore, you find schools where perhaps there’s no provision of desks and the – when girls are going through their menstruation, they have [inaudible – 09:09]. So, we have provided sanitary pads to girls in schools, to maintain their hygiene, but we have also ensured that girls that fall pregnant are taken back into school. In the past, it was taboo to get girls back into school. If you have a baby, that was the end of you and you’d never had – you couldn’t go back to school, but the Government of Malawi has raised the awareness levels in communities to make communities aware that there’s nothing wrong with getting a girl back in school and girls – it’s not on the taboo and there’s no stigma attached to girls that go back to school. But through…

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you, so much, Ambassador – Minister Tembo. I’m going to move on, and I’ll come back to you to continue these discussions about where we might look at resources, if I may. I’m going to turn to you, if I may, now, Right Honourable Alok Sharma. Mr Sharma, the UK is going to be hosting the COP26 in November. What would you like to see happen in Glasgow to get countries committing properly and fully to gender equality and education, as part of their climate response?

The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP

Well, thank you very much for having me. It’s a great honour to share this panel with Malala and Minister Tembo. I mean, I recall, two years ago, when I was DFID Secretary of State, I was at the AU in Addis and I went to see, actually, an event that was being run to teach schoolgirls how to code. And one of them said to me, and this has, sort of, stuck with me ever since, where she said that “Education is a weapon that can change the world for the better.” And I think she was absolutely right, and it is why Prime Minister Johnson, I, and in fact, the rest of the UK Government, is so much behind rallying support for the girls’ right to 12 years of quality education. And look, I mean, I recognise the clear link between gender and education and climate change, and exactly as Malala has said, women and girls are disproportionately affected by the climate crisis. And I think as is – the report shows, climate disasters absolutely endanger girls’ education around the world.

We know that, globally, there are at least 200 million adolescent girls who live on the frontline of the climate crisis. I’ve just come back from Nepal, and I went to see some of the communities in the Himalayas, and this is a real, real issue that people are grappling with on a daily basis. So, as you say, practically, what are we going to do? We have the COP Presidency, of course, but we also have the G7 presidency this year in the UK, so we are pushing the global goal to get 40 million more girls into school and through our COP Presidency, we want to put women and girls at the centre of climate action work.

I have a Youth and Civil Society Advisory Group, I’ve got two co-Chairs on that, two young female climate activists, one from the Global North and one from the Global South and, you know, as part of our work, we’re calling on all countries to implement that gender action plan that was agreed at COP25 and to make sure that gender is absolutely taken into account into all climate policies and, also, policies that advance equality when countries look at this. And practically, from a UK point of view, we’re supporting and mentoring initiatives to encourage women and girls to participate in climate negotiations and we’re committed to making progress on this.

And one final thing on this is one of the things that we will be looking to negotiate as part of COP26 is a new workplan on the Action for Climate Empowerment, and this is about agreeing principles on engaging the whole of society in climate action and then, you know, how do we practically make these principles work? And clearly, one of those areas is through education, so, I can promise you that we will continue to champion this in this year of COP and beyond, as well.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you very much. Let me turn back to you, now, Minister Tembo. You pointed out some of the amazing things that Malawi is doing with limited resources, to keep girls in school. What else do you think that governments can do, beyond COP and beyond this highlighted year, to make the most of girls’ education as a part of our climate solution strategies?

The Rt Hon Nancy Tembo MP

Well, like I said, we have to make sure girls are in school, and so far, this provision to enable girls stay in school, at least for primary and secondary schools, but it becomes very difficult to have girls in tertiary education, and I think that’s where COP26 can come in, in the spirit of climate justice, come up with the funds and funding, financing for girls’ scholarships, so girls are able to access tertiary education.

Like Malala said, if you keep girls longer in school, then they’re more likely to have smaller families and you’re more likely going to be able to manage the population growth and they’re more likely to understand issues of climate change, and families that are better educated, families that are better able to manage even disease outbreaks. So, yes, we did financing, and we need technical support to support our programmes, financing that can enable girls stay in school longer.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you so much, Minister Tembo, and really, a fantastic agenda there, not just for COP26, but for COP27 in Africa, which will be the next location.

If I can turn back to you, now, Mr Sharma. You talked about what the UK is committed to do this year and some of your goals or ambitions, but how can we think about sustaining momentum, so that we continue this progress beyond COP26? What are the steps that the UK can take to keep this a longer-term agenda?

The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP

Yes, so, Renata, look, I mean, you’re absolutely right. I mean, you know, what we should be looking at is, of course, near-term, but also long-term solutions, and ultimately, you – you know, what we want to ensure is that we have – you know, inclusive climate action should be a norm, actually, for governments around the world. So, I’ve talked about the Gender Action Plan, which I hope provides this, sort of, long-term shift in the way that people look at these issues, but of course, we also need to sustain momentum on the SDGs, the Sustainable Development Goals, and you know, one of those, clearly, being universal quality education. I think colleagues on this event, I hope, will know that Boris Johnson has recently appointed a Special Envoy for Girls’ Education, a brilliant lady, a fellow Member of Parliament, a friend of mine called Helen Grant, and she – those of you who, sort of, follow her on Twitter and see the work she’s doing, she’s really driving momentum on this.

But there was a, I think, a very important point that Minister Tembo made about finance. So, Prime Minister Johnson is going to be co-hosting a Financing Summit with President Kenyatta, in July, for the Global Partnership for Education, and the aim of this is to raise around $5 billion for education. And as I said, you know, we know that there are 200 million girls who are living on this frontline and facing that sort of climate crisis head-on and we need to make sure that we are doing more, in terms of getting finance to the frontline, as well.

The other issue, of course, is that, you know, even if we are able to reduce emissions to zero tomorrow, the reality is, we’re still going to have to live with, you know, the current effects of climate change and the whole issue on adaptation is so important as part of the work we’re doing on COP26. Adaptation resilience is very much one of our key five campaigns. And again, the Prime Minister’s appointed Anne-Marie Trevelyan, who is our Energy Minister, but she’s also the Adaptation Resilience Champion for COP, and the work she is doing is about encouraging adaptation action around the world.

And the final thing I just want to say on this point is that, of course, very sadly, around the world, we do face climate disasters, unfortunately all too regularly now, and what we need to ensure is that education, girls’ education, continues, despite that. So, you know, the UK, of course, is the largest donor to Education Cannot Wait, which is the – this global fund for education and emergencies, and we are encouraging other countries to come forward and also invest generally – generously in this area, because we want to ensure that whatever the circumstances, girls continue to get the education that they’re entitled to around the world.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you. Thank you very much, Mr Sharma. Malala, turning to you, Mr Sharma highlighted the need to think about, not just for the long-term future, but education in the here and now, where we have crises, where we have conflicts, and whereas you’ve campaigned, the need to sustain girls’ education. What’s your message to world leaders, before the Climate Conference in November, if you had to say one thing to them?

Malala Yousafzai

I’ll ask two things. I think the first one is to listen to young people who are leading the climate movements. You know, in Uganda we have Vanessa, who has joined us today. She’s organising strikes, she has mobilised young people and this is the voice of young people that we need to hear. In Pakistan, for instance, my friend, Sarah Jehan, she has made documentaries and she’s highlighting the human cost of climate change, but also reminding people that we should see women and girls as part of the solution and include them in that. And in the US, Leah Thomas is raising awareness about how environmental racism is there and how it is affecting Black communities, and we see mock COP as well, and how young people are reminding our leaders that climate education and climate justice should be their priority. So, there are a lot of problems that the world is facing and for the next generation, there is a lot of burden, so my ask from world leaders is that, you know, we must prioritise people in our planet over growth. When you prioritise people in our planet, the growth will follow. That is something that, you know, we, as innovative and as creative humans, will figure out.

And the second message I have, and that is for President Sharma, especially, is that I hope that the UK will use this opportunity and this platform to show, you know, the other colleagues who will be part of COP, to prioritise girls’ education and recognise how girls’ education, gender equality, and climate change are not separate issues, they are – they work together, they – and girls’ education and gender equality can be used as a solution against climate change. So, we must ensure that our children receive quality education, and that includes climate educations, too.

Dr Renata Dwan

Powerful messages, Malala, and thank you for sharing those with us today. I’m going to open the floor now to questions and from our audience and from our panel around the world, and I’m going to, actually, for the first question, turn to an initiative that Chatham House has had underway now for some years, which is our Common Futures Conversation. This is a flagship initiative that finds ways to bring young people from across Africa and from the UK, together, as other countries in Europe, to discuss key global policy issues, to engage with policymakers and to share their ideas for a better future.

So, to the first question, I’m going to invite Aidan Parrott from South Africa. Aidan, the floor is yours, if you’d like to ask a question.

Aidan Parrott

Okay, thank you very much. Can everyone hear me?

The Rt Hon Nancy Tembo MP

Yes.

Dr Renata Dwan

All good.

Aidan Parrott

Okay, perfect. Greetings to the panel, and my question goes specifically to Malala. So, failure to address girls’ education, gender equality and adequately addressing climate change are all challenges that have dire consequences for our future, globally, if not dealt with. So, how do we encourage more people, especially men, to see girls’ education and gender equality as issues that are as important to global prosperity now and in the future? I ask this simply because climate change, everyone, or a lot of more people, seem to be onboard with climate change and addressing the 4th Industrial Revolution, but when we talk about girls’ education and gender inequality, it’s not always approached with the same gusto. Thank you very much.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you, Aidan. Malala, I’ll turn to you.

Malala Yousafzai

I think, you know, that’s a very good question and we need to recognise that women are half of the population of this globe and, unfortunately, there are 130 million girls who do not have access to education. There are millions of women who are not in the workforce, they do not get equal opportunities and there are many women and girls who do not have an opportunity to get a job, to know about their rights, to take care of their health and hygiene, to take care of their children, to know how to have a safe and affordable family, because they’re not educated, because they are not given access to schooling. And that prevents so many girls from – and women, from accessing equal rights and from contributing to ways in which we can tackle climate change. So, education has that clear link to climate change and gender equality.

How do we convince world leaders, as you said, which is mostly men? I think, firstly, you know, there – a lot needs to be done in terms of that. I think it – you know, we need women leadership, as well, we need women’s voices, as well, in these gatherings and today I’m really happy that I have been allowed to talk and that Vanessa is here, talking, as well. We need the voices of young people to be heard and we also just need to follow, you know, signs and what data is telling us, and data clearly shows that if we do not invest in girls’ education and address the issue of climate change, the disasters will be uncontrollable, and this will be an irreparable cost that humans will have to face.

So, I think the link and the connection is clear, now it is – you know, we all understand it, we all recognise it. Now it’s time to take action. And it is, you know, as President Sharma said, that they recognise this and now, how do we do – play our role and our – the role that we have, so as individuals, we can play our part and as leaders, they can also play their part?

Aidan Parrott

Thank you very much.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you very much, Malala. I’m going to turn the floor now to one of our participants, Robert Moreland, who has had a lot of interest in his question. Robert, would you like to unmute and ask your question?

Robert Moreland

Thank you very much. I suppose my question is directed particularly to Mr Sharma, because, obviously, money comes into this and money for girls’ education around the world is important, but is the UK being particularly helpful in cutting overseas aid from 7% of GDP to 5% of GDP? Surely, we’re talking about an area where I would hope our overseas programme would be spending more, particularly this year.

Dr Renata Dwan

Mr Sharma?

The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP

Yes, Renata, I mean, well, just to say, Robert, thank you for the question. It’s actually gone from 0.7% to 0.5%…

Robert Moreland

Oh, sorry, nought, yes.

The Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP

…of GDP. But just to say that, you know, what we have said, very clearly, is that this is a temporary measure and I think people do appreciate what has happened around the world to economies. One of the things that I would say is that we will still be spending over £10 billion a year on overseas development assistance during next year and, in fact, you know, if you look, the UK will still be one of the leading countries around the world when it comes to this.

From a climate perspective, what we have done is ensured that the promise that we made on doubling international climate finance to £11.6 billion over the years 2021 to 2025, will stay. I think that is a – the right decision, and of course, we want to ensure that that money is deployed properly and appropriately, and one of the things that we are doing, and just going back to the previous question, we talked about how do we ensure the people the on the frontline also have a say on, you know, where funding goes? We are hosting an event at the end of March, where we’re bringing together Ministers from donor countries, from countries that are at the frontline of – are facing climate change, and of course, also civil society, as well, so we can talk about these really important issues about finance. You know, we talk in terms of big numbers, but actually, what matters is whether the money gets through on the ground and we need to make sure that it does.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you so much. I’m going to bring in now a woman’s voice, Juanita Silva from Chile, with a question and perhaps might – maybe for Minister Tembo. Juanita?

Juanita Silva

Hi everyone, thank you very much for having me. This is a great honour to be here. So, my question is, we know that the first step towards tackling climate change, or one of the first steps, would be to have girls in school for 12 years, hopefully. But for countries like mine, I’m from Chile, that has already been achieved and we don’t really have a gender gap in primary education. So, my question would be what is the next step for countries like Chile to ensure that women are in the spaces where decisions are being made for climate change?

Dr Renata Dwan

Minister Tembo.

The Rt Hon Nancy Tembo MP

Yeah, thank you very much. Indeed, women have to be included at every step of the way and this approach, the one raised by Right Honourable Sharma about whole society approach, where everybody is involved in the designing and implementation of interventions on climate change. So, if women are involved, if women are at the table, then their voices are heard, and women are much more impacted with climate change issues. But we – Chile has achieved the 12 years, and there’s no discrimination there, but I think even going forward, for tertiary education, like I said before, they need more resources, and we need to have women at the table at COP, to make sure that they champion the issues of women, education, scholarships for ladies, so that women are supposed to attend a tertiary education.

But just going back to issues that affect us, say, for example, in Malawi, girls are impacted by climate change, because most of Malawi is now degraded, because our forests are depleted. We have to have access to alternative sources of energy, and we need the resources for that. Educated women that have attended a tertiary education have more opportunities, have more options. So, like Chile, like Malawi, like countries that are developing, we all need support to be able to source alternative source of own – of energy. For Malawi, we even need access to portable clean water that is near to homes, near to households, so that girls are able to go to school. So, these are efforts that are being done. But yes, women need support even beyond the 12 years of education, because where policies are made, women have to be there. The women have to speak for countries to access resources. In the spirit of climate disasters, women would be a better voice raised at that table if they have had access to better education.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you Minister Tembo. I’m going to move to a final question for Malala from David Archer, from ActionAid. David, the floor’s yours.

David Archer

Thank you very much. Great session, really good to see you bringing these issues together. I think there are questions about how we can really connect climate change in a powerful way within school curricula, and it does seem to me that the – one of the great advantages, schools have is they have incredibly regular timetable through the year, which is marked by different seasons and different moments. And so, we’ve been doing, in seven different countries, tracking of climate change, based on local indicators, ‘cause often, it’s local people, elders of the community, who know what are the critical indicators of a – the seasons changing, and that sort of knowledge is not generally known in textbooks, and then getting local kids to be tracking that and seeing changes over time. It seems to me we need a really powerful sharing of practical examples like this, for how to ensure that climate is owned as a critical issue by children in every single school, and that you can then use that data to build up into a national picture, at a level of data which was actually quite difficult to collect by other means. So, schools can be really useful institutions for gathering real knowledge about what’s happening with climate change in each country.

Any other practical examples? That’s really what I’m trying to get to.

Dr Renata Dwan

Malala?

Malala Yousafzai

I think, you know, as you mentioned, schools play a critical role in the – you know, in developing an understanding regarding what issues are urgent and what needs to be done and how we can act as responsible citizens in our country and in this globe. And if I’m honest, children are more aware, especially in the developed countries. They are more sensitive to how they’re contributing towards climate change, what is their carbon footprint? And in university, as well, you know, when I was studying there, all of my friends, everybody was involved in taking step towards making sure that we are more climate sensitive and we are taking steps to reduce, from our part, you know, this – the disasters that are occurring. So, everybody needs to play their role individually, as well, and yes, you know, school – Teachers are involved, students are involved, and that is happening, but I think we need to go beyond that and on international level, governments and education experts can develop a more advanced curriculum that can help children to know more about climate change and how they can play their role in introducing the impacts of it from, you know, the waste that we are producing, from how we are using electronic devices, all of these things, all of these small steps can help us. Even turning off lights, all of these are – you know, remind us of how we can be responsible.

But also, in – but we need more of that in the developing countries as well, where education is not just limited to maths and learning English and to learning sciences, but we ensure that climate education is there, and we remind people how they can participate in preventing these disasters. But also, it’s – you know, the students will also learn how, you know, the developed countries are contributing to the emissions and how world leaders and how big corporates are, you know, are contributing to climate change. So, it’s important that, you know, we recognise the issues and how we, individually, can play a role, but also, what is the responsibility of the leaders and of companies and corporates and that is something that students have recognised, and they are realising that, you know, some of the biggest images are the most developed countries. So, this is the message of all the young people, as well. They want to remind our leaders that, you know, we – they cannot ignore their role and they need to recognise what the country’s role is, overall, and what these companies’ roles are, overall.

Dr Renata Dwan

Reminding our leaders and our countries and our corporations of their responsibilities. Malala, thank you very much for joining us today. Right Honourable Sharma, it has been a great pleasure to have you here and we wish you every luck for the COP26. And Minister Tembo, Nancy Tembo, it was wonderful to hear your perspectives of what Malawi is doing to try to, both keep girls in school, but also become part of the climate solutions to tackling the challenges we face.

We’re going to move now to the second part of our panel discussion and hear a little bit more detail about some of the report’s findings that has just been issued and, of course, you can find on the Malala Fund page. We’re joined by Lucia Fry, the Director of Policy and Research at the Malala Fund, Vanessa Nakate from Uganda, who is the Founder of the Rise Up Movement in Africa and the Time 100 next most influential people in the world. Welcome Vanessa. And Christina Kwauk, who’s Associate Director of the Climate Change Education Project and Non-Resident Fellow at Brookings Institution, joining us from the United States. So, welcome to you all today.

Lucia, maybe turning to the report, it presents new findings about the impacts on climate on girls’ education. Can you tell us a little bit about what those are and who’s going to be most affected?

Lucia Fry

Well, I think we’ve already heard about one of the findings, which was our projections about the potential impacts of climate change on girls’ education. We were able to use some modelling to make those predictions and as you heard, this year alone, it’ll prevent four million girls, in lower income countries, from completing their education, and that’s going to accelerate, depending on the actions that governments take, but we predict that it will accelerate, so that by 2025, it will play a part in curtailing the education of at least 12.5 million girls. And that’s really important, because every year of education that a girl loses is a disbenefit to society as a whole, in terms of her ability to contribute to creating a greener, fairer future.

We also wanted to look into where climate change is limiting girls’ educational prospects. So, using a range of indicators, we were able to draw up a list of countries, which are vulnerable to climate change and have girls’ education shortfalls, and you can see that list in the report. Sub-Saharan Africa is really overrepresented in our, kind of, worst affected countries, our list of 30 worst affected countries, and that’s ironic, because it is the com – the region with the least responsibility for carbon emissions, historically and present day. And so, it’s a region that really would benefit from greater attention from the international community, for help with climate adaptation, gender equality and girls’ education.

And just to note, for example, the Sahel, about 60 million girls in the Sahel, those – that’s a region really in the kind of, nexus of these two issues, it’s underaided generally and now we hear it may be slated for cuts in UK aid of up to 93%. And that’s really blighting the situation of girls, but it’s a massive, missed opportunity, as you heard from Malala, giving girls a quality climate. Smart education is just a great strategy to help achieve a gender just green transition, higher levels of girls’ education, associated with all kinds of good things, affecting a society more broadly, but particularly in climate, reduced disaster risk, more – a higher political participation of women, leading to more pro-environmental decision-making.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you, Lucia, thank you very much for those insights. We have temporarily lost Vanessa, but we’re trying to get her back, but – so, Christina, I’ll move to you. You’ve been working for many years now on the intersection between gender, education and climate change. How do you think climate education has evolved and is it keeping pace with the scale of the current crisis?

Christina Kwauk

Yes, and I thank you so much for that question, it’s such an important one. From my perspective, there’s three important trends in climate education. The first one is that there is a growing recognition that the knowledge of climate science isn’t sufficient for climate action. We also need to be addressing the psychosocial barriers to action, which includes things like experiences of ecoanxiety and eco-grief, as well as withdrawal, denial, and this means addressing the socioemotional dimensions of climate change, as well as strengthening action competencies, ‘cause climate change isn’t a – merely a technical challenge, it’s also an adaptive challenge that requires new ways of thinking, doing and being in the world, being with each other and being with our non-human world. But unfortunately, the majority of approaches, if there is an approach in the first place, is focused on knowledge about climate change and not for climate action.

Second, there is an increasing recognition that climate change education must be interdisciplinary and integrated across the curriculum, not just in science subjects, but also in arts, humanities, social sciences and that it has to be context specific, because the impacts of climate change are so different, depending on where you are in the world, that it means that climate education can’t look the same in one context, compared to another. And while there might be universal principles, like the need to attend to gender equal skills and values and activism that’s highlighted by the Malala Fund Report, or the need to understand how unsustainable and inequitable social and economic systems drive environmental destruction, you know, these are – might be universal principles, but the substance and application of these principles will have to be context dependent. But as of today, there’s only two countries: Italy and New Zealand, and soon to be a third country in Mexico, that have mandated climate change education to be integrated across the curriculum, but it’s unclear what that even looks like at this point.

And then, the third point is that there’s increasing attention to the need for climate education to address the issues of climate justice, thanks to the advocacy of youth climate activists like Vanessa, in environmental justice communities, and this attention is rooted in the fact that those who are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change are the least responsible for it, we’ve heard that before today. But addressing issues of climate justice isn’t just something that can be fixed by curricular reform alone. It’s going to require the wholesale transformation of our education systems, from its hardware to its software, from its underlying purpose and its orientation and its delivery, to its operating systems and infrastructure and what we assess and measure as desired outcomes.

So, just as the education sector hasn’t treated gender inequality as an urgent issue that needs attention, the education sector also hasn’t adapted to the climate crisis. That’ where this work on a new green jour – a new green learning agenda and a gender equal learning agenda, comes in. It’s intended to provide leaders and decision-makers with a clear set of ideas and principles for education system’s transformation, that is focused on achieving both climate action and climate justice.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you, Christina, and welcome back, Vanessa. We lost you there for a minute, but it’s good to have you back. Vanessa, I hope you’ve heard some of the points that Lucia’s been describing, Christina and Malala, about the report. Maybe I’d love to turn to you, as a climate activist. What do you think the Youth Climate Movement, how do you think they’ll react to Malala’s findings and recommendations? Oops, I think we might have lost Vanessa again. Okay, well, while we’re waiting to try to get her back, let’s turn back, maybe, to the report and to some of its central points.

Lucia, the proposals you’ve said, the agenda that you’ve set out, what can we practically do to make it happen and specifically, what can governments do to make it happen?

Lucia Fry

I think Christina did a great job of laying out the agenda, the gender equal, green learning agenda. It starts with getting all girls into school and learning, but it, clearly, doesn’t end there. We think it’s essential that all girls and boys everywhere get a quality and climate smart education and critically, that it’s an education that provides a spur to collective action to challenge the underlying causes of the crisis. Seeing that running through society, the ways that we interact with nature and with each other, and trying, really, to move away from a kind of, extractivist, exploitative attitude, to one which centres air nurturing, stewardship of the environment, but also of one another. And I think, at the moment, I mean, I’m as big a fan of a recycling week as anybody, but, you know, learning about climate change often does mean teaching students, just, you know, a little bit about how to reduce their personal emissions and perhaps in a PHSE learning, life skills learning, or as Christina said, it can be in climate science. Those things are important, but they’re not really going to equip students with knowledge and attitudes that is going to help transform the systems and structures that caused the climate change in the first place and are still preventing us from taking effective action.

So, our agenda that we worked on, with the help of the Brookings Institution, looks at how we can ensure education builds green skills, creates pro-environmental values and ultimately, fosters a justice-oriented commitment to action in students. In – at COP26, there’s obviously a great opportunity here. The good news is that world leaders are actually signed up to commitments on climate education, as long ago as 1992, at the Rio Summit, but this year, we’re really calling them – on them to do more. So, as well as calling for 12 years of quality education for all girls, we’re also urging governments to use COP26 to declare the subsequent year, 2022, a global year of action on climate education, to renew those commitments and deliver on them, made since the Rio Earth Summit. We’re looking for national governments to update country climate strategies for nationally determined contributions, to recognise the contribution that girls’ education makes, and finally, we’re looking for them to develop new climate learning strategies in time for the 28th Conference of Parties in 2023. So, I was really pleased, for example, to hear Minister Tembo talking about their climate learning strategy and really want to wish you well on the way to delivering on that. Look forward to seeing it.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you, Lucia, and Vanessa, I’m going to try to bring you in again and to hear your thoughts and thoughts on the – how the Climate Justice Youth Movement looks at this. Vanessa. Well, I don’t think we’re having any luck today with Vanessa, which is such a pity for us, to hear from her, given her experience in Uganda.

So, let me open the floor to some of our questions, if we can. I’d love to hear, first, perhaps from Sam Wilson, who has a question on how we can create attraction for green jobs. Sam, the floor is yours.

Sam Wilson

Thank you very much. Can you hear me, okay?

Dr Renata Dwan

Yeah.

Sam Wilson

Perfect, thank you, and thank you for this session, it’s fascinating. My question is one of the barriers to girls’ education is sometimes that families do not necessarily see the value of educating their daughters. How can we create attractive green jobs for young women as a way to change this mindset and show families that, actually, educated girls can earn for their families through these green jobs? Thank you very much.

Dr Renata Dwan

Christina, maybe I’ll ask you to take a run at that.

Christina Kwauk

Sure, that’s a great question. I think what we’re finding, at least in, sort of, our present green economy and our present green sector jobs, is that some of these jobs are actually – fit some of the existing gender norm, or gender beliefs and gender norms around where women should be working or, you know, thinking about, you know, if there are cultural and gender norms around that prevent women from going to work outside, for example. Many of these green sector jobs are indoors, or they’re working with electronics, with engineering, with that – with less heavy machinery, for example. They’re much more, you know, knowledge oriented, rather than, you know, mechanically oriented. So, there are, sort of, at least presently, ways of potentially advertising these jobs as being a little bit more gender friendly within the constructs of existing gender norms, while also pushing those norms, broader, beyond that and really pushing, you know, for more women in the workforce and more women in gender equal work and equal pay work, as well.

So, I think when we look at some of the existing trends in green sector jobs, there’s already ways to, potentially, market these jobs as being more desirable, because they do happen to be more – less physically oriented, in terms of requiring sheer force, you know, or sheer muscle power. But also, really thinking about things that are more oriented towards these stem skills, where a push – a greater push for girls into these fields would be a push for gender equality in the workforce writ large.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thanks very much, Christina. I’m going to open the floor now to someone who’s got a great question about mentorship and support. Nupur Kohli, would you like to answer your question – or pose your question?

Nupur Kohli

Yes, certainly, thank you. I’m calling in from Amsterdam today and I work in healthcare, and I know that women and girls can sometimes feel very helpless in finding out the right ways to get empowered, especially when it comes to their own health, but also when we talk about climate or education. So, how can we create better networks, so that the right mentors and organisations reach girls in marginalised communities, but also, when they want to become leaders, how can we use these networks better, because sometimes it still feels very fragmented?

Dr Renata Dwan

Great question. Lucia, do you want to take a run at that?

Lucia Fry

Well, I think you almost gave the answer at the end of your question there, yeah. I mean, I do feel that they are fragmented and piecemeal and not necessarily really nested in, kind of, country strategic plans. I think I’d like to see much more multisectoral collaboration in countries, between sectors like labour, science and technology and education and really to have this as something that’s properly resourced from government, rather than being left up to, kind of, piecemeal or CSR type initiatives, as valuable as those can often be. Because I really think it’s only with that, sort of, intent, that sort of policy intent, and honestly, you know, kind of, the stamp of approval of government and making space for it in curricula, that it will happen, in a consistent and targeted way, that will, kind of, make the links, I suppose, between workforce needs, the genuine workforce needs that are out there, speaking to the previous question, but also, what’s available in companies, in scientific institutions and so on.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thanks, Lucia. I’m going to bring in one more question, before we try Vanessa again. Tracey Ritchie, would you like to ask your question?

Tracey Ritchie

Sure, thank you. I really appreciate the interdisciplinary approach to climate literacy, as Christina mentioned, but I’m just wondering if there’s one main barrier that we’re seeing to that interdisciplinary implementation for climate literacy and how – to pair with that, how do we best prepare educators and Teachers, through pre-service and in-service change, in a swift manner? And I know that’s a tall order, but what can we do first and most urgently? Thank you.

Dr Renata Dwan

And would either of you would like to take that? Christina, perhaps…

Christina Kwauk

Alright.

Dr Renata Dwan

…first?

Christina Kwauk

I can take a fair stab at that. Thanks, Tracey, for your question and good to see you on here. I think that the interdisciplinary nature of this is – it does present some challenges, because, at least as our present education workforce is currently prepared, if prepared on climate education, it tends to be mostly in the science subjects. And research shows that even though that there’s great interest by Teachers across subject areas that have an interest in teaching climate change, they often don’t know how to teach it and how it’s connected to their subject area. So, I think a great deal of Teacher professional development and training is needed, both pre-service and in-service, but I think that there are ways to get around this in the short-term. I think we see, around us, you know, Project Drawdown, for example, has already highlighted 80 or more climate strategies at our fingertips now that students and Teachers can, together, find ways to do climate action projects in their schools, that are focused on, you know, potentially tracking the food systems and food systems in communities, and carbon in a social studies class, as opposed to looking at climate science just from a geography or of a physics class.

So, I think that there are ways that we can make this accessible through Teacher support networks and Teacher peer-to-peer networks, to really, kind of, increase some of that preparation and training, but we have the action now – we have solutions at our fingertips now that, with a little bit of support and a lit – perhaps even a little bit of incentives from the top down, to do climate action projects in classrooms today, just really leveraging some of that student interest and Teacher interest.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thanks, Christina. Vanessa has re-joined us, but she’s going to leave her camera off, which I think, given the gremlins we’ve had today, it’s a good adaptation move. Vanessa, share a little bit of thoughts with us on how the Youth Climate Movement will respond to these education and girls’ education findings.

Vanessa Nakate

Thank you very much. I’m actually very excited about this report, because, finally, someone is making the connection between climate change and education. I believe that – I know that we have a number of solutions to the climate crisis and many of them are so technological. They need so much development, they need so much research, they need a lot of work to be done, and we know that they’re solutions that have already been tested and they are working right now, and one of the solutions is educating girls. I’m certain that we’ve seen the data, also, from Project Drawdown, which lists 100 solutions to keeping global temperatures, you know, below 1.5° and listed number five is “educating girls together with family planning.” So, we need to move from the fantasy of only modern technologies, to actually embrace social solutions like educating girls.

I believe that all of them will work hand-in-hand for us to be able to tackle the climate crisis and educating girls, it won’t just benefit the individual, it will benefit her family, her community and their entire world. We need more women in leadership places, but this all starts from education. We need more girls to be educated about the climate crisis, about their reproductive health, and this all starts from school. So, I believe that educating girls is the solution that no-one hasn’t been talking about and I’m excited that this report is finally making this connection and providing this data for people to understand that it isn’t just solar that is going to save us, but also educating girls is going to save the planet.

Dr Renata Dwan

Brave words, Vanessa, and I think, in particular, this connection you’re making that it’s not just about keeping in our silos, but bringing together in a multidisciplinary way, different communities that are working for the same goals, a sustainable…

Vanessa Nakate

Yeah.

Dr Renata Dwan

…developed world in which we all have our place and an equal space and opportunity, is really offering new solutions and lots of practical solutions.

Vanessa Nakate

Yes.

Dr Renata Dwan

I’d like to just ask Vanessa one final question, if I may. Vanessa, you’ve been an advocate for making links, not just between climate justice in girls’ education, but climate justice and racial justice, and other forms of discrimination. Can you just tell us a little bit more about this linkage, because I think it can help understand our multidisciplinary efforts?

Vanessa Nakate

Well, thank you very much. I, personally, believe that if we are to tackle the climate crisis, we have to understand all these intersections, from gender equality, to eradicating poverty, to ending or reducing inequalities, and we have seen so many racial injustices across the world and I know that we won’t be able to have racial justice – sorry, we won’t be able to have climate justice without racial justice. Why? Communities that are affecting the impacts of climate change right now are the least contributors of the CO2 emissions in the atmosphere. If I’m to start with communities from the Global South, they are feeling the impacts of climate change right now, but if you are to calculate the emissions that they are contributing to, it is literally close to nothing. So, those who are at the frontlines of the climate crisis are the ones who are least responsible for the climate cri [audio cuts out].

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you, Vanessa, for really just articulating the clarity between this multidisciplinary approach and why thinking about the connections is so critical. And you see we have the next generation already participating in the discussion.

Colleagues, I would like to just ask one final question, if I may, to whatever member of the panel would like it, because I thought it was an interesting one from Laura Davidson. And in the interests of time, Laura, forgive me if I don’t open the floor to you, but she’s really saying, “We’re putting all this focus on girls and women and critical for change, but do we risk losing the focus on reality that the industries are still largely male-led and, ultimately, those with decision-making and power on climate are men? And are we perhaps turning the spotlight on the wrong space, if that’s where we look at?” Lucia, I’m going to let you take the last run at that question.

Lucia Fry

Okay. I mean, it’s a really good point to make, obviously, Laura, but the great thing about girls’ education is that it’s a good solution for that, as well. And I don’t think that we should see these things, basically, kind of, progressive movements, if you like, as being in competition with each other. They’re, actually, mutually supportive of each other. Of course, we’d like to see more women decision-makers, both in big corporates and in government, and we know that they do tend to make more pro-environmental decisions when they are in leadership positions. But yeah, I think – I wouldn’t see it as a trade-off or as a competition, but really more as a mutually supportive effort, yeah.

Dr Renata Dwan

Thank you so much.