UNESCO’s new regional studies reveal the impact of climate change on the right to education

UNESCO has released three regional reports analyzing the impacts of climate change and displacement on the right to education in the world’s climate change “hotspots”: Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, and South-Eastern Europe. The reports are part of the UNESCO initiative on The impacts of climate change and displacement on the right to education.

Past warnings from scientific communities have become reality: The effects of climate change, are no longer isolated emergencies but have become the new global norm. In 2021 alone, 23.7 million people were internally displaced due to climate-related disasters, and these numbers continue to rise each year. As a consequence, climate-displaced people, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, have their right to education compromised by direct and indirect barriers to education.

UNESCO conducted research at regional level in order to identify trends and challenges with the aim of producing policy guidance that all countries can use to ensure that the right to education for climate-displaced persons does not go unfulfilled.

The reports, based on in-depth country case studies, highlight some key findings: While the effects of climate change are similar across regions, displacement patterns vary considerably due to the specific socioeconomic characteristics of the regions and their primary work activities. Therefore, as the displacement scenarios are different from region to region, so are the barriers to education encountered in the face of climate change.

Read the full article on the UNESCO website.