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This month sees two events with significance for climate change and sustainability education. The first is , the annual meeting of world leaders (whose countries signed the original United Nations climate agreement in 1992) to discuss progress and negotiate actions in response to climate change. This year the meeting takes place during 10–21 November in Belém, Brazil in the Amazon rainforest, with thematic days focused on education (12–13 November) and children and youth (17–18 November).

The second event is the publication on 5 November of the final report of England’s , led by Professor Becky Francis. This outlines the place of climate change and sustainability education in the national curriculum, described by Professor Francis as: ‘An entitlement to the most important knowledge that we expect children and young people to learn, both for their benefit and for the benefit of the nation.’ (DfE, 2025, p. 5).

While the world continues to wrestle with complex interrelated (such as global warming, biodiversity loss, pollution, fossil fuel dependency), education has long-been understood as a vital part of our response to these challenges (Reid, 2019). Here we provide some initial reflections on the ways in which the CAR articulates a national curriculum which realises the universal right of all children and young people to an education that enables them to flourish in the future.

Strengthening the place of climate (change) and sustainability in the national curriculum

It is really encouraging that the CAR continues the relatively recent increase in policy attention given to climate change and sustainability across the education system, building on the strategy published in 2022 under the previous government (DfE, 2022). In the latest report (which explicitly acknowledges the ‘climate crisis’ (see DfE, 2025, pp. 34 & 40)), climate change and sustainability education is recognised as one of five areas of applied knowledge and skills which require particular attention if the curriculum is to ‘prepare learners for a changing world’ (DfE, 2025, p. 34). The review recognises our previous research (see Greer et al., 2023) which underlined that teachers in England experience the national curriculum as a barrier to realising climate change and sustainability education (see DfE, 2025, pp. 40–41). Opportunities to strengthen climate change and sustainability education highlighted by the review include:

• ‘Bolster the presence of climate education and sustainability in the Science and Geography curricula’
• ‘Emphasise sustainability in the D&T (Design and Technology) curriculum’
• ‘Earlier sequencing and refreshed content in Geography, Science and D&T’ (DfE, 2025, p. 41).

While we welcome these recommendations, which go some way to address the concerns articulated by some teachers in England (Rushton & Walshe, 2025), we also note that they do not extend to integrating climate change and sustainability education across the curriculum, including core subjects such as English and mathematics. Furthermore, whilst the review has taken a ‘social justice lens’ (DfE, 2025, p. 28) we note that ideas of and climate change and sustainability education are minimally expressed.

‘While we welcome the review’s recommendations … we note that they do not extend to integrating climate change and sustainability education across the curriculum, including core subjects such as English and mathematics.’

The importance of pedagogy

We further highlight that the CAR recognises that, ‘pedagogy has an important role in applying an engaging climate lens to existing curriculum content’ (DfE, 2025, p. 41). This acknowledgement of pedagogy is important as our recent research with teachers and young people aged 11–14 in England underlines that while students were able to articulate different pedagogical approaches to improve the teaching of climate change and sustainability, teachers were more focused on the types of support they needed in their roles (Walshe & Rushton, 2025).

While this is a relatively fleeting reference, we believe that it provides a significant source of hope for the future direction of climate change and sustainability education in England. This hope will only be fully realised if teachers in schools and other educational settings have the time and support to engage in high-quality professional learning which both builds knowledge and understanding of climate change and sustainability, and develops their confidence to implement a range of pedagogical approaches which engage all children and young people (Greer et al., 2025; Walshe & Rushton, 2025).

As the CAR report continues to be read and the recommendations considered by government, school leaders, teachers, subject associations, researchers and other stakeholder groups, we are reminded of the advocacy of children and young people worldwide for change in the ways we live and learn on our planet. As world leaders gather in Belém, it is our hope that education systems across the world will be empowered to work together to transform emerging signs of hope into just and equitable responses to the urgent challenges of climate-altered futures.

This blog post is based on the article ‘Understanding teacher agency in the context of school-based climate change and sustainability education: A case study of the experiences of teachers and school students in England’ by Nicola Walshe and Elizabeth Rushton, published in the British Educational Research Journal.

References

Department for Education [DfE]. (2022). Sustainability and climate change strategy.

Department for Education [DfE]. (2025). Curriculum and Assessment Review final report: Building a  world-class curriculum for all.

Greer, K., Sheldrake, R., Rushton, E. A. C., Kitson, A., Hargreaves, E., Walshe, N. (2023). Teaching climate change and sustainability: A survey of teachers in England. University College London.

Greer, K., Kitson, A., Rushton, E. A. C., Walshe, N., & Dillon, J. (2025). Teaching climate change and sustainability in England: Committed individuals and the prevalence of ‘self-taught’ professional learning. Professional Development in Education. Advance online publication.

Reid, A. (2019). Climate change education and research: possibilities and potentials versus problems and perils?. Environmental Education Research,Ìý25(6), 767-790.

Walshe, N., & Rushton, E. A. C. (2025). Understanding teacher agency in the context of school-based climate change and sustainability education: A case study of the experiences of teachers and school students in England. British Educational Research Journal. Advance online publication.