BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 18. The COP29 roundtable on greening education and enhancing climate literacy metrics is being held with the participation of ministers - the 2nd annual meeting of the Greening Education Partnership, Trend reports.
Azerbaijan's Minister of Science and Education Emin Amrullayev stated that as COP29 chair Azerbaijan proposes to include climate change awareness as a measurable component within PISA [International Program for the Evaluation of Students' Educational Achievement] assessments.
“Education is not just a pathway to understanding, it is a mechanism for significant change and building resilience. We are proud to work with international partners such as UNESCO, the OECD, and the Partnership for Environmental Education. UNESCO's broad initiative to green education systems, including greening curricula and schools, is raising awareness of climate change at all levels. The annual meeting of the Partnership for Environmental Education is a testament to our shared commitment to building more resilient and climate-resilient education systems around the world. As chair of COP29, we propose to include climate change awareness as a measurable component within PISA assessments. This project goes beyond measuring student knowledge. It will help us understand how well students understand and interact in the context of climate issues. Using this information, we will be able to develop better policies and teaching strategies that prepare young people for future challenges. The PISA platform is already a trusted global benchmark, and the new focus on climate literacy has the potential to spark change around the world,” he said.
Turkish Education Minister Yusuf Tekin declared that Türkiye has developed an education strategy that supports the transition to a green economy, creates opportunities for green employment, and improves the skills of the workforce in environmentally sensitive sectors.
“We in Türkiye are making efforts to integrate the themes of this meeting into our education system. Last year, we made several changes in our education programs based on international reports and indicators. Perhaps the most important of these changes was our endeavor to educate a generation that will be capable of protecting the environment, with a special focus on climate change. We have incorporated ideas that emphasize the need to protect the fundamental values and achievements of humanity into the content of all our curricula and lessons to create awareness and sensitivity among children about these issues,” he said.
According to him, the changes Türkiye has made to the curriculum are particularly important in terms of building resilience to climate change and sustainable development in the context of education and human development.
UNICEF Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships Kitty van der Heijden noted that it is necessary to insist that the NCQG (new collective quantitative goal) takes into account the needs of children and focuses on social services.
“It is clear that climate topics need to be integrated into school curricula. Not because education ministers or organizations like UNICEF want it, but because all countries are signatories to the Paris Agreement. Article 12 of this agreement is quite clear. Beyond secondary education, we need to look at the practical vocational skills that young people need to get involved in climate issues. Young people do not want to sit idle, they want to work and be part of the green economy that is inevitably becoming a reality. That is where climate investments should be directed.
Currently, only 2.4 percent of climate investments are in some way child-sensitive. All countries, including ministers of education, need to insist that the NCQG (new collective quantitative target) is child-sensitive and focuses on the social services on which they depend. Otherwise, we will only talk but not take concrete action,” she said.
ISESCO's Director General Salim bin Muhammad Al-Malik, for his part, stated that the ISESCO pavilion at COP29 officially launched the first framework for the implementation of green education in the Islamic world.
“The green agenda in education has received particular attention in recent years at the global level, especially with the recent third ISESCO Conference of Ministers of Education in October 2024 in Oman. The first framework for implementing green education in the Islamic world, developed with our partners at the University of Cambridge, offers recommendations and policies aligned with four pillars: curriculum, teachers, schools, and communities focused on green education partnerships following the Education Transformation Summit. I am happy to report that these recommendations were adopted with the agreement of measurable short and long-term goals for the transition to green education in our member countries. I am also happy to report that just an hour ago, this framework was officially launched at the ISESCO Pavilion,” he emphasized.