My work as a climate educator involves speaking with school students about what's happening on our rapidly heating planet. It's a job no one should have to do. Looking into the eyes of a 4 year old to explain why our climate is changing is really tough but even young children want to take action.

George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · yesterday

My column on how capital becomes a death cult. Faced with a choice between profit and human life, the radical right chooses profit. Then it tries to persuade us that mass death is what we want. It's the new phase of climate denial: accept your fate, earthlings. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Many people are ignoring that this year's heat and drought is going to cause serious food shortages. If you grow your own, like we do on our smallholding, the reduced harvest is sadly evident. We estimate ~40-50% reduction in many crops. It's high time to include school gardening in the curriculum!

We have the 'worst harvest in years'. Meanwhile UK supermarkets waste around 200,000 tonnes of food, equivalent to over 350 million meals a year. This petition needs ~2500 signatures to get a response but only has 11 days to go! Please sign and share 👇🏽 petition.parliament.uk/petitions/75...

Petition: Ban all supermarkets from throwing away edible food & require their donation

Everyday, UK supermarkets throw away tonnes of edible food while millions of people rely on food banks to survive. We believe this is wrong, and that food that is safe to eat should not end up in bins...

petition.parliament.uk

Beauty doesn't fade with age. This painted lady simply has a more interesting story to tell 🦋

We could travel the world to burn the planet or we could pop into Cumbria to visit stone circles. Guess which we did 😁 #HappyPlace #LongMeg #LittleMeg #MicroAdventures

We could travel the world in search of paradise whilst causing additional environmental harm or we could find perfection in our own back garden and help to protect nature. Guess which we do 🌻🐝 #HomeIsWhereTheHeartIs #PollinatorsNotPolluters #Staycation

Young people need access to work 💯% But why must we keep putting the economy first? Why is this all about business needs, not for what is best for our young people or the environment we live in?

List of Education Ministers since I began teaching: Michael Gove 2010–14 Nicky Morgan 2014–16 Justine Greening 2016–18 Damian Hinds 2018–19 Gavin Williamson 2019–21 Nadhim Zahawi 2021–22 Michelle Donelan 2022 James Cleverly 2022 Kit Malthouse 2022 Gillian Keegan 2022–24 Bridget Phillipson 2024–26 🧵

In May 2024 Bridget Phillipson promised me and my eco-commitee she would put climate in education... she didn't manage it and we have another couple of years before the national curriculum for England goes through its slow "evolution". Hope Lucy Powell MP makes a better job of it.

Misinformation and disinfection make effective #ClimateEducation and communication much more challenging. But that's exactly the point isn't it?! #EduSky

Adam Bienkov@adambienkov.bsky.social · 3w ago

"Overall carbon emissions have increased" in the UK, because of Net Zero, Kemi Badenoch repeatedly tells the BBC, to no pushback. Just completely untrue

@edhawkins.org #WarmingStripes and @findingnature.bsky.social #BiodiversityStripes help to make complex data tangible. This academic year I've used my banner to communicate climate and nature to over 8,000 people aged from 3 to 83. All my sessions focus on action and solutions 💚🌍 #ClimateEducation

It's the holidays! So that means it's harvest time 🙌🏽

This week I was at the excellent @teachfirst.bsky.social Ed Fest delivering workshops on the Climate Emergency & how to embed climate across the curriculum. The trainees I spoke to were all concerned by climate and their students are overheating in classrooms. New oil & gas pours fuel on the fire 🔥🌍

Zack Polanski@zackpolanski.bsky.social · 3w ago

Deeply irresponsible. We're in a climate crisis. This is such a terrible start. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

I hereby declare it is hollyhock appreciation day! 🩷💜♥️

Governments could be educating everyone on food insecurity. In the UK we waste 40% of food & rely on imports. Growing food in schools, communities and at home, won't solve all the issues but can raise appreciation of the challenges & provide additional fresh food. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

‘Super’ El Niño could cause global food price shock lasting into 2028, analysts say

Weather cycle threatens harvests worldwide, adding to inflation already fuelled by the Iran war

theguardian.com

I wonder if Maggie can come to talk to the Department for Education in England (for the sake of our kids) 🤔

Maggie McNeill@maggiemcneill.bsky.social · 4w ago

In the pre-AC days in the US, one simple measure to combat this was NOT CONFINING KIDS IN FUCKING HOT CLASSROOMS DURING THE FUCKING SUMMER, holy shit!

With the current heatwave forecast to continue until the start of the summer holidays in England, teachers may be questioning how they can protect and prepare their pupils for an uncertain future. A book I've co-authored on "Teaching the Climate Emergency in Primary Schools" may be helpful 👇🏽

Children are becoming ill due to high classroom temperatures. Yet the DfE has excluded climate threats or eco anxiety from their updated KCSIE (keeping children safe in education) guidance. At what point will they accept the climate crisis is an education crisis? www.theguardian.com/education/20...

‘Children were calling for their mummies’: UK pupils struggle in 40C-plus classrooms

Teachers call for schools to be urgently adapted for hot weather amid reports of nausea, fainting and heatstroke

theguardian.com

My first article for @eastangliabylines.co.uk - please share widely, especially if you have any connection to an education setting. #ClimateChange #Schools #Education #Heatwaves #UKHeat #Safeguarding

East Anglia Bylines@eastangliabylines.co.uk · last mo.

“We coped in 1976.” – but that’s not a safeguarding policy. Today’s heatwaves are hotter, riskier, and hitting classrooms hard. Read on for an analysis of the risks.

Being in a standard classroom with windows that don't fully open on an exceedingly hot day, with 30+ teenagers, makes you feel incredibly unwell. Learning grinds to a halt, tempers flare, misery ensues. Any journalist writing that schools are making a fuss over nothing should spend a day in one 🥵

George Monbiot@georgemonbiot.bsky.social · last mo.

Cricket, warm beer and excess mortality are the markers of national character. This week's column is about the ignorance, snobbery and cruelty in the billionaire press, triggered by last week's heatwave. And about the grim condtions children now face in schools. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Schools are shut because our climate is changing, yet there is still no mention of climate change in the national curriculum for England before children are 15 years old. Inadequate to say the least 🙄

Dr Charlie Gardner@charliejgardner.bsky.social · last mo.

1/ Over 1000 schools are closed due to dangerous heat, and millions of parents are now sat at home, feeling worried and powerless about their children’s future Yet there’s lots parents can do and this is an important moment, so please share this thread with your friends and loved ones 🧵

Last autumn I posted a venn diagram of an idea I'd had for some CPD based on climate education, our regenerative smallholding alongside a festival feel. On Saturday this photo was taken of many of the folk that attended #GroundEd, an immersive, regenerative, education experience in Northumberland.

We are in a climate emergency 🌍🔥⏰ It’s increasingly clear that our education system isn’t keeping pace with the realities of a rapidly changing world. So, my colleague Paul Turner, and I have written a guidebook titled "Teaching the Climate Emergency in Primary Schools".

DO WE NEED A MASS CLIMATE EDUCATION CAMPAIGN FOR TEACHERS? Join the online panel discussion Register here forms.gle/LyBaxhrBvqzE... Mon 8 June - 4pm

I 💚 peat!

Northumberland Wildlife Trust@northwildlife.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Happy World Peatlands Day! 🌿💧🌍 Peatlands store huge amounts of carbon and are vital in the fight against climate change. This #30DaysWild, help the planet thrive by going peat-free. Follow our tips 👉 https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/actions/how-go-peat-free

The socio-economic costs of youth unemployment are astronomical. There are numerous programmes for young people to take climate action. They just need additional funding. If there's money to incarcerate climate activists there should be money to support our youth. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

UK risks £125bn hit a year from youth unemployment, landmark report says

Alan Milburn warns of ‘lost generation’ after number of young people not in work or education rises to more than 1m

theguardian.com

Is the UK hot right now? site suggests it is "roasting". Would the next temperature up be "charring", or "searing"? 😬🥩🔥

Climate education takes many forms but I believe Climate Crisis Cabaret is my new fave 🌍🔥⏰ Go and see the hilariously creative @fossilheads.bsky.social if you can!

It's easy to buy a stage backdrop online but it's hardly sustainable. I'm rather proud of my handmade banner for my GroundEd event created from an old sheet and fabric scraps! Sustainability made with love 💚

Why did I ditch a safe teaching career to go into education for sustainable futures 🤔 It was great to share my story with Jenny and Sheri-Leigh for this Sustainability Sprint podcast. We all have a role to play in creating constructive optimism. open.spotify.com/episode/4uhP...

In conversation with Dr Meryl Batchelder, Climate Ambassador, Newcastle University

open.spotify.com