Environmental and sustainability issues are at the forefront of modern society throughout the world. Climate change is a global problem that will not disappear overnight. It has been well studied and documented that Sub-Saharan Africa is at highest risk for environmental degradation and will be most affected in the coming years. Regardless of this fact, misinformation dismissing that climate change is a global problem is still prevalent around the world. The question I find myself asking is how can we convince people that the threat of climate change is real? What steps can societies take in order to educate ourselves about the impact of climate change?

The UNESCO’s Education 2030 agenda aims to integrate sustainability and global citizenship into education. UNESCO believes that a quality education includes sustainable concerns within the curriculum. In order to advance society and be able to facilitate transformation, society must rethink about the ways education is taught and conducted in numerous settings. It is important to note that I was never aware of climate change until I began college and once I did begin to learn about it, I felt a huge wave of despair and helplessness. For a long time, I believed that climate change was just some hoax since I didn’t see the effects of it in my day-to-day life. I understand why there are people who don’t believe that it’s a real global issue because at one point, I was that person. It is up to us to change the narrative and culture regarding climate change, we can do that through education.

I believe we should start by incorporating education for sustainable development (ESD) into our schools. ESD empowers learners of all ages with the knowledge that the global community is facing. Two South African researchers, Mandikonza and Lotz-Sisitka, stated, “Education has the potential to facilitate catalytic transformation of society through development of understandings of these intersecting environment and sustainability concerns, and to support engagements in more sustainable social practices oriented towards the common good.” They argue, “ESD should allow people to think about and consider a view of development and progress that charts new and alternative pathways to reduce human impacts on the earth system, while also seeking out new social progress models that take future generations into account.” The main purpose of incorporating ESD is to transform human lives towards sustainability. Incorporating ESD would be a significant advancement and would help bring awareness to the risks of climate change. It will educate future generations on how to be sustainable. ESD has the potential to offer opportunities for the world to respond to issues arising from development, with teachers as key actors.

Educating and empowering kids about environmental sustainability would be beneficial for society because they would be more aware and educated from a younger age. Mandikonza & Lotz-Sisitka conducted a study that incorporated ESD into the learning curriculum and found, “Participants showed commitments to learning from context while using and promoting teaching and learning methods that are critical, collaborative, and experiential while foregrounding values. These teaching and learning methods tend to be humanizing, constituting the new form of education quality suggested by the World Conference on Education in Incheon Declaration (UNESCO, 2015b) that could potentially stimulate appropriate agency for environment and sustainability at individual and collective levels.” ESD not only addresses the issues of climate change but also teaches other core life skills that are essential in a child’s development. Germany and Kenya’s ESD action policy should be used as a potential framework that countries around the world can follow. Implementing ESD into education is a critical component to the UN’s 2030 SDGs that has not been talked about enough and it’s time to change that.

Countries around the world have participated in voluntary national reviews that assess how the country is implementing the 2030 SDG framework, but the United States has not provided a review at all. This is concerning especially since the United States is one of the largest polluters in the world. The Biden-Harris Administration has promised to pass climate related legislation and even has provided a $2 trillion climate plan, but the plan misses one critical aspect: education. It is astounding that the United States is one of the wealthiest and most technologically advanced countries in the world and yet it misses out on some basic education indicators. The Biden-Harris Administration could be the first administration in history to provide a national curriculum about climate change for schools all over to follow.

Implementing an ESD framework throughout the United States should start in primary school and be used through secondary. This will change the culture surrounding climate change and will empower U.S. citizens with the knowledge and problem-solving skills needed to overcome and address the critical issues of climate change. Public campaigns in favor of the ESD framework would de-politicize the controversial topic, especially if science backed climate facts was included. If society was introduced and learned about climate change issues from early childhood, we would all understand it better without questioning and debating the facts.

The United States prides itself on being a leader in global issues but lags in its effort to become a sustainable nation. The United Nation’s ESD framework could be a start for the United States when it comes to educating its citizens about climate issues. Primary school teachers in the U.S. should start implementing the ESD framework in their daily lesson plans by including fun activities for children. Federal funding should be allocated towards supporting climate change education and ensuring professional development for all teachers at the state and local levels. State education agencies should ensure that climate education is scientifically backed to ensure students are exposed to the truth about climate issues. If the United States continues to work this slowly towards a greener economy, the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals will be impossible for the world to achieve. We must work to ensure that our world will be a livable planet for future generations, and we can start that now by educating ourselves and our children.