NEW YORK, Sept. 24 — “I am honoured to join the UNICEF Leading Minds Fellowship on Climate Education and to contribute to its vital work for children and young people at this crucial moment,” said Andrea Koehle Jones, Children’s Environmental Education Advocate, Author, and Climate Journalist. “Today, education systems are still failing to prepare young people for the climate crisis, leaving more than one billion children at extreme risk.”
Inclusive and transformative climate education opportunities empower children and youth to understand, respond to, and lead solutions to the climate crisis. It nurtures knowledge, skills, values, and agency across both formal and informal learning spaces.
Building on its history of protecting children, UNICEF is uniquely positioned to prepare and protect children from the climate emergency by advancing climate education as both a fundamental right, as outlined in General Comment No. 26, and a catalyst for systemic change.
The UNICEF Leading Minds Fellowship on Climate Education prioritizes the safe, meaningful, and inclusive participation of children and young people in decision-making processes at every level. Echoing this commitment, Ms. Koehle Jones said, ‘There is nothing I wouldn’t do to help safeguard and prepare children for the challenges of an ever-changing world.’