The union demands that the education system take immediate action to save our planet
As part of the first Conference on Education and the Environment held yesterday in Madrid, the Federación de Enseñanza de CCOO, a member organisation of Education International, has drawn up a series of educational proposals in response to the climate emergency. The primary challenge identified during the seminar is the need for urgent implementation of global measures and policies relating to the environment.
Together with experts in environmental education from different organisations, the seminars were designed as a space to exchange knowledge and debate regarding the role of education and trade unionism in the face of the global climate emergency. In Spain, climate change threatens to have a devastating impact on people's lives and work. By the end of the century, the sea level will have risen by between 10 and 68 centimetres, depending on the area, resulting not only in the loss of many beaches, but also sea encroachment in a large number of cities.
Education Sector Demands
The seminars have addressed issues ranging from emerging education movements in response to climate change to the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. They have led to a series of demands aimed at political leaders, which the union has made public in a statement on its website. FECCOO believes that governments must take drastic action to ensure that the crisis does not plunge humanity into great suffering. It is therefore essential that public authorities adopt global policies that impact on the environment. "We are aware that the necessary measures cannot come exclusively from the educational sector, but rather they must join the many other initiatives to be developed by the governments of Spain, its autonomous communities and the world", the union states on its website.
In addition, it specifies that the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, along with the rest of the Spanish government and the autonomous regions, must also be held accountable for the future of the climate. FECCOO therefore believes that legislative measures must be implemented in the education sector, as well as in other areas, "to be applied urgently and without delay".