The rate of climate change since the mid-20th century is unrivalled in over a millennium. Climate change is the “biggest modern threat that humans have ever faced” (Eckstein et al., 2021). Since 1850, there has been a 1.1°C increase in global average temperatures due to human activities such as burning fossil fuels, deforestation, and the exploitation of natural resources, leaving permanent scars on the planet (IPCC, 2021)
There is a strong consensus that fossil fuel subsidies (FS) obstruct the attainment of multiple sustainable development goals (SDGs) including poverty eradication (SDG1), global health (SDG3), gender equality (SDG5) and transition to affordable, reliable energy (SDG7) and sustainable consumption and production (SDG12).
In the Asia-Pacific region, the impacts of the climate emergency are acutely felt by teachers and education support personnel, both as essential workers and as members of communities that are unjustly enmeshed in the cycle of disasters and crises.
An analysis of updated Nationally Determined Contributions submitted to the UNFCCC and National Climate Change Learning Strategies
Summary of research findings from the research “Educators on a Heating Planet: Shaping Education Unions’ Vision for a Just Transition
Amidst an aggressively heating world, a just transition for educators has become a matter of urgency. Educators are already on the frontlines of climate change: every day, they are contending with the worst consequences of changes to the world’s climate. From extreme hurricanes and storms to massive flooding, prolonged droughts, severe heatwaves, and sinking islands, climate change is already altering the education sector in indirect yet profound ways. Thus, educators are stakeholders in the discussions surrounding climate action and the crucial project of shifting to a low-carbon world.
