UNESCO has released three regional reports analyzing the impacts of climate change and displacement on the right to education in the world’s climate change “hotspots”: Asia and the Pacific, Latin America, and South-Eastern Europe.
The reports are part of the UNESCO initiative on The impacts of climate change and displacement on the right to education.
Past warnings from scientific communities have become reality: The effects of climate change, are no longer isolated emergencies but have become the new global norm. In 2021 alone, 23.7 million people were internally displaced due to climate-related disasters, and these numbers continue to rise each year.
As a consequence, climate-displaced people, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized groups, have their right to education compromised by direct and indirect barriers to education.
UNESCO conducted research at regional level in order to identify trends and challenges with the aim of producing policy guidance that all countries can use to ensure that the right to education for climate-displaced persons does not go unfulfilled.
The reports, based on in-depth country case studies, highlight some key findings: While the effects of climate change are similar across regions, displacement patterns vary considerably due to the specific socioeconomic characteristics of the regions and their primary work activities.
Therefore, as the displacement scenarios are different from region to region, so are the barriers to education encountered in the face of climate change.
Despite regional differences, several common barriers to education become clear upon comparison:
Sudden-onset disasters and school disruptions: In all the countries studied, sudden-onset disasters resulted in the destruction or damage of schools, which, combined with the fact that schools are often used as emergency shelters, leads to school disruption.
Poverty – existing and exacerbated: The regional reports show that climate change has a strong potential to induce or increase poverty. Lack of financial resources reduces displaced people ability to invest in education-related expenses (school fees, cost of school materials…), which hinders their access to quality education.
Language barriers: When displaced because of climate change, whether internationally or internally, students may be forced to attend school in a language they do not understand or that is not their mother tongue. These language barriers play an important role in their access to and success in education.
Accumulation of human mobility flows: The countries studied are already confronted with large flows of rural migrants coming to settle in the cities, as well as refugees fleeing political violence or persecution in their home countries. Faced with these additional flows of climate displaced people, schools may find themselves unable to accommodate all the students, either due to lack of classroom space or lack of teachers.
Lack of coordinated policy and response: Almost none of the countries surveyed have a policy that specifically and explicitly focuses on the right to education for people displaced by climate change.
The policy barrier: The concept of climate displacement remains invisible in national policies in almost all the regions studied. The lack of legal or political recognition makes it difficult to develop targeted actions and legal rights for climate-displaced people – including the right to education.
In order to address both the common barriers to education as well as the regional specificities, it is essential that action taken be intersectoral and multi-faceted.
To make this happen, operational recommendations for policy-makers are provided and UNESCO will continue to advocate for the pursuit of SDG 4 for all, amidst climate change and climate displacement.
These reports will contribute to the development of a Global Report which will be published by the end of 2023.