Discover ways you can get involved in the lead-up to and during COP29.
Join our global online event for young people
Our global online session Youth Connect Live: Building an Inclusive Climate Future is happening on 31 October, from 14.00–15.30 UK time.
The event will give young people worldwide the chance to explore how to build greener economies that embrace fairness and how to ensure these practices benefit young people, both now and in the future.
Expert speakers will share insights on fostering inclusive practices for the green transition, ensuring young people are at the heart of this transformation. Participants can also contribute to a campaign that will be showcased at COP29 and COP30, which will seek to answer the question: what skills do young people need to be part of a just transition?
Follow the Youth Connect Facebook page for updates and more opportunities.
Learn with our free online courses
Our Learning for a Sustainable Future course is back, from 7 October to 10 November.
Understanding how to live sustainably is a challenge that connects us all. This course will enhance your understanding of critical global issues and inspire you to think about how you can act both personally and locally. You’ll gain insights into effective strategies for improving sustainability, by examining values, motivations and learning how to empower others to take meaningful action.
Dive into global, community and educational settings to craft your own informed approach to some of today’s most pressing issues. Learn methods for bringing some of the activities and issues covered in the course to your own teaching and educational practices.
During COP29, we are also running our Living for a Sustainable Future: Live at COP29 course, from 11 to 22 November.
Learn what COP29 is and why it’s so important, as you reflect on how you can take personal and local action towards for a sustainable future.
There will be ‘live’ insights into the issues being discussed at COP29, as well as responses to the conference themes from children, young people, community groups and government bodies worldwide. Using these as conversation starters, we’ll encourage you to reflect on what you have heard, watched and read, and think about what these conversations and issues mean to you.
Embed climate themes into your English lessons
Enrolment is now open for our Climate Action in Language Education professional development open learning course.
The course is designed to help teachers integrate environmental issues into English language teaching by equipping learners with the language skills to understand, discuss and engage critically with climate change issues and to take and sustain meaningful and impactful action to protect the environment.
It includes a dedicated Facebook community of course participants, with up-to-date insight, resources and innovative ideas to try out; engaging discussions; live events with the course tutor and language teaching experts; and a workbook with additional learning content and resources.
The course consists of nine hours of self-study training.
We also offer a series of 12 lesson plans that provide step-by-step guidance and resources, covering a range of levels and age groups (primary, secondary and adult learners). Each explores a different topic, from sports to storms and from families to fashion. Designed with flexibility in mind, they can be integrated within existing curricula, and are available in two versions: classroom-based lessons and online teaching.
The lesson plans were written by the founding members of ELT Footprint, a global community of more than 4,000 teachers, trainers, writers and publishers dedicated to reducing the environmental impact of their place of work, the ELT profession.
Inspire your students to get involved in climate action
Up to and during COP29, we are using the World Climate Simulation game to give students in the UK and Azerbaijan a taste of what it’s like to be part of the UN climate change negotiations, with our COP Climate Simulation Events running in Edinburgh, Cardiff, London and Baku.
We’re encouraging schools to join the action, by downloading the game and organising their own climate debate, either face to face or online.
Suitable for eight to 50 participants, students act as delegates representing different nations and work through rounds of negotiations to propose climate pledges.
It’s also a great activity to do with an international partner school.
Organise your own climate debate
For inspiration, you can watch a video of our Climate Simulation Events from COP28.
We also offer a host of climate-themed resources for primary and secondary schools to help teachers explore climate change issues in the classroom.
All resources are suitable for working with an international partner school, so your students can explore the effects of climate change in different parts of the world.
Download our climate resources
Listen to our Climate Connection podcasts
Our ten-part podcast series explores the relationship between the climate crisis and language education.
Featuring a wide range of leading practitioners working in the sector, including teachers, trainers, researchers, publishers and authors, the series travels across the world to share what’s happening in climate action in language education.
In partnership with the Oxford English Dictionary, it also covers the origins of climate-related language, in both English and other languages.
Explore our climate action research
Explore our latest climate research, including our research with University College London on global priorities for school-based climate change and sustainability education, research with University of Arts London on the latest trends in climate action and sustainability in the arts, and research on the impact of climate change on cultural heritage.