Ahead of COP28, young people are coming together for the Mock Education Ministers Summit to raise ambition for climate education
The Summit is being organised and delivered by young people from our Mock COP Campaign. They selected youth delegates from 70+ countries who are joining the virtual summit on August 12th & 13th to call on their Education Ministers to take more action for climate education, and to produce the world’s first unified youth definition for climate education and set of asks for education ministries.
Over the weekend the delegates will come together to hear from high-level speakers such as Xiye Bastida, join panel discussions, and negotiate. This will culminate in the production of a unified statement from the youth delegates on climate education; which will include a specific youth definition of quality climate education, a checklist for measuring it, and clear calls to action for Governments. We will present this – the first statement of its kind – at COP28.
Panel discussions, and the opening and closing ceremonies will be live-streamed via YouTube and with many exciting speakers and discussions planned, we encourage you to join! Session topics include: Youth action on climate education; Education Ministers taking climate action; quality climate education; and international decision-making.
View the full Summit schedule, including timings, session topics and speaker information.
Ahead of the summit, delegates submitted country statements on climate education (check them out on our YouTube channel) which are contributing to the content of the youth statement.
David Okenwa, Campaign Coordinator of Mock COP from Nigeria, said “The limited climate education in schools is focusing on the problems and ignores the solutions, leaving young people, like me, unprepared to face the effects of the climate crisis. We need to urgently change this. As youth, our voices often go unheard in decisions that shape our future but we are calling for Education Ministers to step up and to make ambitious commitments for quality solution-focused climate education ahead of COP28.”
At COP26, over 20 countries pledged to improve climate education. Yet, youth at Mock COP believe there has been limited change in their classrooms and that climate education is still inadequate. They want climate education to be mandatory, assessed, and integrated in all subjects for all ages and want governments to be discussing this at COP. A study by UNESCO states, “Among 100 countries, only 53% of the world’s national education curricula make any reference to climate change and when the subject is mentioned, it is almost always given very low priority.”
The Mock COP campaign is building on the success of the first ever Education and Environment Ministers summit at COP26, which they were the youth partner for. They are now aiming for more ambitious and substantial commitments to climate education at COP28. The Mock COP and Mock EMS steering committee will support delegate youth leaders to go further too in advocating for their asks with national politicians, providing training, and building their capacity and knowledge.
The ultimate goal is to improve climate education globally, ensuring young people are aware of the climate crisis and can implement vital solutions.
“Our Mock EMS is organized by the youth and for the youth. We urgently need comprehensive and up-to-date climate education that enables young people to dismantle the existing unfair system so that we can get rid of climate and other socio-economic crises all at the same time,” said Shreya K.C., Campaign Coordinator of Mock COP from Nepal.
Let’s raise ambition for climate education!
