BRACE and CSESI– Why Do They Matter?

The Building the Climate Resilience of Children and Communities through the Education Sector (BRACE) project is a breakthrough initiative, placing education as a focus of Green Climate Fund (GCF) funding for the first time. Established at COP28 in Dubai, BRACE is primarily co-funded by a US$32 million grant from the GCF and a US$8 million grant from the Global Partnership for Education (GPE). Save the Children Australia supports the implementation of the project in South Sudan, Tonga, and Cambodia 

The Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative (CSESI) is a technical assistance initiative launched in March 2023, with GPE funding of US$21 million including a US$5mln contribution from Japan. It provides advice, supports collaboration between ministries, and builds capacity, including through safety drills for students before floods. Both initiatives connect climate finance with education and focus on strengthening the resilience of school infrastructure and education systems.

Share of funding between BRACE and CSESI based on UNFCCC summary of Building Climate Smart Education Systems (Global Partnership for Education (2026). Climate-smart education systems initiative, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Available here)

How Is Education Connected to Climate Finance?

The connection between natural hazards, school infrastructure, and education performance is critical to both initiatives.

BRACE combines financing from the climate change and education sectors to strengthen education systems against climate change and protect learning for millions of children. It is the first GCF-funded initiative focused on the education sector. Outcome 1 aims to ensure that “the education sector at national and sub-national levels in targeted countries is more resilient to the impacts of climate change.”

In Malawi, the impact of floods on school infrastructure provided the basis for GPE to support the country through technical assistance. Malawi is among the world’s most climate-vulnerable countries, ranked 26th by the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index (2023). Since 2010, Malawi has experienced 16 major floods, affecting around 100,000 people annually, including students.

The experiences of Cambodia and Malawi demonstrate how countries affected by climate change can access finance and technical assistance to strengthen school infrastructure, education systems, and climate awareness among students.

Scaling Up Funding for Education

Both projects introduce innovative approaches to helping countries access international funding for education. The GCF, GPE, Save the Children, and OECD are developing mechanisms that can help address the current gap between climate finance and education.

Mapping Climate Finance

A key BRACE activity is mapping and tracking global climate finance opportunities for education. This includes the GCF, Adaptation Fund (AF), and Global Environment Facility (GEF), as well as bilateral donors, the private sector, and philanthropies. Results will be presented through the BRACE coordination platform knowledge management site for policymakers in Tonga, Cambodia, and South Sudan.

According to GCF, the roadmap guides ministries in identifying and prioritising climate-smart education investments, aligning them with national education priorities, and matching them with appropriate financing mechanisms and actors. It also identifies gaps in climate finance for education and provides recommendations for financial instruments to support investment needs.

Education in the OECD Climate Finance Tracking System

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Development Assistance Committee (DAC) climate finance tracking system will better reflect the role of education in addressing climate change. BRACE will support adjustments to international climate finance reporting to capture dual-benefit investments in climate and education, particularly for adaptation.

This is an important step towards increasing international investment in both education and climate action. According to the World Bank, only 1.5% of climate finance goes to education. Better tracking of education’s contribution to climate adaptation could therefore support increased investment in initiatives such as BRACE and CSESI.

Collaboration Between Ministries

In Malawi, GPE and Save the Children fostered collaboration between the Ministry of Education and ministries responsible for climate and land. Coordination between ministries is often an obstacle to scaling up climate finance for education. However, CSESI contributed to the inclusion of education in Malawi’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP).

“No single ministry can address the education challenges posed by climate change alone. Our collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change and the Department of Disaster Management Affairs demonstrates the power of shared commitment and coordination.“

– Rachel Chimbwete Phiri of Malawi’s Ministry of Education

Similarly, BRACE supports Ministries of Education in coordinating with climate change ministries and engaging in NAP processes, while also facilitating knowledge sharing between the participating countries.

How Did NDCs and NAPs Support Climate Finance for Education?

Component 2 of BRACE supports countries in integrating education into NAP and NDC processes. The inclusion of climate education in NDCs or NAPs was therefore not a requirement, but a result of the initiatives. Similarly, the inclusion of education in Malawi’s NAP resulted from CSESI.

Both initiatives demonstrate the potential to integrate education into national climate planning. In Cambodia, NDC 3.0 mentions education 70 times.

Cambodia’s Price Tag for Climate Education

To effectively bring climate finance to education, countries and multilateral institutions need to establish clear financial requirements. Cambodia has estimated the cost of education and awareness in its NDC at US$96 million (NDC 3.0, p. 65).

This makes the US$40 million in BRACE funding for all three countries appear relatively small. However, the price tag represents a long-term strategy, while BRACE contributes to building the capacities described in the Cambodian NDC. Its broader aim of scaling up finance for participating countries could help Cambodia move towards its longer-term financial needs for education.

Progress on climate education NDCs commitments in each country can be accessed through the Climate Education NDCs Tracker managed by EARTHDAY.ORG.

Schools as Indicators of NAP Processes

The NAP process is also considered a co-benefit indicator of BRACE. Increased locally led adaptation is measured through the percentage of target schools contributing to the NAP process through civil society and public dialogues, with a target of 70% of schools across the three countries. This provides direct evidence that the education sector is expected to actively participate in national adaptation planning.

Future of Finance for Education

The experiences of Malawi and Cambodia demonstrate that education can access funding and technical assistance from institutions such as the GCF. BRACE goes further by supporting curriculum development, teacher training, climate finance tracking, and school infrastructure.

The next step is for more countries to follow the examples of Malawi and Cambodia and unlock greater finance for education to strengthen resilience. This call should also be answered by major climate funds, including the GEF and Clean Technology Fund, by expanding their support for education, teacher training, and empowering the students who will lead the future of the green transition.

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Drilling, Fracking, Coal, and Nuclear Energy

Successful businessman, Vivek Ramaswamy, believes our country’s economic revival lies in American energy, stating: “Fracking, drilling, burning coal, and embracing nuclear energy. This is how we make America great again.”

In 2022, the United States of America was the number one oil producing and consuming country, with 21 and 20 percent of shares, respectively, worldwide. And, according to the American Petroleum Institute (API), the oil and natural gas industry is responsible for 9.8 million jobs for the American people. It accounts for 80 percent of our country’s energy and is expected to provide $1.6 trillion dollars (only 12% of our country’s debt) in federal and state tax revenue by 2025. 

South Carolina State Senator, Tim Scott, believes 3.5 million jobs could be created “if we unleashed all our energy resources.” An impressive notion given oil and gas extraction, which refers to job opportunities specifically for removing crude oil and natural gas from the ground, accounts for just 118,700 jobs. 

Nonetheless, there is a significant discrepancy in the estimates. The oil industry argues further restrictions on fracking and federal leasing for oil and gas extraction could jeopardize up to 7.5 million American jobs. However, a 2020 study conducted by Food & Water Watch revealed a different reality, indicating the oil and gas industry collectively employed approximately 541,000 individuals directly.

This notable contrast in figures most likely stems from the API’s’ inclusive approach’, which combines direct, indirect, and induced positions to assert the fossil fuel industry supports a staggering 9 million jobs.

Renewable Energy: Good or Bad?

One side of the ‘American Energy’ story seemingly less popular with the candidates on the stage last night was renewable energy. 

The shift towards renewable energy creates more jobs compared to fossil fuel extraction, primarily due to technological advancements.Only 20 percent of energy in the US comes from the renewable sector. Yet it has seen a 3.8 percent job increase from 2021 to 2022, employing 8.1 million Americans with numbers only expecting only to increase. 

Notably, since 2021, jobs related to electric and hybrid vehicles have seen significant growth, increasing by 26.2 and 19.7 percent, respectively. Similarly, solar energy (5.4 percent), wind energy (2.9 and percent), and energy efficiency (2.7 percent) jobs are all experiencing steady growth. 

In Texas alone, wind and solar power have outpaced all other states in electricity generation since 2006. According to the U.S. Energy & Employment Jobs report, Texas’ clean energy sector accounts for 880,692 jobs statewide, constituting 10.8 percent of all U.S. clean energy employment. And since 2020, energy jobs in the state have increased by 30,903 jobs, or 3.6 percent. 

This data, combined with the fact Texas currently holds the second-strongest economy in the US, highlights the critical contribution of renewable energy to economic expansion and employment opportunities. One can’t help but imagine the immense economic possibilities ahead as we further invest in the flourishing clean energy industry.

Going Green is an Existential Threat?

North Dakota governor, Doug Burnum, went as far as to state, “climate policy is an existential threat to America’s future.” 

The fact of the matter is climate change is not a conjecture, but a scientifically substantiated reality. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states,  “Since systematic scientific assessments began in the 1970s, the influence of human activity on the warming of the climate system has evolved from theory to established fact.”

Global temperatures and sea levels are rising, our oceans are warming, ice sheets are shrinking, and weather patterns are becoming increasingly erratic. The urgency to address these challenges cannot be overstated. 

It is hard to understand how climate policy represents an existential problem. But even former governor of South Carolina, Nikki Haley, suggested going green is a ‘serious threat to national security’. 

Renewable energy production and manufacturing fosters energy independence, bolstering national security by reducing global reliance on Russia for energy and China for manufacturing. Embracing sustainable practices and transitioning towards renewable energy sources is not a threat. In fact, evidence strongly suggests renewables as our key to national security. 

$20 Billion Green New Deal and Bidenomics

For former Vice President, Mike Pence, both “Bidenomics” and the twenty billion dollar green deal need to be kicked to the curb. He claimed those two things, while good for Beijing, are bad for America. 

The $20 billion green deal was announced  as part of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. This initiative aims to establish a clean energy financing network, significantly boosting investments in projects combating pollution on a national scale. The green deal is set to be funded through the Inflation Reduction Act, demonstrating a commitment to fighting climate change while stimulating economic growth. 

The deal promises job creation to build renewable energy infrastructure, market expansion into clean energy projects, and much more – all which would seem to help our economy. But can it promise more for the American people than the expansive energy bill our chambers passed this March? This opposing bill, which all presidential candidates from the Republican party voted in favor of,  would promote speedier approvals of oil, gas, and coal developments.

Where Does This Leave Us? Energy Independence

In the pursuit of economic prosperity and energy self-sufficiency, the discourse on the influence of oil and gas in shaping America’s future is complex. As mentioned by former Vice President, Mike Pence, the strategy for America to ‘reclaim our energy independence’ involves the utilization of federal lands and adopting a comprehensive energy approach. However, it’s crucial to acknowledge the United States’ reliance on foreign oil is primarily driven by the refining industry’s demand for heavy crude oil. This underscores the point that if we relied on energy sources abundant in the US (like wind and solar energy), we could and would already be an energy independent nation.

Overall, it was a confusing debate leaving the audience to believe fracking and expanding the fossil fuel industry may be how we create jobs and ensure national security. But perhaps the New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie summed it best, “we need to be pro-innovation and pro-progress” if we want to see the US thrive. Renewable energy and migrating away from fossil fuels is a way for these things to happen harmoniously for not only our economy, but also our environment.

The post Is Environmentalism Killing the American Dream?  appeared first on Earth Day.

Just as a federal state of emergency for the water crisis in Flint, Michigan ended, the government had a new disaster to focus on. They declared another state of emergency for four Louisiana parishes hit by the rainstorm this past weekend: Tangipahoa, St. Helena, East Baton Rouge and Livingston. Louisiana Governor Edwards also added that he “fully expect[s] that more parishes will be added to the declaration on a rolling basis.”

Emergency workers and volunteers have been working to rescue more than 20,000 people all while another 10,000 have been forced into shelters. A recent video of volunteers breaking open the roof of a red sports car, sinking nose down in the floods to rescue a woman and her dog trapped inside was replayed on TV and mobile screen across the US. Many people are still trapped by the flooding.

Though the full extent of damages cannot be fully assessed, an initial assessment by Impact Forecasting suggests that the floods will cause roughly $1.5 billion in economic damage.

The rains, at least meteorologically speaking, were not unexpected; the combination of slow-moving, low-pressure tropical air mass fed by high sea surface temperatures, and record humidity—in addition to the unpredictability of climate change—make catastrophic floods more likely. Though the rains were not classified as a tropical cyclone, they did share many of the same characteristics with hurricanes; the counter-clockwise rotation of the storm allowed it to pull in additional moisture inland from the Gulf of Mexico. In all, this blend created record levels of rain which basically make this a once in 1,000 years flood.

Climate researchers are not straight out blaming climate change…But with ever increasing amounts of greenhouse gases in our atmosphere— causing it to heat up and hold (and dump) more water, extreme weather events like this are more likely. It’s what you can expect with a warming planet—warming that is caused by humans.

The floods in Louisiana are not alone. Heat waves in the Middle East and flash flooding in China earlier this month (causing up to $3bn in damages) are letting us know the planet is going through a change.

You can view more images of the flooding here.

The post Record rain, record damage appeared first on Earth Day.

Prime Minister Modi talked about how traditional Hindu scriptures such as Gita, Shukracharya Niti, and Anushasan Parv of the Mahabharta highlight the values of forests. He said that “I have repeatedly told my farmer that instead of wasting our land in building fences around our fields, why don’t we start planting timber trees there.” From 2009 to 2013, Forest Minister Mian Altaf Ahmad reported that India has “imported 14.7 million cubic feet of timber from abroad and from other parts of the country.” Today, India has to spend millions to import timber from across the world.

According to Global Export Import Market Intelligence, India has imported timber worth $14,926,485 just during July of 2016. Like Prime Minister Modi said, planting trees in India has not only become a new source of income for India’s citizens, but it can save India from deforestation and timber importation costs. If the Indian people start to plant more saplings, they can be utilized for the construction of homes and furniture in the future. Furthermore, these saplings can be cut and sold to other countries with the permission of the government when they reach maturity.

Before Prime Minister Modi gave his speech, various states had set up different projects and activities to let people plant more trees. For instance, more than eight hundred thousand students, volunteers, and government officials in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh planted over fifty million saplings in twenty-four hours, according to The Huffington Post. Furthermore, the Maharashtra government planted almost 20,000,000 saplings in the entire state, and will pledge to plant another 30,000,000 next year. According to The Telegraph, the Indian government has attributed $6.2 billion for tree-planting in order to increase “forestation in line with agreements made at the Paris climate change summit in 2015.” The Indian government has also passed the CAMPA law, which will allow about 40 thousand crores rupees (almost $6 Billion) will go to Indian states for planting trees.

As you can see, the Indian government has transformed reforestation into a people’s movement. Although tree planting is only a small contribution to India’s greater climate commitments, the biggest contribution of these tree planting projects is that they raise people’s awareness of many bigger Indian issues, such as pollution, deforestation, and land use.

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This new master plan is based around some similar ideas: affordable electric cars, and solar energy, but with a plethora of technological twists that Musk hopes will help usher in a sustainable future for all. The first goal set in the plan is the integration of energy generation and storage systems. With his strong confidence in the upcoming vote on Tesla’s acquisition of energy services provider SolarCity, Musk believes that the time to bring together an “integrated and beautiful solar-roof” and the Tesla Powerwall home battery is now.

As if bringing efficient, affordable, and accessible solar power to the world isn’t ambitious enough, it only gets better from there. The rest of the plan focuses on the company’s plans for their line of cars in the near future. In the wake of the recent announcement of the new Tesla Model 3, an affordable electric sports sedan coming in 2017, the company seeks to revolutionize the industry and address the needs of more global citizens than ever before. While the Tesla line currently has two offerings – the premium sedan Model S, and the SUV Model X – in the coming years they plan to release, along with the Model 3, a compact SUV, a pickup truck, a bus, and even an 18-wheeler.

With the plan for these vehicles comes an innovative suite of new technologies based around convenience, affordability, and sustainability. The two key areas for these technologies are autonomy and production. From buses that can match the speed of traffic to prevent congestion, to a car that can autonomously function as a ride sharing service when you’re not using it, the Tesla Autopilot “beta” has definitely got some hype to live up to. Combine that with highly-efficient Tesla automotive production super-center factories that conceptually could improve production as much as ten-fold, and you’ve got some a very bright and very cool future for Tesla and for the automotive industry as a whole.

The post Tesla’s Master Plan Part Deux appeared first on Earth Day.

EDN is the global connection point and motivation to plant trees around the world. Pledges have been coming in since Earth Day 2015 to move our goals forward. On the stage at Global Citizen 2015, the World Organization of the Scout Movement pledged over a billion service hours to tree planting around the world. We have now confirmed 500 million trees will be planted in North America and another 500 million in other parts of the world by the scouts. More recently, volunteers from India’s state of Uttar Pradesh planted 50 million trees as a kick-off to their plan to plant 460 million trees.

A number of projects around Europe, Africa, Canada, India, and the United States this year will also push us closer to our 7.8 billion goal. We aim to plant trees in communities that need them the most. In this way, from fruit trees to forest gardens, people’s lives are enriched through Earth Day Network projects. Our trees will be the source of home grown foods that can be used by individuals or sold to a market. They can also provide a much needed income for community members who live in degraded environments.

In order to achieve our goal of 7.8 billion trees, we will work with partners from all levels of society, integrate trees into all of our existing campaigns, and create coalitions with national and subnational governments, mayors, faith leaders, businesses, and civil society from all across the globe.

Our goals for planting these trees are as simple as they are important:

• Fight climate change and pollution;
• Support communities, their local economies, and their way of life;
• Protect biodiversity; and
• Inspire millions of people to join us in environmental citizenship and stewardship.

The post Over A Billion. And We Just Got Started! appeared first on Earth Day.

A blog in the Huffington Post by Bill Bigelow stated “NEA delegates passed a second resolution, sponsored by Noam Gundle of the Seattle Education Association, calling for the teachers’ union to ‘publicize the work of NEA members educating students and their communities on issues of anthropogenic (human-caused) climate change using innovative project-based learning and cross-curricular methods’”.

Earth Day Network is committed to working with the NEA and other organizations to ensure climate justice and disseminate materials to teachers to help accurately and scientifically teach about climate change.

“The decision by the Portland Public School Board is a step in the right direction, but it cannot stop there. Climate education and environmental literacy can no longer be an option. They need to be the standard in order for our future decision-makers, politicians, scientists, engineers, and world leaders to be able to make scientifically informed decisions about the consequences of climate change,” explained Dr. Karena Mary Ruggiero, Director of Education at Earth Day Network. “Portland is setting a great example, but now the entire state of Oregon needs to step up, and then Texas, Virginia, Tennessee, and so on. We can no longer allow the fossil fuel industry to influence what is taught in our classrooms, particularly when climate change denial threatens the integrity of science education on a larger scale.”

Clearly the NEA, and the three million members it represents, agrees.

The post Updated: PORTLAND PUBLIC SCHOOL BOARD ON THE RIGHT TRACK WITH CLIMATE EDUCATION appeared first on Earth Day.

With a commitment of some 460 million trees coming from the State of Telangana in India, Earth Day Network can confirm that we have reached the one billion mark on our march to 7.8 billion. EDN had previously collected a massive commitment from the World Boy Scouts to plant over 500 million trees by 2020. That in conjunction with dozens of other smaller pledges put our total to date at just over one billion. And it took slightly less than seven months.

“We knew going into it that reaching 7.8 billion trees by 2020 was going to be a long hard slog. But more importantly we knew it was not impossible,” explained Kathleen Rogers, President of the Earth Day Network. “Nations are now beginning to realize the critical, central roles that trees and soil will play in greenhouse gas reduction. We will reach 7.8 billion trees planted by Earth Day 2020.”

“It was striking that over 60 countries mentioned reforestation in their climate commitments last year in Paris. The tremendous potential and affordability of the land sector is becoming much more widely understood,” said Orion Cruz, Earth Day Network’s Deputy Director of Forest and Climate Policy. “The big question is, can we act cooperatively and quickly enough to reap the benefits of this knowledge by 2020? We believe so.”

Trees for the Earth focuses on those regions of the world most affected by deforestation. In order to achieve our goal of 7.8 billion trees, we will work with partners from all levels of society, integrate trees into all of our existing campaigns, and create coalitions with national and subnational governments, mayors, faith leaders, businesses, and civil society from all across the globe.

Our goals for planting these trees are as simple as they are important:

• Fight climate change and pollution;
• Support communities, their local economies, and their way of life;
• Protect biodiversity; and
• Inspire millions of people to join us in environmental citizenship and stewardship.

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The question that continues to pop up in environmental and climate concerned communities is: How does NGSS play a role in teaching climate education?

The Good: NGSS does have explicit ties to climate change in areas of Weather and Climate for High School and in both Middle School  and High School areas of Earth and Human Activity.

For example, this middle school disciplinary core idea states:

“Human activities, such as the release of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, are major factors in the current rise in Earth’s mean surface temperature (global warming). Reducing the level of climate change and reducing human vulnerability to whatever climate changes do occur depend on the understanding of climate science, engineering capabilities, and other kinds of knowledge, such as understanding of human behavior and on applying that knowledge wisely in decisions and activities.”

This is a major step forward for science education in addressing the concerns of climate change through the K-12 education system.

The Bad: While climate change is a core idea of middle school science and expanded on in high school science standards, there are “assessment boundaries” still in place. An example of an assessment boundary can be found in HS-ESS3-5. Earth and Human Activity which states that “Assessment Boundary: Assessment is limited to one example of a climate change and its associated impacts.”

In addition to assessment boundaries, there is the question of adoption of NGSS. As of April of this year, 18 states and DC had adopted NGSS. Which means that a substantial number of states are not teaching to these standards. In addition, states can chose to write their own science standards and consider wording from NGSS. This unfortunately means that when it comes to climate change, students in the US may have drastically different levels of understanding.

The Ugly:  Even for the states that have adopted NGSS and are moving forward with its implementation, it may still be years before teachers are properly trained, textbooks are revised, and proper curriculum and lesson plans are developed. This is the ugly part, because it means that in addition to education of climate change varying wildly state-by-state, it could be years before students actual receive education on a top that should have been taught yesterday.

The post Next Generation Science Standards: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly appeared first on Earth Day.

Given the need for future production of solar cell to be more sustainable, a game-changing technology may be 3-D printed solar panels. More efficient, less complex, and cheaper, they can capture more sunlight than conventional photovoltaic (PV) models. Furthermore, researchers at the University of Melbourne, using a solar-cell printer, discovered how to print flexible solar panels that can be produced on a huge roll of plastic, giving them the ability to print cells 10 times larger than they could before.

According to Scott Watkins of Kyung-In Synthetic, these 3D printed solar cells have already been used in India. “I’ve witnessed first-hand how the technology has enabled urban poor communities in India to access off-grid electricity,” says Watkins. “Its success is due to its cost effectiveness and simplicity. A 10×10 cm solar cell film is enough to generate as much as 10-50 watts per square meter.” Watkins last year spoke about the technology during the Smart Villages session of the World Conference of Science Journalists in Seoul, South Korea.

This technology can dramatically increase the rate of production while decreasing the costs. So far, companies have mostly produced solar cells with industrial printing capacity. However, by owning the means of production and having them produced locally, people will be able to manufacture their own solar panels and customize them to their own needs, in any form, shape or size. This means that there is no need for economies of scale to get a great deal on solar power.

While installation is the dominate cost for solar power, it is estimated that precision 3D printing could drop production costs by 50% by eliminating many of the inefficiencies associating with the waste of costly materials such as glass, polysilicon or even indium. The fact that 3D printing can take place just about anywhere should mitigate the lofty shipping costs.

Of course, just like most other new technologies, the new printed cells are not without their development hurdles.  Bernie Jones, a co-leader of the Smart Villages Initiative, states that although the method of producing the solar film strips at a low cost has been perfected, replicating the process to other production facilities will require a large amount of capital.

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