https://educationhub.blog.gov.uk/2021/11/09/cop-26-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-departments-quest-to-put-climate-change-at-the-heart-of-education/
We are putting climate change at the heart of education. As part of COP26, the 2021 United Nations climate change conference, the Education Secretary set out his vision to empower all young people in the importance of conserving and protecting our planet, as well as developing the skills needed to solve the problems. The climate talks bring together heads of state, climate experts and campaigners to agree coordinated action to tackle climate change.
Here’s everything you need to know about the action the department is taking and proposals being developed through wider engagement with stakeholders and young people.
Additional curriculum support for teachers
Teachers will be supported to deliver world-leading climate change education through a model primary science curriculum. The curriculum will be in place by 2023 and will teach children about nature and their impact on the world around them.
Currently climate change is on the curriculum and taught in science, citizenship and geography from Key Stage 3 (the beginning of secondary school) onwards.
In primary school (Key Stages 1 and 2) pupils are taught the core concepts – so what the climate is, how it changes, the difference between a man made and natural environment and where different types of animals live.
What we’re introducing:
Primary
- We will be providing teaching resources and specific support to illustrate best practice.
- A model science curriculum that, should schools choose to use it, will provide pupils with a start to finish curriculum they can follow. It will introduce climate change as a concept to children in a coherent way that builds from the core concepts described above.
Secondary
- We’ll be working with partners to develop specific support and other teaching materials for teachers.
- Some will be ready made lessons developed through people like the Oak Academy that represent the highest calibre of teaching.
National Education Nature Park
School grounds alone in England cover an area over twice the size of Birmingham. The National Education Nature Park will encourage nurseries, schools, colleges and universities to think of this land as one whole ‘park’ with vast potential to help halt the decline of biodiversity in this country.
As their work starts to have an impact, young people involved will upload their progress on the park’s digital mapping services. They will be able to see how the Park is ‘growing’ while increasing their knowledge of species and developing important skills, such as biodiversity mapping, data collection and analysis.
The park will be developed in collaboration with children and young people and the many excellent stakeholders that work in this area.
The Climate Leaders Award
The Climate Leaders Award will help children and young people develop their skills and knowledge in biodiversity and sustainability, and celebrate and recognise their work in protecting the local environment. For example, young people may choose to undertake a project that delivers change in their local community, such as increasing the biodiversity of a neighbourhood piece of land or helping to deliver experiences for younger children to explore nature and local woodland.
The award will be developed in collaboration with children and young people so that we can ensure it supports them in making an impact in their local communities.
Pupils and students will be able to progress either individually or as groups through different levels of the award, ‘bronze’, ‘silver’ and ‘gold’, in a similar way to the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.
Net Zero Schools
These measures also build on the government’s pledge for every new school delivered under the department’s school rebuilding programme to be cleaner, greener and net-zero in operation.
The Education Secretary also confirmed plans to test innovative new Energy Pods that could start to replace gas and coal boilers and supply a school’s entire heating and hot water without any carbon emissions.
‘Energy Pods’ are a low to zero carbon plug and play technological solution that provide heating and hot water to existing school settings via solar panels and technology to maximise their output.
The Pods will first be tested in some schools and colleges and if successful, they could be extended across the school estate and into more public sector buildings.
Last week’s announcement comes as part of the Department’s commitment to keep the education system at the forefront of sustainability and innovation and help meet the government’s target of reducing emissions by 78% by 2035 and reaching net zero by 2050.
FAQs
The main goal was to secure global net zero by mid-century and keep a maximum of 1.5 C degrees of warming within reach. Net zero means total emissions are equal to or less than the emissions removed from the environment.
What was the main declaration of the COP26 climate conference? ›
At the heart of COP26 is the urgent need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, 80 per cent of which come from energy generation and use. A day dedicated to a future of clean energy saw multiple announcements of new initiatives, funds and pledges to reduce and end coal use, the dirtiest of the fossil fuels.
What is the COP26 report for climate change? ›
COP26 brought together world leaders to act together to limit temperature rises and climate change. The main objectives of the COP26 meeting were to: commit to more ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
What are the major achievements and failures of COP Conference of Parties 26? ›
The summit targeted global warming not to exceed +1.5°C and got about 140 countries to announce target dates for bringing emissions down to net zero. The achievement is significant as in the Paris Agreement, the developing countries did not agree to reduce emissions but just the “emissions-intensity" of GDP.
What were 3 successful outcomes of COP26? ›
COP26 in Glasgow marked a step forward in global efforts to address climate change, including a material increase in ambitions to reduce emissions across the world, finalisation of rules on reporting emissions and international carbon trading, and the launch of a range of new initiatives and sector deals.
What are the 4 key goals of the COP26 summit? ›
COP26 goals
Four overarching goals have been set for COP26 which will guide the course of negotiations and drive the key outcomes: secure global net zero by mid-century and keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius within reach; adapt to protect communities and natural habitats; mobilise finance; and.
What were 4 key topics that were discussed at COP26? ›
Beyond the Glasgow Climate Pact, at COP26 countries also made bold collective commitments to curb methane emissions, to halt and reverse forest loss, align the finance sector with net-zero by 2050, ditch the internal combustion engine, accelerate the phase-out of coal, and end international financing for fossil fuels, ...
What did COP26 promise? ›
What was promised? At COP26, 103 countries signed up to the Global Methane Pledge to collectively reduce methane emissions 30% below 2020 levels by 2030. Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas, with a global warming potential 86 times that of carbon dioxide over a 20-year period.
What is the slogan of COP26? ›
What is the slogan of the COP26? The slogan of COP26 is Uniting the world to tackle climate change, emphasising the importance of international cooperation to address climate change.
What does COP26 hope to achieve? ›
Adaptation and resilience for societies against climate change. Nature: nature-based solutions to protect ecosystems. Energy transition: ending reliance on fossil fuels. Decarbonised transport: transitioning to electric vehicles.
The Pact is therefore formally not legally binding, and comprises a set of international negotiated and agreed policy commitments by the parties to the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement to promote the achievement of their objectives.
What did the US say at COP26? ›
We want to do more to help countries around the world, especially developing countries, accelerate their clean-energy transition, address pollution, and ensure the world we all must share a cleaner, safer, healthiest planet. And we have an obligation to help.
What were the major outcomes of the 26th session of the conference of the parties? ›
The 26th session of COP brought significant outcomes in the global fight against climate change. The Glasgow Climate Pact, enhanced NDCs, coal phase-out commitments, and the methane pledge were among the key results.
What will happen if we fail to meet the 2030 climate change deadline? ›
According to climate experts, we have until the year 2030 to stop the continuous global warming of our planet. If we fail to achieve this, they warn of "irreversible effects" of climate change — more supertyphoon, flood, and wildfire.
What is the main theme of COP26? ›
The slogan of COP26 is Uniting the world to tackle climate change, emphasising the importance of international cooperation to address climate change.
What are the key points of cop22? ›
Objectives of COP 22
To connects climate change commitment to Sustainable Development Goals. To ensure developed nations keep the promises they made before the Paris COP. To focus on themes including risk management, slow-moving climate changes, displacement, migration, non-economic losses, and severe occurrences.
What are the main points of COP27? ›
Four key themes were identified for COP27: mitigation, adaptation, finance and collaboration.
