The challenges posed by climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation have become defining issues of our time. These crises are global in scope, affecting all regions of the planet, with impacts felt across all sectors of society. Facing these daunting challenges requires rethinking how we engage with the environment and, more deeply, how human systems in general operate.
At the heart of this transformative effort is education.
Education has the capacity to reshape our understanding of the world around us. It enables individuals to grasp the complexities of environmental systems, understand the interconnectedness of ecological, social, and economic factors, and ultimately take informed and responsible action. As this report outlines, education—both formal and informal—plays a crucial role in cultivating the awareness, knowledge, and skills needed to address the environmental challenges we face.
This report highlights how education and training policies can foster individual and collective agency, influence socio-behavioural change, and build skills that empower individuals, communities, and nations to engage in sustainable practices. It provides actionable insights and recommendations on how to incorporate sustainability into education and skills policies in a way that empowers learners at different life stages to contribute individually and collectively to a more sustainable future.
Across its various Directorates, the OECD is scaling up and mainstreaming its support to countries in navigating the climate challenge. This report is part of that effort. It brings together expertise from the Directorate for Education and Skills and the Environment Directorate with contributions from Directorates across the house. We hope that the insights presented here will inspire deeper reflection and action as we work together to create a future where people and planet can thrive in harmony.
The report was prepared as part of the OECD’s Education Policies for a Sustainable Future project led by Deborah Nusche in the Directorate for Education and Skills. The analysis was conducted by a cross-directorate team at the OECD, bringing together expertise from the Directorate for Education and Skills and the Environment Directorate. The lead authors for the report are Deborah Nusche and François Staring from the Directorate for Education and Skills and Marcia Rocha and Cian Montague from the Environment Directorate. The report was prepared under the responsibility of Tia Loukkola, Head of the Innovation and Measuring Progress Division in the Directorate for Education and Skills and Andreas Schleicher, Director of Education and Skills.
This report contributes to the OECD Horizontal Project on Climate and Economic Resilience (Net Zero+).