The Impact of Climate Change on Education

Climate change-fuelled extreme weather events are disrupting education through school closures, heat stress, and other indirect factors such as migration - trends that will continue even under optimistic climate scenarios. Yet, the cumulative long-term consequences of such disruptions are being overlooked. The first half of this paper details how climate change impacts education systems, and the second half lays out four urgent mitigation strategies. These strategies include 1) education management for resilience; 2) school infrastructure for resilience; 3) ensuring learning continuity in the face of climate shocks; and 4) leveraging students and teachers as change agents. For each mitigation strategy, the paper offers an actionable agenda along with examples. While this resource was created for policymakers in government, it is also relevant to businesses seeking to ensure the resilience of the communities where they operate. In particular, sustainability, community relations, and risk teams.