Environmental charity delighted at Government’s investment in environmental education

Keep Britain Tidy has welcomed plans for the UK to commit to educating young people about climate and sustainability.

The charity leads Eco Schools, the largest environmental educational programme on the planet involving millions of youngsters, and believes education and training for both pupils and teachers is a key component of giving future generations the skills and knowledge to protect the environment.

As part of its flagship Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy, the Government has announced a range of measures to support young people in develop skills and knowledge in biodiversity and sustainability, including the introduction of a Natural History GCSE by September 2025, and more support and training for teachers with a greater focus on nature and climate change.

Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden Newton OBE, said: “As an organisation that spearheads the education of young people on environmental issues we are delighted that the Government has committed to take action to equip our future generations with the necessary tools and skills to inspire change.

 “Empowering children and young people to improve our environment is vital to tackling climate change and the future of our planet, and could have a truly transformational impact in years to come.

“We look forward to seeing how we can work with government to help shape these exciting plans.”

Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi announced details of how the UK education sector is to become a world leader in climate change by 2030.

The new Natural History qualification will enable young people to develop the skills to help them carve a future career in the natural world, such as observation, description, recording and analysis, through sustained and structured field study.

The government will also confirm its plans to accelerate the rollout of carbon literacy training to support at least one sustainability lead in every locally maintained nursery, school, college and university.

Keep Britain Tidy is supportive of the Education Secretary’s plan to pledge greater support for teaching climate change at all levels.

The charity recognises the importance of equipping teachers with the right resources, and is already developing climate change training videos for teachers, which will be available later this year.

These measures are expected to build on the government’s pledge for every new school, and delivered under the department’s school rebuilding programme, to be cleaner, greener and net-zero in operation.