Exploring the Impact of Education for Sustainable Development on Global Climate Action Awareness

Abstract

This paper examines how Education of Sustainable Development has assisted the Climate Action Awareness of the world and whether or not a more comprehensive inclusion of Education of Sustainable Development in the national education system will bring an improvement in climate literacy, responsibility, and climate action, taking into consideration socioeconomic, institutional, and digital aspects. Utilizing a mixed-methods approach, the research combines quantitative panel econometric analysis with qualitative policy insights. The formation of a balanced cross-national dataset was based on UNESCO Education for Sustainable Development indicators, socioeconomic data from the World Bank, and the global surveys of climate awareness. It utilizes the use of fixed-effects panel regression models and uses GDP per capita, educational expenditures, the level of governance, the availability of the internet, and climate vulnerability as some of the variables. Results indicate that there is a great difference in Climate Action Awareness (mean = 0.56; SD = 0.18) and ESDI (mean = 0.52; SD = 0.20) among countries. The regression analysis demonstrates that ESD positively and significantly influences CAA, with a one-unit rise in ESDI correlating to a 0.284 increase in CAA (p < 0.001). Other significant predictors include GDP per capita (β = 0.092, p = 0.001), education expenditure (β = 0.037, p = 0.009), governance quality (β = 0.065, p = 0.002), and internet penetration (β = 0.004, p < 0.001). Conversely, CAA is adversely affected by climate vulnerability (β = −0.118, p = 0.003). The model accounts for 41% of the variation in climate awareness, with robustness checks affirming these results. The research gives solid empirical evidence of the necessity of ESD as a key driver in increasing climate action awareness in the world, with the importance of strengthening ESD, governance, educational investment, and digital access to support informed climate action across the globe.