Ethno-Nationalism and Climate Change Education

Rising ethno-nationalism is widely seen as opposed to the cosmopolitan values that underpin global citizenship education (GCE). Climate change education (CCE) is a paradigmatic domain of GCE: a transboundary, justice-laden problem implicating rights, equity and governance across scales. This article asks how ethno-nationalist versus cosmopolitan regimes differ in their support for CCE, treating CCE as a core component of GCE encompassing cognitive, socio-emotional and behavioural learning outcomes for sustainability. I conduct a structured comparison of eleven countries using UNESCO-MECCE country profiles and policy documents. Cases were drawn from ethno-nationalist and cosmopolitan country sets identified via expert surveys, limited to those with comparable data. Six cases (Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Israel, Türkiye) were governed by more ethno-nationalist coalitions; five (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, Sweden) by more cosmopolitan coalitions. Results show systematic differences: cosmopolitan governments more often anchor CCE in sustainable-development and rights-based GCE, embed climate in curricula and teacher-support ecosystems, and link it to plural knowledge systems and democratic participation. Ethno-nationalist governments include climate in curricula but narrow it to technical or hazard frames with weaker justice and citizenship dimensions. I discuss mechanisms — legal interference, community pressure, teacher ideology, identity-protective reasoning — and implications for climate justice and education policy under polarized conditions.