Education, Girls’ Education and Climate Change

Abstract

This Emerging Issue Report (EIR) explores research and evidence on the relationship between education, girls’ education and climate change. There is scientific consensus that climate change is real, manifested through increasing temperatures, changing rainfall patterns and increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including drought, flooding and cyclones. Climate change, environmental degradation and climate vulnerability are closely linked. Climate change exacerbates environmental and land degradation, especially in areas with drylands and permafrost, river deltas and low-lying coastal areas. There is high confidence that people living in areas affected by environmental degradation are experiencing an increase in the negative effects of climate change. Gender, alongside other drivers of vulnerability and exclusion, is a key determinant of an individual’s vulnerability to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation and influences how climate change is experienced. It is estimated that at least 200 million adolescent girls living in the poorest communities face a heightened risk from the effects of climate change. Evidence and commentary on the role of education, and girls’ education, to address climate change through adaptation, resilience and mitigation is limited, albeit growing. This EIR identifies and summarises the evidence and key commentary around the following themes: links between education, particularly girls’ education, and climate change; how climate and environment matter for achieving gender equality; and why securing girls’ education is an important strategy in addressing climate change. The EIR draws on academic research and literature from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), as well as policy frameworks and grey literature, media articles and blogs from the climate, education and gender fields.

Women, girls, and climate change: Human rights, vulnerabilities, and opportunities

“…Should the educational structure be damaged or destroyed, instruction stops. However, there can be indirect and secondary impacts that can last indefinitely, such as an adolescent girl's unwillingness to attend school if sanitation and hygiene facilities are not available, the inability of the family to support the school fees or learning materials, displacement of the family and reduced capacity to learn due to malnutrition or trauma (Sims, 2021). Frequently younger women are removed from school and married off earlier after a natural disaster in developing countries (Quackenbush, 2021).…”

How do Climate Change and Environmental Degradation contribute to Violence against Children?

“…CC and ED can disrupt education in multiple ways such as: damage to infrastructure and transport links, displacement, loss of livelihoods and poverty, destruction of education facilities, or using schools as shelters (A. Anderson, 2019;Sims, 2021). For instance, the Government of Malawi mentioned in a report, that the destruction and destabilization of the education system after the 2015 floods had increased the risk of early marriage, child labour and human trafficking (Malawi Government, 2015).…”

“…There is a significant body of literature on how girls' education is affected by CC and environmental degradation (Pankhurst, 2022;Sims, 2021). Some research has focused on school drop-out; for example, a longitudinal study by the Young Lives Project led by the University of Oxford since 2001, showed that among 12,000 children across poor communities in Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam, girls are more likely to drop out of school due to the impacts of CC, such as water scarcity, floods, or other natural hazards (Porter, 2021).…”

“…The converse relationship is that girls' education might have a positive impact on CC (Sims, 2021). A study using data from 125 countries found that female education is the most important factor in reducing deaths following environmental shocks (Striessnig et al, 2013).…”

“…A study using data from 125 countries found that female education is the most important factor in reducing deaths following environmental shocks (Striessnig et al, 2013). Girls' education was associated with decreased vulnerability to natural hazards and decreased fertility leading to less pressure on resources at the individual level, greener domestic behaviours, more gender equitable schools, and women and girls contributing to the green economy and environmental programmes at the systems level (Pankhurst, 2022;Sims, 2021). However, the research on this area is limited, and the pathways between girls' schooling and CC are yet to be fully articulated (Pankhurst, 2022).…”