Abstract
Bangladesh is one of the most affected countries by climate change and extremely vulnerable to environmental degradation. Young people, as the new generation, need to understand the consequences of climate change and its impact on their lives and the lives of their fellow citizens. This chapter presents the findings from a systematic evaluation of Bangladeshi school curriculum, and how it prepares the future generation for climate change adaptation and ensures a sustainable future for them. This chapter highlights the recommendations from the findings and suggests how the national curriculum could address climate change mitigation and adaptation for sustainability by providing contents to offer grounding for the young people as global citizens to act in the local context. Although there is some content included in the school textbooks related to climate change and sustainable development issues, there is a need for inclusion of more relevant contents in the national school curriculum so that school textbooks provide enough contents on climate change, its mitigation and adaptation.
Top1. Introduction
Climate change is one of the most complex issues humanity is facing at the present time. It has many dimensions including scientific, economic, social, political and environmental (UNESCO, 2002, UNESCO, 2010), which have raised many moral, ethical and legal questions. While it is a global problem, every nation must come forward to tackle climate change on local scales. Bangladesh is an extremely vulnerable and affected country concerning climate change. It is one of the densely populated countries in the world. Its population massively suffers from global warming and becomes victims of environmental degradation, which destroys many people's livelihood as a result of climate change.
The most threatening global environmental problem is climate change while being a considerable political and scientific controversy in the present time (Singer & Seitz, 1998). However, it affects the economy, culture, and society (UNESCO, 2002; UNESCO, 2010). The Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) mainly concerns about climate change education (CCE), training and public awareness to mitigate the impacts of climate change and ensure a sustainable future. These aspects of learning have great importance to building capacity within society, especially among the young people, and for the activists working on climate justice (YOUNGO, 2011).
Climate change refers to ‘‘the alterations in the atmosphere that are over and above natural climate variation and that are a result of human activity’’ (Makrakis, Larios and Kaliantzi, 2012, p.55). In response to climate change, there are the two main strategies that are followed by policy-makers and practitioners: i) climate change mitigation (CCM) that addresses the root causes of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and ii) climate change adaptation (CCA) which seeks to lower the risks posed by the consequences of climatic changes. However, the concept of CCA generally refers to human responses to global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) defines ‘climate change adaptation’ as ‘'the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate and its effects. In human systems, adaptation seeks to moderate or avoid harm or exploit beneficial opportunities. In some natural systems, human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate and its effects'’ (IPCC, 2014). That means in reality through appropriate actions or by taking the appropriate measures that may arise from the process, the effects of climate change could be prevented or mitigated. It has been shown that well planned early adaptation action saves the environment, lives and money in the longer term (Global Commission on Adaptation, 2019). Both strategies are necessary (and inter-linked) because even if emissions are dramatically decreased in the next decade, adaptation still needs to deal with the global changes that have already been set in motion.
According to the IPCC, there are three main factors which determine vulnerability to climate change. These are ‘exposure to hazards (such as reduced rainfall), sensitivity to those hazards (such as an economy dominated by rain-fed agriculture), and the capacity to adapt to those hazards (for example, whether farmers have the money or skills to grow more drought-resistant crops)’ (Loria, 2018, Online). However, adaptation measures can help reduce vulnerability, for instance, by lowering sensitivity or building adaptive capacity and allowing populations to benefit from opportunities of climatic changes.
Climate change impacts many arenas such as ecosystem and species survival, human health, water, energy and food supplies, including their production and usage, and social, economic, political and cultural stability. Thus, it is significantly affecting the vulnerable populations of the world, mostly from developing countries. In those countries, people suffer from inequalities and exclusions due to their age, gender, location, ethnicity and economic conditions (Agostino, 2010). Although there are disagreements about the consequences of unchecked threats, scientific evidence suggests that global warming is happening and climate change became evident in everyday life (Houghton et al., 1996).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Sustainable Development Goals: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are a set of goals adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. The purposes of these goals are to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030. These 17 interlinked goals aim for achieving a better and more sustainable future for all.
Climate Change: Changes happen in nature and physical environment due to carbon dioxide increase at atmospheric because of using fossil fuels and cause global warming. As a result, there is a change in climate patterns globally and regionally. The change in climate patterns is called climate change.
Global Citizenship: Global citizenship is a notion that encourages the idea of citizenship beyond political or geographical identity. It is based on moral and ethical responsibilities related to the universal rights of humankind to live in peace and harmony in the global village where interdependence and interconnectedness are intertwined, and sustainable and fairer living must be practiced.
Sustainability: Sustainability means meeting the needs of current demand without compromising the needs of future generations. It is the ability to exist continually without harming the ecological harmony of the earth. The biosphere and humankind can co-exist and which has three dimensions, namely social, economic and environmental.
School Curriculum: School curriculum is the curriculum which dictates the academic activities at the school level. In general, the curriculum means the courses offered by a school or any educational institution. However, in the broader sense, the totality of experiences an individual has throughout the schooling process including a planned sequence of instruction or a view of the student's experiences in terms of the educator's or school's instructional goals.
Climate Change Adaptation: Climate change adaptation means adapting to lifestyles and livelihood due to climate change. It requires adjusting to present ongoing changes in climate and preparing for expected future climate. The main reason for climate change adaptation is to reduce vulnerability due to the harmful effects of climate change.
Young People: The term ‘young people’ refers to the older children who better understand their worlds or their surroundings. They are more experienced and able to make the decisions for themselves.
Climate Justice: Climate justice is the notion which emphasizes action against global warming as an ethical and political issue, rather than an environmental or physical issue related to nature. The central part of climate justice involves legal action by the growing global body and supporting the activist against climate change issues.
Climate Change Mitigation: Climate change mitigation is the efforts that reduce or prevent greenhouse gas emissions. Actions for mitigation include using renewable energies and energy-efficient technologies, following the circular economy, and changing consumer behavior.
Education for Sustainable Development: Education for sustainable development (ESD) is defined as the educating process that encourages changes in knowledge, values, attitudes and skills to enable a more sustainable and just society for all. ESD encourages and empowers individuals for informed decision making and acts considerately for social justice by taking care of environmental integrity, economic viability, for present and future generations.
Climate Change Education: Climate change education is a process through which different issues related to climate change incorporated in the learning process using diverse pedagogical approaches in informal, nonformal and formal educational programs. It increases awareness of global warming and the importance of living a sustainable life.