Mock COP28: Oxford student among education delegates

The delegates want climate education to be "solutions and action-oriented"

Young people called for improvements to climate education in the first-ever Mock Education Ministers Summit.

Over the weekend, hundreds of youth leaders attended a two-day virtual summit to discuss, negotiate and hear from environmental activists.

The delegates created the first unified definition for climate education and called on education ministers to make five key changes.

An Oxford University student was one of the three UK representatives.

The summit was organised by youth-led organisation Mock COP, which calls for world leaders to take meaningful climate actions.

Mock COP believes climate education is still "inadequate" and has called for changes

In total it was attended by 227 young people between the ages of 18 and 30 from 89 countries.

They said climate education should be "solutions and action-oriented", "inclusive, adaptable and localised", and "tailored to the modern era".

Among the changes called for by the delegates were better training for teachers, including young people in improving climate change education, and collaborating with various communities and organisations.

Molly Scrase-Kings said part of her motivation to take part in the summit was her "own experience"

Oxford University student Molly Scrase-Kings, 20, was one of three young delegates from the UK at the summit.

She studies biochemistry and said she had felt "climate education is not a focus and was not mandatory for all students, including me".

"I feel like it was maybe taught to my generation through word-of-mouth and through the media rather than a holistic approach," Miss Scrase-Kings said.

"When looking at policy documents it's very hard to understand to what extent they're being implemented and whether they're including youths in the conversation."

The summit's statement will be presented to world leaders at COP28 later this year in the United Arab Emirates.

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