But what exactly is “climate literacy”? What are the alphabet, grammar and vocabulary of climate change?
The UN and other leading global organizations have identified education at all levels and across disciplines as a key strategy to combat the climate crisis. The world is undergoing a historically rapid transition to clean energy and sustainable infrastructure, and the workforce is hungry for people with the skills to do the work needed for climate mitigation and adaptation. Communities also need empowered citizens to stand up to fossil fuel interests. But few states currently have comprehensive climate education, and most existing lessons are limited to science classes—missing areas like equity and solutions.
The Colorado Seal of Climate Literacy, which high school graduates can earn through a combination of coursework and extracurricular projects, is one attempt to build support for more comprehensive climate education. Another attempt was shown at the end of September. The US Global Change Research Program, with agencies including the State Department, NASA and the Department of Transportation, published a paper called “Climate Literacy: Basic Principles for Understanding and Addressing Climate Change.”
The definition of climate literacy that the authors arrived at after 21 months of work includes eight core principles, which I summarize here:
- How we know: climate science, interdisciplinary observations and modeling
- Climate Change: Greenhouse Gases Shape Earth’s Climate
- Causes: burning of fossil fuels and other human activities
- Impacts: threats to human life and ecological systems
- Equity: climate justice
- Adaptation: social, built, natural environment
- Mitigation: Reduce emissions, net zero by 2050
- Hope and Urgency: “A livable and sustainable future for all is possible with swift, equitable and transformative climate action.”
During Climate Week in New York, dozens of educators gathered in a basement room beneath the large marble Museum of the American Indian in midtown Manhattan to hear about the new guidance. At the front of the room stood Frank Nippold of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He has been involved in climate education within the federal government for 30 years and has been as involved as anyone in helping this effort come to life. “It’s a guide for educators, communicators and decision makers,” he said. “We’re not just talking to teachers in the classroom.”
Technically, this guide is the third edition. The first appeared in 2008, during the George W. Bush administration; it was quickly updated in 2009 when President Barack Obama took office. Then came the Trump administration and, in Nippold’s words, the mindset was, “Don’t try to do this really complicated thing at this time.” Efforts resumed after Joe Biden was elected president, a lot of new staff that came in as part of the De-Inflation Act provided input for new leadership — and now here we are.
Niepold said that since the 2000s, there has been a lot of evolution in our collective understanding of both the problem and the solutions. “The document used to be called ‘Core Principles of Climate Science Literacy,'” he said. “We knew it was too tight. We wanted something that made you act, not just an orientation to understand.”
Still, earlier editions of the document were influential: They informed the next generation of science standards, some versions of which are now used in 48 states. The previous guide was also incorporated into K-12 and college curricula and in museum and park exhibits.
With the new edition, Niepold hopes to see an even greater impact. The guidance is unusually clear and accessible for a government report. The pages are laid out like a textbook, featuring artwork that depicts some of the core themes of climate literacy – as defined in the report – such as climate justice and traditional and indigenous knowledge (the plural s is intentional).
“Success means it will activate all forms of education, all stages, in all disciplines” both outside the United States and within it, Nippold said. He wants to see more prominent NGOs take climate education as part of their remit — like Planet Ed at the Aspen Institute, where, disclosure, I’m an advisor.
Niepold would like to see community-based climate efforts take public communication and workforce development seriously, and to see media coverage promote a more complete picture of climate literacy. “The success is: People, no matter where they come from, understand (climate change) and deal with it.”
His concern is similar to that of Aisha O’Neill in Colorado: that young people currently learn about climate change primarily through the media, in a way that is not solution-oriented, emotionally supportive, or trauma-informed. “That possibility of being blindsided is high,” Nippold said. That’s why the eighth leadership principle combines urgency with hope. O’Neill said:
“Being taught about problems in a way that emphasizes solutions tells our youth that they can be part of progress and that the world is not doomed.”
Upgrading lessons to fit the moment takes time. Even in New Jersey, known as a national leader for its statewide comprehensive climate education standardsteachers share concerns about the lack of resources for implementation and training. Mary Sewell, whose organization Lyra ran a climate literacy press campaign in Colorado, said her group wants to take a grassroots, student-led approach. “We want to show demand. What the SEALs are really doing is creating an opportunity for young people to direct their own learning.”
To earn the Climate Literacy Seal, Colorado students must take at least one high school science class — which is not currently a common graduation requirement — and at least one other class that meets the principles of climate literacy. They must also participate in some type of extracurricular learning or activity. “It’s an opt-in,” said Colorado state Sen. Chris Hansen, who co-sponsored the legislation. “The state cannot tell districts what classes to offer. It’s for districts that want to have something that’s easily recognizable across the state and beyond.”
O’Neill, now a freshman at the University of Colorado Boulder, said it’s a good start. Her college student group is campaigning for new state curriculum standards. “It’s the only logical next step. she said. Although the Climate Literacy Seal promotes climate learning, “we need everyone to be educated, not just those who get out of their way.”
O’Neill thinks the students could especially use mentorship in taking climate action, something she had to figure out on her own, with a little mentoring from her debate coach and a state legislator. Planet Ed, for example, just released a Youth Handbook for Climate Action with the Nature Conservancy, which engages many areas of climate literacy, from mitigation to adaptation to equity.
“I feel like in an ideal world we would learn how climate affects every element of our lives,” O’Neill said. “Not only science, but also social justice. Political positions that created it and policies that can take us out. My goal right now is to get students to a place where they feel like they’re not terrified by the climate crisis, but empowered by it.”
Contact the editor of this story, Caroline Preston, at 212-870-8965 or preston@hechingerreport.org.
