Climate Change Education: Recent Trends and Future Prospects

Abstract

Education is a critical element in our response to climate change. Climate change education (CCE) can help us plan and implement adaptations with respect to current and future impacts of climate change. In this chapter, we will review the status of CCE in the Philippines and Vietnam, two of the countries that are most at risk to climate threats. In order to address the complex climate change problem, CCE curricula should be informed by dialogue between the academe and those most likely to be affected by the impacts of climate change, in a transdisciplinary approach. Out-of-school settings for CCE should be explored and utilized. By providing several avenues for CCE, we might be able to engage learners in discussing the causes and urgent implications of climate change and what needs to be done and achieved. Learners need to develop the knowledge, attitudes, and skills to make informed decisions and to act upon these decisions. In addition, CCE developed within the overall context of Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) and closely aligned with disaster risk reduction (DRR) education can contribute to safeguarding development gains and building resilience in countries vulnerable to the negative impacts of climate change.