A course for climate justice

The University of Cambridge is reimagining how education can drive the transformation needed to confront the climate crisis and global inequalities. 

Academics and education specialists across Cambridge are joining forces to connect classrooms, communities, and policymakers - exploring how learning can nurture justice, sustainability, and wellbeing for people, planet, and peace. 

Cambridge education benefits millions of people around the world. It stretches out from the 24,000 students taught in Cambridge to cutting edge education research and outreach across the planet. The University also operates Cambridge University Press & Assessment, which publishes academic content, creates curricula, courses and examinations for 100 million people at every stage of learning.

“Educational institutions have a responsibility to share knowledge, build capacity, and inspire young people to take positive action,” says Professor Bhaskar Vira, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education and Environmental Sustainability.   

"In an age of misinformation and growing geopolitical divisions, Cambridge is committed to this civic mission, to use knowledge and learning to sustain life on our fragile Earth, and to ensure that no one is left behind." 

 A shared agenda for climate justice 

In September 2025, education leaders from around the world met in Oxford to develop a united call for climate justice in and through education ahead of COP30. Organised by Cambridge’s Faculty of Education, Cambridge University Press & Assessment, Cambridge Zero and the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre, the event gathered policymakers, researchers, and advocates from organisations including Education International, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), the Global Partnership for Education, and Save the Children. 

Discussions—particularly focused on the Global South—produced shared principles built around five “Ps”: People, Policy, Place, Partnerships, and Peace. The framework calls for inclusive, context-specific, and evidence-based education systems that promote equity and resilience. Three priorities emerged: valuing local knowledge, generating compelling evidence to influence policy, and securing urgent funding for education and climate initiatives. 

Together, these commitments highlight the role of education as central to achieving climate justice and building sustainable, peaceful societies.

They also emphasise a need to resist the temptation to see climate education, and the cultivation of just education systems, as an issue that can be remedied by top-down or one-size-fits-all models. In line with wider research on education for sustainable development, the approach presents effective strategies for promoting climate justice in and through education as situated in people’s lived experiences, often emphasising those of the least advantaged and most marginalised first.

Against this background Professor Hilary Cremin, Head of the Faculty of Education, argues in a new book that meaningful climate and social action requires a transformation of education itself. In Rewilding Education, Cremin calls for “long-term, radical change” that balances academic achievement with social, emotional, and ecological learning. This vision aligns with the Faculty’s mission to build education systems that support human flourishing and planetary wellbeing—rooted in empathy, justice, and sustainability.

Understanding climate change in India and Pakistan 

That mission is reflected in research by Professor Nidhi Singal and Dr Camilla Hadi Chaudhary, who are studying how Indian secondary students understand climate change in partnership with Cambridge University Press and Assessment India and funded by the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Early findings reveal strong concern about afforestation, pollution, and waste, but also highlight the need for education that empowers action as well as awareness. 

"Education must play a role not just in helping young people understand and learn about climate change, but in equipping them to act on it - turning awareness into real solutions for their communities," Professor Singal said.  

The project complements Cambridge University Press & Assessment’s Climate Quest initiative, which has reached 14,000 learners and is expanding across India and Pakistan to reach tens of thousands more. 

Growing Climate Resilience in Rwanda

In Rwanda, Professor Ricardo Sabates is collaborating with the University of Rwanda, the Mastercard Foundation, and Cambridge’s Climate Resilience and Sustainability Research Fund on One Child, One Tree (OCOT), an initiative that promotes tree planting and environmental education in schools. The project shows how simple, community-driven interventions can foster both climate resilience and psychosocial wellbeing among young learners.

The Faculty also supports the FCDO’s Rwanda Learning and Inclusion for Transformation (LIFT) programme, studying how droughts and floods affect children’s learning and how schools can adapt so that no child is left behind. 

Hip Hop and Green Jobs in Senegal

In Senegal, Dr Noella Binda Niati and Dr Sokhna Rosalie Ndiaye are using creative culture to inspire climate action. Their project with the youth organisation Guediawaye Hip-Hop, supported by the Mastercard Foundation, explores how music and participatory learning can help young people access training and employment in the green economy — addressing both unemployment and environmental degradation.

Youth Voices on Green Employment Across Africa

“In Search of Green Jobs: Voices of (Unheard) Young People”, a project led by Professor Bhaskar Vira and Professor Pauline Rose, has gathered evidence from Ethiopia, Ghana, South Africa, and Uganda on young people’s aspirations and challenges in finding sustainable work. Funded by the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Programme, the research calls for new approaches to skills training, awareness, and gender equity in green jobs.
Read more: www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/youthvoicesgreenjobs

“Ensuring equity in access to education and skills training can help all young people, regardless of their background, to secure decent green jobs that benefit their own future and the future of the planet,” says Rose. 

Partnering with policymakers at COP 

At COP30, Cambridge University Press & Assessment will convene global partners to showcase how education can drive more effective climate action. Sessions will focus on building climate literacy and future skills to counter misinformation, and on how education can be better financed within national and global climate plans—ensuring investment in the people and systems that underpin resilience. These discussions aim to position education as essential to sustainable, human-centred climate solutions.

Last year at COP29, Cambridge University Press & Assessment and the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) launched the Greening Education Policy Recommendations Framework alongside ministers of education and representatives from the World Bank, UNESCO, and the Islamic Development Bank. 

Adopted by all 53 ICESCO member states, the framework provides a roadmap for integrating climate considerations across education systems through four pillars: greening curricula, schools, teachers, and communities. Cambridge and ICESCO are now working with policymakers through regional workshops to translate these commitments into national reforms that embed climate resilience and strengthen education systems.

Strengthening climate action 

Through innovation, collaboration, and a renewed purpose, Cambridge researchers and education professionals are helping to shape a global movement—one that empowers learners to live wisely, act justly, and care deeply for one another and for the planet.