For more info visit climateecos.org
I have always seen education as the driving motor behind social change. This can work both for the betterment of a community, in the case of progressive education seeking the Empowerment of its people; or for the reproduction oppression of the same, in the case of militarized education in Chile, conservative education in China, boarding schools for native Americans etc. Such is the power of education, that it can totally change the political sphere of a country. Many of the most powerful social movements built up in--or through--or--against educational institutions: women suffrage movement in the US, the Civil Rights movement in the US, Apartheid divestment movement, the Arab Spring in Egypt, the Revolución Pingüina in Chile, and now we are seeing it, although might not be directly connected, with Fridays for Future in Europe. It seems natural to me, that if we can to engender a generation of citizens committed to civic engagement and climate action we must tackle education. So I was inclined what is the perception on education, and the work being currently done on this area within the negotiation space. Although not surprising, I came to find that this theme is still - as we would say in Chile - in diapers, meaning that the development and implementation of global climate education plans is still very young and there is much work to be done in this area.
Having said this, it is important to note that work on education is far from new. When the UNFCCC was created in 1992 it was stablished by the convention that parties would promote and facilitate education and public awareness at all levels necessary on Climate Change and its effects (Article 6 of the convention). In 2012, the Doha Work Program was created as a plan to ensure Article 6 was implemented. Later on, in 2015 it was also established on the Paris Agreement that "Parties shall cooperate in taking measures, as appropriate, to enhance climate change education, training, public awareness, public participation and public access to information, recognizing the importance of these steps with respect to enhancing actions under this Agreement." (Article 12, Paris Agreement; easier to quote since the entire article is just one paragraph). All of this work resulted in the creation of Climate for Action Empowerment (ACE), as a large scale global plan to work on all of these articles I just mentioned. ACE is divided into six themes: education, training, awareness raising, public access to information, public participation, and international cooperation on these areas.
So, if this is the work that has been going on for a while, how's it that 80% of Chilean youths do not even know that COP25 is happening in their own country? Well, not all countries have the capacity needed to actually be able to implement this ACE plan; and here's where ECOS comes through!
ECOS is a community of -as it names describes- educators and otherwise stakeholders that are preoccupied with the implementation of educational programs to address climate action. They consider international collaboration to be fundamental for this task and want to facilitate the process of connecting and creating synergies amongst climate action educators from around the globe. I had the honor to attend to their meetings throughout the conference, and it was really beautiful to hear them talking about the issue and mostly to be able to politicize a space that is often created to be apolitical. A space for innocuous agreements that oftentimes does not lead to much action. They are taking the action in their hands an today, and since 2016 are recognized by the UNFCCC secretariat.
On Monday Jun 24th, they asked me to moderate their press conference, so below you will find two things: a press release from Monday and the video of that press conference. There is no one better than them to tell them why they are doing this work and why it is important, so where you go:
Bonn, 24th Monday June 2019 - Today at the United Nations Climate Conference, representatives of the Education, Communication, and Outreach Stakeholders (ECOS) community called for large-scale climate literacy and action. All sectors of civil society, especially students and teachers, as well as business and policy leaders in both hemispheres, must be engaged. Further needs include more ambitious policies, increased financial support, and greater national and subnational leadership.
Planetary heating is already causing acceleration of ocean acidification, loss of species, polar ice sheet melting, permafrost thawing, and extreme weather events, putting society and nature under great stress. This adds urgency to act on the findings of the 2018 IPCC 1.5 report. Without the full engagement, collaboration, and mobilization of civil society on every scale, from individual to global, the necessary technological, manufacturing, agricultural, and lifestyle changes required within the next 10 years cannot be achieved.
ECOS is committed to a solutions-oriented approach — including the wisdom of indigenous knowledge, and alignment with youth-led, women-led, and biodiversity protection initiatives — while calling for rapidly increased climate literacy and action. Many education, communication, and outreach programs are already in place in communities across the globe, and more are needed. These can be coordinated and activated to exponentially increase public awareness and involvement in climate mitigation and adaptation strategies.
While at the UN Climate Conference, ECOS has participated in crucial dialogues and discussions where governments recommitted to the process to review their global efforts to accelerate climate education and action initiatives. Consistent with the capacity building mandated in Article 12 of the Paris agreement, ECOS supports the six elements of Action for Climate Empowerment (ACE), including: education, training, awareness raising, public access to information, public participation, and international cooperation on these areas. We seek to help address funding and capacity gaps, calling on all governments to activate in the most bold and efficient manner possible.
ECOS is building its own capacity to complement the efforts of the UNFCCC Secretariat to deploy a coherent education, communications, and outreach strategy globally. Prioritizing high-quality, localized strategies for education, communication, and outreach is vital. As ECOS member Danae Espinoza summarized: “The importance of international cooperation, funds to accomplish the task at the local to global level, government support and the inclusion of citizens are all vital in implementing the Paris Agreement.”