How to empower teachers and help students prepare for a sustainable future

Education about climate change and sustainability is a vital part of responding to a rapidly changing world, including the negative effects of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution.

- by Nicola Walshe Professor of Education, UCL, Denise Quiroz Martinez Lecturer in Education at the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Stirling, and Luciano Fernandes Silva Professor, Institute of Chemistry and Physics, Universidade Federal de Itajubá

Teachers, including in Brazil and England, help young people live with futures shaped by local and global environmental challenges. However, despite expressing overwhelming concern about issues related to climate change and sustainability, many teachers do not feel equipped to teach it in schools.

Urgent action from policymakers is needed to support them.

Teachers shape how young people understand and respond to environmental crises. Without proper support, students risk leaving school unprepared for some of the most urgent challenges of our time: this is a societal risk, not just an educational issue.

Despite public demand for action in response to climate change, schools often lack the expertise and resources to realise this. Empowering teachers means building stronger communities: when well-equipped teachers foster agency and action, not just knowledge and skills.

Young people can bring ideas home, influence families and drive local change. So climate change and sustainability education becomes a catalyst for resilience and transformation, essential for preparing the next generation to thrive in a rapidly changing world.