UNESCO: "If We Want to Protect the Ocean Better, We Must Teach It Better"

In a bid to save the environment, UNESCO has called on the world to enhance the climate change education mechanism, noting that this approach needs to be one of the key pillars for action by countries across the world to better protect the seas and oceans from damaging climate change.

Speaking at the One Ocean Summit, taking place in the French city of Brest, Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO’s Director-General indicated that school students should understand the importance of education as a mechanism for combating the climate change crisis.

Azoulay said, “If we want to protect the ocean better, we must teach it better."

Setting it as a common objective for UNESCO’s 193 Member States, she asked them to include ocean education in school curricula by 2025.

In a step intended to achieve the goal, the United Nations agency is also making available to public decision-makers a toolkit with a shared reference framework of educational content on the subject, according to UNESCO officials.

On her part, Stefania Giannini, UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General in charge of education explained, "The step will allow all countries to be in an “equal position to quickly place the ocean at the heart of teaching and increase students’ knowledge in this area, so that they become responsible and committed citizens."

It's worth noting that the new educational approaches provided by UNESCO reflect the conviction that the way society interacts with the ocean, needs to change in order to achieve a more sustainable model.