BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 18. Heatwaves reduce learning outcomes by an average of 14 percent, UNICEF (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund) Deputy Executive Director for Partnerships Kitty van der Heijden said during the COP29 Ministerial Roundtable on Greening Education and Enhancing Climate Literacy Metric 2nd Annual Meeting of the Greening Education Partnership today, Trend reports.
"Education is the best investment in adapting to climate change, and there is a very close connection between climate and education. I would like to highlight a few points. The first point is how climate shocks affect learning outcomes and achievements. For example, due to heatwaves, learning outcomes on average decrease by 14 percent. Research is ongoing, and these figures may even be higher.
Children who have experienced climate shocks, whether it’s a hurricane, flood, or drought, suffer from anxiety disorders in 43 percent of cases, which also affects their academic performance.
We cannot ignore the connection between climate and education. Investments in education in the context of climate adaptation are not only possible but also bring significant returns," she added.
To note, the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), which will run until November 22, opened at the Baku Olympic Stadium on November 11. It is the largest event organized by Azerbaijan to date, and the first time in the region that it is being held in Azerbaijan.
Within COP29, the highest level event - the summit of world leaders on climate action - was held on November 12–13.
The main expectation from COP29 is to agree on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantitative Goal (NCQG) on climate finance. The COP29 chairmanship has launched 14 initiatives that include linkages between climate action and the Sustainable Development Goals, including green energy corridors, green energy storage, harmony for climate resilience, clean hydrogen, methane reduction in organic waste, action on green digital technologies, and other topics.
In addition to being a top priority that creates the conditions for action, creating climate finance will also help fulfill the 1.5°C pledge by bringing everyone together.
The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is an agreement signed at the Rio Earth Summit in June 1992 to prevent dangerous human interference in the climate system. The acronym COP (Conference of Parties) stands for “Conference of Parties” and is the highest legislative body overseeing the implementation of the Framework Convention on Climate Change.
A total of 198 countries are parties to the Convention. Unless otherwise decided by the parties, COP is held annually. The first COP event was held in March 1995 in Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.
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