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Big changes confirmed in UAE schools as Eco Education Hits UAE: 50% of UAE schools must ‘go green’ by December, say MOE officials in landmark COP28 ruling
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The UAE has committed to a landmark sustainability roadmap which will have radical and  wide-ranging implications for schools, educators, families and students across the UAE.

The commitment will see:

  • new eco-friendly curricula being rolled out in all UAE schools;
  • 100% of school Principals being trained in environmental issues; and,
  • at least 50% of UAE schools being signed up to a green accreditation program by the time the UAE hosts COP28 in December 2023.

The announcement was made by the UAE’s Ministry of Education (MOE) this week.

The MOE has partnered with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to devise a cross-curriculum ‘eco-education’ framework that covers all 23 curricula within the UAE and spans all age groups, ensuring that students at all levels are exposed to sustainable development concepts, ministers announced at a press conference in Abu Dhabi on 25 April. The International Renewable Energy Agency has serious global muscle:

“The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) is a lead global intergovernmental agency for energy transformation that serves as the principal platform for international cooperation, supports countries in their energy transitions, and provides state of the art data and analyses on technology, innovation, policy, finance and investment. IRENA drives the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms of renewable energy, including bioenergy, geothermal, hydropower, ocean, solar and wind energy in the pursuit of sustainable development, energy access, and energy security, for economic and social resilience and prosperity and a climate-proof future.

IRENA’s membership comprises 167 countries and the EU.”

The plan is for the UAE;s Ministry of education to roll out this framework alongside a comprehensive five-day sustainability training program for all UAE school Principals, as well as selected staff and student leaders.

The plan has been developed in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and The Office for Climate Education (OCE).

GEMS_INARTICLE  

  • UNICEF was originally known as the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund but today known as the United Nations Children’s Fund. It is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide. The agency is among the most widespread and recognizable social welfare organizations in the world, with a presence in 192 countries and territories. UNICEF is the successor of the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund, created on 11 December 1946, in New York.
  • The Office for Climate Change was created in 2018 at the initiative of La main à la pâte Foundation and the scientific community to directly address Climate Change and prioritise this through work education systems worldwide. This requirement to address Climate Change through the world’s education systems was laid down in Article 12 of the Paris Agreement.

Beyond this, the Ministry of Education, in partnership with The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the University Task Force, is “developing a School and University Engagement model to promote sustainability in communities.” This will see each emirate having “its own unique approach to engage schools and universities in promoting sustainable development.”

These initiatives and others will be championed at the first ever Education Pavilion to be held at a Conference of the Parties (COP), when Expo City Dubai will host delegates and government leaders from around the world as they talk about the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at COP28 from 30 November – 12 December 2023.

Read more about UAE leadership of COP28 – and what we can expect, here.

The Roadmap

The roadmap for UAE schools covers a broad spectrum of high impact environment-and-climate-friendly initiatives that the MoE aims to achieve by the start of COP28 and afterwards:

  • The MoE will transform 50% of all the UAE’s schools and campuses to be green accredited
  • The MoE will provide training to more than 2,400 educators and 1,400 principals.
  • The Ministry will launch the “Children’s Voice” initiative, under which Children Champions in the country will be offered training opportunities to exercise their right to participate in decision-making related to their environmental future.
  • Under the “Educator’s Voice” initiative, the MoE will highlight the key role of educators in raising awareness about climate change and combatting its repercussions.
  • The MoE will collaborate with UNESCO to establish a United Nations Multi-Partner Trust Fund (MPTF) for Greening Education, to which the UAE will act as a champion country, including developing the Terms of Reference for the Fund among the MPTF partners and working towards its capitalisation. Both parties will also raise awareness among learners about the importance of safeguarding oasis systems in the Arab world as cultural and natural eco-systems.

Through the MoE’s commitment to achieving the Green Education Partnership goals, the ministry will work across four pillars, namely:

  • Greening Schools
  • Greening Learning
  • Greening Capacity; and,
  • Greening Communities.

The Leaders driving Education in Climate Change across UAE schools

COP28 part of revolution in education across UAE Schools according to His Excellency Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi, UAE Minister for Education

COP28 is an integral part of a Climate Change revolution in education to be rolled out across UAE Schools according to His Excellency Dr Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi (pictured above), UAE Minister for Education. With the initiatives announced today the MOE further solidifies the role of the United Arab Emirates as a leading and pioneering global voice in addressing Climate Change in education.

At the press conference announcing the MOE’s sustainability roadmap for UAE schools on the run-up to COP28, His Excellency Dr. Ahmad Belhoul Al Falasi Minister of Education said:

“Individual behaviours toward climate change are still the key to making a real impact, and with that comes the significant role of education in shifting minds, actions, and attitudes about the environment today, and in the future. At the Ministry of Education, we have a critical role to play to advance the role of education in addressing climate change, by building environment-friendly curricula and schools and training educators to build sustainable green communities.

“The UAE’s hosting of COP28 presents another opportunity to highlight the country’s efforts in this field and mobilise international efforts to include green education within educational systems in the region and the world.”

Pictured (left centre) Her Excellency Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, , with HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Centre right), ruler of Dubai, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates.

Her Excellency Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, Minister of Community Development, Vice Chairman of the Arab Youth Centre, and COP28 Youth Climate Champion, pictured with HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Centre right), ruler of Dubai, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence of the United Arab Emirates. A globally recognised, and powerful, voice for young people, Her Excellency, originally appointed as the UAE Minister of State for Youth Affairs in 2016, was the youngest government ministerial appointment to have been made anywhere in the world.

Commenting on the launch of the Green Education Partnership Roadmap, Her Excellency Shamma bint Suhail Faris Al Mazrui, Minister of Community Development, Vice Chairman of the Arab Youth Centre, and COP28 Youth Climate Champion, said:

“Today, we equip our children and young people with the foundations of environmental education for them to build a safer future and make our world a better place. As such, our wise leadership pays great attention to educating young people and establishing a love of the land in their hearts so they can be tomorrow’s forerunners of environmental action.”

The roadmap includes the UAE Green Education Partnership, a key initiative aimed at enhancing the role of education in achieving sustainable development goals and including the climate agenda in the UAE’s educational system (see above).

During the press conference, the MoE signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and an MoU with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) to advance climate education and action among children and youth in the lead-up, at and after COP28.

The MoE also announced that it is designing the first Education Pavilion in the history of COP.

The UAE announced the Green Education Partnership (GEP) at a press conference on 25 April 2023

“The Climate Crisis is a Crisis of Children’s Rights”

Mr. Salah Khaled, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen, said that UNESCO is pleased to announce the collaboration with the Ministry of Education in the UAE to mobilise commitment on climate change and education at the forthcoming COP28. UNESCO will support the organisation of a high-level advocacy meeting with member states’ leaders on the role of education to tackle the climate crisis and convene the first co-creation meeting of the Greening Education Partnership (GEP) Multi-Partner Trust Fund. The Greening Education Partnership (GEP) was launched last year at the Transforming Education Summit with a specific focus on tackling climate change, one of the most pressing challenges of our time.

Mr. Salah Khaled, Director of the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen said:

“UNESCO will work closely with the Ministry in co-designing the first Education Pavilion in the history of COP together with the Greening Education Partnership (GEP). Finally, UNESCO will collaborate with the Ministry on raising awareness of educators and learners about the importance of safeguarding oases, an exceptional eco-system and observatory of climate change, that is a common feature throughout several Arab countries.”

Ms. Jumana Haj-Ahmad, UNICEF Gulf Deputy Representative, said:

 “We look forward to a strategic partnership that aims to provide children and young people with climate education and green skills, which are crucial to help them adapt to and prepare for the impacts of climate change.”

At UNICEF we see the climate crisis as a crisis of children’s rights. Nearly every child around the world is exposed to climate and environmental hazards. Children and young people will face the full devastating consequences of the climate crisis, water insecurity, and other disasters which they had little to no hand in causing. Therefore, our duty towards all young people and future generations is to involve them in all negotiations and decision-making processes related to climate change at the national, regional and international levels.”

Have your say

Do you think UAE schools need to take sustainability more seriously? Would you agree with your school going vegan to promote sustainability? Contact me at [email protected]. You can read our article asking whether UAE schools should be doing more here: “Is it time the UAE took meat off the menu to save the planet?”

Further Information

See the full roadmap for the UAE’s Green Education here:

Press Conference GEP APR 2023 Final On Day

© SchoolsCompared.com. A WhichMedia Group publication. 2023. All rights reserved.

About The Author
Tabitha Barda
Tabitha Barda is the Senior Editor of SchoolsCompared.com. Oxbridge educated and an award winning journalist in the UAE for more than a decade, Tabitha is one of the region's shining lights in all that is education in the emirates. A mum herself, she is passionate about helping parents - and finding the stories in education that deserve telling. She is responsible for the busy 24x7 News Desk, our Advisory Boards and Specialist Panels - and Parents United's WHICHPlaydates - a regular meeting place for UAE parents to discuss the issues that matter to them, make friends and network with others. You can often find Tabitha too on Parents United - our Facebook community board, discussing the latest schools and education issues with our parent community in the UAE - and beyond.

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