Reimagining curriculum in the climate emergency: An urgent educational imperative

The climate crisis presents a troubling existential challenge for future generations, yet formal education continues to marginalise its significance and urgency. As extreme weather events intensify and scientific warnings grow ever more urgent (IPCC, 2022), the fragility of the natural world is no longer a distant concern but an immediate reality for children and young people. Political regression in global climate commitments, such as the United States’ withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and the UK Government’s proposal to build a further runway at Heathrow airport, further undermine a commitment to, and collective action for the climate emergency. These actions send a troubling message to young people already burdened by climate anxiety (Sansen, Van Hoorne & Burke, 2019). Despite growing evidence and concerns around the climate crisis, the UK education system remains largely preoccupied with economic priorities, neglecting the deeper existential and ethical dimensions of the crisis. Environmental education continues to be relegated to the curriculum’s margins, failing to acknowledge children and young people's anxieties, sense of security, and hopes for the future. By continuing to overlook these concerns, education risks failing to ‘prepare young people for life’ (DfE, 2024, np).