Towards Climate Change-Resilient Education Systems in the Most Vulnerable Nations

Time

11:30 am - 1:00 pm (GMT+4)

About

The effects of climate change impact more severely in low- and lower-middle-income countries. Most small island nations, low-lying nations, and many African nations fall in this category and are the most vulnerable to climate change. Global warming and extreme weather events, such as cyclones, hurricanes, prolonged droughts, flooding, and heatwaves, significantly threaten food security, constrain economic growth, and fuel unplanned migration and population displacements in these nations. These factors exert enormous pressure and undermine the capacity and functionality of their inadequately resourced, fragile education systems. Education systems in these nations are characteristically weak in their response to and resilience against extreme weather conditions and the effects of climate change.

Resilient and functional education systems are imperative for ensuring universal access to quality education, supporting inclusive human capital development, and advancing progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. There is a strong correlation between the state of national education development and the capacity to effectively address and mitigate climate change. Equipping education systems with climate-resilient and responsive infrastructure, facilities, management policies, and operational frameworks is critical for timely climate change mitigation. Protecting and providing all segments of the population, including those in areas prone to extreme weather conditions, with quality education can only be achieved within climate-resilient education systems. Universal access, quality learning outcomes for all, and sustainable human development, necessary for effectively addressing climate change, can only be guaranteed within these systems.

With weak education systems, the most vulnerable nations to climate change are the weakest link in advancing global efforts to control and mitigate climate change. Enhancing the capacity and efficiency of their education systems for climate change resilience offers great potential for fast-tracking actions to achieve the Paris Agreement's goal to curtail global warming to "well below" 2°C by the end of the century and "pursue efforts" to keep warming within the safer limit of 1.5°C. There is, therefore, an urgent necessity to identify, harness, and mobilize all available and potential resources to support and facilitate the strengthening of the education systems of these most vulnerable nations for climate change resilience. These resources include funding, knowledge, expertise, and partnerships. As long as the education systems of these vulnerable nations remain weak and lack climate change resilience, the global vision and commitment to the Paris Agreement will remain at risk of not being attained. The agenda of this side event is to bring heightened focus to the education-climate nexus, its implications, and its potential for supporting the achievement of the Paris Agreement by the nations most vulnerable to climate change. The event aims to draw systematic attention from the UN, multilateral agencies, and other organizations with mandates for education development and climate change to this agenda for buy-in and operationalization.

The event will be organized and delivered through a keynote address, statements, and a moderated panel discussion involving invited key participants. The education-climate nexus will be deliberated on and analyzed for its implications, opportunities, and potential for facilitating the attainment of the Paris Agreement, particularly in the most vulnerable nations. The event will be organized as a platform to:

1. Share and disseminate knowledge, expertise, and experiences to gain greater insight into the contextual challenges of climate change and its impact on educational development.
2. Identify and document resources, including best practices, strategies, and investment opportunities, to enhance the climate resilience and functionality of education systems in the most vulnerable nations.
3. Call for action to broaden and strengthen collaboration, coordination, and partnerships for scaling up investments in climate-resilient education systems in the most vulnerable nations.

Objectives

The objective of this Side Event is to initiate conversation and facilitate engagement in charting a framework and course of action to broaden and strengthen collaboration and partnerships for:

1. Scaling up investments to support the most vulnerable nations in enhancing the capacity and resilience of their education systems and infrastructure for climate change.
2. Facilitating national capacity development in the most vulnerable nations to achieve their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
3. Accelerating progress by the most vulnerable nations toward achieving SDGs 4 and 13.

Target participants

Representatives of: 1. UN agencies with mandates for education development and climate change mitigation. 2. Multilateral organizations with mandates for education development assistance and climate change mitigation. 3. NGOs and private sector organizations with an interest in education development assistance. 4. Nations most vulnerable to climate change.

Resource speakers

Moderator

• Manos Antoninis, Director of the Global Education Monitoring (GEM), UNESCO

Speakers

• Syed Husain Quadri, Director of Resilience & Climate Change, Islamic Development Bank (IsDB)
• Luis Benveniste, Global Director of Education, World Bank (Tbc)
• Laura Frigenti, CEO, Global Partnership for Education (GPE) (Tbc)
• Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director, Education Cannot Wait (ECW) (Tbc)
• Dr. Susie Ho, Knowledge Mobilization Lead, Monitoring and Evaluating Climate Communication and Education Project (MECCE) (Tbc)
• Representative of the Republic of Pakistan (Tbc)

Agenda

1. Welcome, Introductions, and Opening Remarks by the Moderator
2. Welcome Address by the Representative of IsDB
3. Statements by the Representative of World Bank, GPE, and ECW
4. Panel Discussion
   • Luis Benveniste, Global Director of Education, World Bank (Tbc)
   • Laura Frigenti, CEO, Global Partnership for Education (Tbc)
   • Yasmine Sherif, Executive Director, ECW) (Tbc)
   • Aaron Benavot, MECCE Project, University at Albany - State University of New York (Tbc)
   • Representative of the Republic of Pakistan (Tbc)
5. Feedback and Contributions from the Audience
6. Recap of Highlights and Way Forward
7. Closing Remarks