Rewired Summit: The Role of Education in Building a Climate-Resilient Development in the 21st Century

In the context of the RewirEd Summit, GCA will organize a forty-five-minute High-Level event on adaptation education consisting of high-level remarks, a roundtable, and a ministerial dialogue. The event will bring together global leaders representing governments, international organizations, teachers and young people.

Event description

Adaptation Education as a Pillar for Climate Resilience
Climate change is reshaping the world that young people are due to inherit. Climate impacts are unevenly weighted against the most vulnerable, with young people from developing countries disproportionately bearing the brunt of climate breakdown. According to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, “increasing education including capacity building, climate literacy, and information can facilitate heightened risk perception and accelerate behavioural changes and planning.”

Climate breakdown is a key barrier for young people to access quality education. A wide range of climate impacts have a negative effect on education systems, educators, and learner outcomes. GCA’s flagship report State and Trends in Adaptation 2022 shows that climate crisis has both direct and indirect effects on young people’s learning. This includes damage to infrastructure and learning environments, reduced readiness to teach and learn, and disruption of access to education due to climate-related migration and displacement.

Education is a key adaptation solution and a building block of adaptive capacity. UNICEF estimates that improving educational outcomes could mitigate climate risks for 275 million children worldwide. More education is correlated with enhanced adaptive capacity and reduced climate vulnerability. With more education, young people can better respond to climate shocks. Education also helps build a breadth of green skills to fuel a just transition for adaptation and resilience.

RewirEd Summit 2023: High-Level Panel on Adaptation Education
At COP28, Dubai Cares will host the RewirEd Summit 2023 on the ‘Youth, Children, Education and Skills’ day. The Summit aims to position education as a key enabler for a transformational change. The Summit will mark the announcement of the Global Education Solutions Accelerator, a mechanism that will bring together global actors to address national priorities and strategies while disrupting, rethinking and rewiring education systems.

Objectives

• Champion adaptation education and capacity-building for transformative adaptation solutions.
• Mobilize action for education transformation from global actors, in line with the objectives of the Global Education Solutions Accelerator.
• Make programmatic announcements on adaptation education, including the launch of the Arabic version of the GCA ‘Toolkit for Youth on Adaptation & Leadership’.

Guiding questions

• What is the role of adaptation education and multistakeholder partnerships in preparing the new generation of leaders for adaptation action?
• How can governments from vulnerable countries and international organizations scale up transformative education solutions to foster adaptive capacity?
• What are the priorities to empower young people to unleash their full potential and drive adaptation jobs and skills to foster prosperity for people and the planet?
• How can the Global Education Solutions Accelerator support vulnerable countries, and what other partnerships can the Accelerator unlock?