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Climate change is not just a distant threat looming on the horizon – it is already impacting our daily lives in profound ways. One area that is particularly vulnerable to the effects of climate change is education. In a world where extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense, schools are being forced to close, students are losing valuable learning time, and the long-term impacts on society are becoming increasingly clear.

Imagine a 10-year-old in 2024 experiencing twice as many wildfires and tropical cyclones, three times more river floods, four times more crop failures, and five times more droughts over her lifetime compared to a 10-year-old in 1970. This is the harsh reality that we are facing as the planet continues to warm. Schools are being closed at an alarming rate due to extreme weather events, with infrastructure vulnerability and the use of school buildings as emergency shelters prolonging these closures.

But it’s not just the physical closures of schools that are impacting education – rising temperatures are also inhibiting learning. A day of school under extreme heat is a day in which some learning is lost. Even small increases in temperatures over time can lead to significant cumulative learning losses, especially for those in hotter regions. Students in the hottest 10 percent of Brazilian municipalities are already losing about 1 percent of learning per year due to increasing heat exposure.

Despite these catastrophic consequences, education remains largely overlooked in the climate policy agenda. Less than 1.3 percent of climate-related official development assistance in 2020 was allocated to education, and it is mentioned in less than 1 in 3 Nationally Determined Contribution plans. It is clear that urgent action is needed to protect education systems from the impacts of climate change.

Governments must act now to ensure that education can continue to be a key tool in ending poverty and promoting economic development and social cohesion. This can be achieved through education management for resilience, building school infrastructure for resilience, ensuring learning continuity in the face of climate shocks, and leveraging students and teachers as change agents. By taking concrete steps to protect education from the impacts of climate change, we can ensure that its positive impacts on society are sustained and even strengthened in the face of an uncertain future.

It is time for governments to prioritize education in their climate policy agendas and take action to protect this vital institution from the ravages of climate change. The future of our planet and our children depends on it.