UNESCO calls to make half of the world’s schools “green” by 2030. How education responds to climate challenges

At COP30, the strongest thesis in recent years on the role of education in solving the climate crisis was heard. UNESCO issued a clear demand to states: accelerate the transition of schools to a sustainable development model and ensure that at least 50% of the world’s schools become “green” by 2030.

Today, more than 96,000 educational institutions in 93 countries already integrate environmental approaches, develop energy-efficient infrastructure, and teach children to work with technologies that will help mitigate the effects of climate change.

The world is moving towards a new educational standard — where environmental competence is as important as mathematics or reading.

What does “green school” mean in 2025

It’s not about sorting garbage. It’s about changing the educational model.

The concept of “green school” includes comprehensive changes in three areas:

1. Educational programs

• climate science, ecology and energy;
• sustainable systems design;
• engineering and technological solutions to reduce carbon footprint;
• research of real-world cases, not just theoretical lessons.

2. Infrastructure

• energy-efficient buildings and lighting;
• alternative energy sources;
• “smart” systems for managing water, heat and resources;
• eco-technology laboratories and STEAM spaces.

3. Culture of interaction

• responsible consumption as part of school routine;
• practical eco-projects;
• joint solutions for real community problems.

In such schools, children don’t just learn — they test models of the future and see the impact of their decisions.

Ukraine: from initiatives to a systematic approach

Despite war and crisis conditions, Ukrainian education is actively moving towards sustainable development. One of the brightest examples is the experience of the Educational Holding A+, which has integrated “green school” into a modern STEAM education model.

Kateryna Sizonenko, director of Respublika STEAM School:

“Today education faces three global challenges — loss of biodiversity, resource depletion and climate change. And the school must respond not with slogans, but with projects and actions.

In Ukraine, the concept of “green school” is gradually transitioning from individual initiatives to a systematic approach. In the Educational Holding A+, we implement it through laboratory research, STEAM projects and practical work with real eco-technologies.

Under such conditions, environmental thinking ceases to be theory — it becomes part of the child’s behavior and daily decisions”.

According to Kateryna Sizonenko, A+ students regularly work with:

• renewable energy and solar systems;
• energy efficiency models for school infrastructure;
• prototypes of eco-devices to reduce resource consumption;
• digital models of “smart greenhouses”;
• hydroponic systems and vertical farming;
• cases of bioengineering and sustainable production.

This is not optional. This is part of the educational process where children learn to find solutions for the real world.

School as an innovation laboratory

UNESCO emphasizes: not only the building should become “green,” but the logic of learning.

The school of the future is an environment where:

• children work on real climate challenges;
• teachers become research moderators;
• technology helps preserve resources;
• every classroom is a solution laboratory.

Kateryna Sizonenko sums up:

“If UNESCO’s goal is to make half of the world’s schools “green,” this will only be possible when the school is not only energy-efficient, but also intellectually sustainable. Every classroom should be a place where solutions for the real world are born. Education is capable of becoming an engine of environmental and social transformation — and this is the responsibility we are taking today”.

Why “green school” is not a trend, but a future standard

Sustainable development is ceasing to be a fashionable topic. It is an educational obligation dictated by the speed of climate change and growing demand for environmental skills of the future.

In the coming years, schools themselves will determine:

• how ready society is for climate threats;
• whether the next generation can act faster than the planet changes;
• whether children will have the competencies for adaptation and innovation.

Ukraine is already forming an answer to these challenges — and the A+ example demonstrates that “green school” can be not a dream, but a modern standard.