Education for Climate Action: Integrating Education into Nationally Determined Contributions - Guidance Document (February 2025)

Executive Summary

The first Global Stocktake in 2023 found that the Paris Agreement has driven near-universal progress on climate action, but that the world is not on track to meet its climate goals.

A Nationally Determined Contribution is a country’s self-defined national pledge to reduce the rate of climate change (climate change mitigation) and adapt to its impacts (climate change adaptation). This can also include addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change that are no longer avoidable

2025 is when the third round of updated NDCs will be submitted. This means 2025 is a vital year for countries to scale up their ambition. Parties will submit their third revision of the NDC (NDC 3.0) before COP30. These new NDCs take us to 2035 targets.

Despite being recognized in articles of agreements formulated in climate negotiations since 1992, education has been a neglected sector in the conceptualization of climate strategies. Ministries of Education have often faced challenges in ensuring that linkages with education are made in national climate policies, and efforts over the past decade to enshrine education in national climate commitments have been limited.

Including education in NDCs is important to:

• Meet international climate finance requirements for national prioritization, thereby improving opportunities to secure climate finance towards education
• Secure additional support, resources, capacity and finance from other sources for education
• Guide national implementation of climate-smart education
• Raise the profile and importance of education in climate action

It is every child’s right to learn in a safe and resilient environment and gain the knowledge and skills they need to adapt to climate-induced shocks and stresses, take climate and pro-environmental action, acquire jobs in the green economy and become leaders for climate justice. If these areas are included in NDCs, they are more likely to receive support from other ministries, sectors and international organizations, and align climate finance and action around key priorities.

While this guidance specifically pertains to education, it is crucial to contextualize this work within the broader landscape for children. There is a dramatic underinvestment in children and the essential services they need more broadly to adapt to a rapidly changing climate and realize their rights. Most agreements at the global, regional, and national levels (including NDCs and NAPs) are blind to the unique vulnerabilities children face. According to indicators assessing child-sensitivity in NDCs, less than half meet this threshold, and up to 2023 only 2.4% of finance from key multilateral climate funds was found to support projects incorporating child-responsive activities (however certain funds, including the Green Climate Fund, are actively working with partners to address this gap). Along with education, governments must focus on building the resilience of child critical services, including health, nutrition, child protection, social protection, and WASH.

This document sets out to support Ministries of Education and education sector partners to effectively engage in NDC processes by providing:

1. Common guidance and education messaging to highlight what could be included in NDCs and why
2. Entry points to identify where to include education in NDCs
3. Step by step process to demonstrate how to include education in NDCs, both those already being updated and nearing completion, and those starting from the beginning.

This guidance document will cover:

• Section A: introduction to the document.
• Section B: outlines the opportunity for including education in the NDCs, what NDCs are, why they’re important, the key stakeholders involved in the drafting and where you can get further information.
• Section C: provides a rationale for why education should be included in NDCs.
• Section D: details the step by step process for including education in NDCs, including example activities, indicators and accompanying guidance.
• Section E: provides a rapid checklist to support Ministries of Education in analyzing the process above and steps taken towards it.
• Section F: expands on some of the NDC specific considerations.
• Annexes: the annexes provide further information on key concepts, the international climate policy landscape, and further example indicators.

The guidance document is designed to be practical and to provide specific, actionable suggestions to support education’s inclusion in NDCs. It offers several tools to enable this.