What can schools, higher education and
the labour market do right now to tackle
climate change?
François Staring
OECD Webinar, 13 November 2024
Analyst, Higher Education Policy Team, Policy Advice and Implementation Division (PAI),
Directorate for Education and Skills (EDU), OECD
We must re-think our education and training systems in the context of
climate tipping points
What role can
education play?
Education systems see climate change as a priority more for the future
than the present, and priority varies by education level
Education levels for which
environmental education
was reported as a priority:
• Primary to upper
secondary (94%)
• ECEC (78%)
• Post-secondary (64%)
• Higher education
(61%)
• Adult education (50%)
Source: OECD, Education Policy Outlook 2023: Empowering All Learners to Go Green, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f5063653-en .
WORK TO DATE: Mobilising different level of education for climate
change today
March 2024
November 2023
July 2024
School education
Higher education
Adult education
February 2024
FORTHCOMING: New OECD report, focused on developing a holistic,
lifecycle and cross-sectoral approach to sustainability education
• Fostering agency for socio-
behavioural change through
education, training and wider
societal engagement
• Technical and transversal
skills development for climate
change through skills
anticipation, career guidance
and a coherent skills delivery
landscape
December 2024
Action is also to engage the active labour force and wider society in
tackling climate change
Adult participation in
upskilling and reskilling:
• Only four in ten adults
participate in formal or
non-formal learning
for job-related reasons
• Workers in high-
emissions occupations
tend to train
significantly less than
other workers
Source: OECD analysis based on data from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Climate Protest Tracker (Carnegie, n.d.),
https://carnegieendowment.org/features/climate-protest-tracker?lang=en
Aggregate participation (in number of participants) in
climate-related protests around the world
Strategies for building an inclusive skills delivery landscape
Source: Developed by OECD, building on the “Future Skills in Higher Education” model developed by Ehlers and Eigbrecht (eds.) (2024), Creating the University of the Future: A Global View on Future Skills and Future
Higher Education, Zukunft der Hochschulbildung [Future Higher Education], Karlsruhe, pp. xiv, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-658-42948-5.

Tackling climate change_François Staring

  • 1.
    What can schools,higher education and the labour market do right now to tackle climate change? François Staring OECD Webinar, 13 November 2024 Analyst, Higher Education Policy Team, Policy Advice and Implementation Division (PAI), Directorate for Education and Skills (EDU), OECD
  • 2.
    We must re-thinkour education and training systems in the context of climate tipping points What role can education play?
  • 3.
    Education systems seeclimate change as a priority more for the future than the present, and priority varies by education level Education levels for which environmental education was reported as a priority: • Primary to upper secondary (94%) • ECEC (78%) • Post-secondary (64%) • Higher education (61%) • Adult education (50%) Source: OECD, Education Policy Outlook 2023: Empowering All Learners to Go Green, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/f5063653-en .
  • 4.
    WORK TO DATE:Mobilising different level of education for climate change today March 2024 November 2023 July 2024 School education Higher education Adult education February 2024
  • 5.
    FORTHCOMING: New OECDreport, focused on developing a holistic, lifecycle and cross-sectoral approach to sustainability education • Fostering agency for socio- behavioural change through education, training and wider societal engagement • Technical and transversal skills development for climate change through skills anticipation, career guidance and a coherent skills delivery landscape December 2024
  • 6.
    Action is alsoto engage the active labour force and wider society in tackling climate change Adult participation in upskilling and reskilling: • Only four in ten adults participate in formal or non-formal learning for job-related reasons • Workers in high- emissions occupations tend to train significantly less than other workers Source: OECD analysis based on data from Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Climate Protest Tracker (Carnegie, n.d.), https://carnegieendowment.org/features/climate-protest-tracker?lang=en Aggregate participation (in number of participants) in climate-related protests around the world
  • 7.
    Strategies for buildingan inclusive skills delivery landscape Source: Developed by OECD, building on the “Future Skills in Higher Education” model developed by Ehlers and Eigbrecht (eds.) (2024), Creating the University of the Future: A Global View on Future Skills and Future Higher Education, Zukunft der Hochschulbildung [Future Higher Education], Karlsruhe, pp. xiv, https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-658-42948-5.