Climate education — too often absent

Winnipeg Free Press

4 days ago

Opinion
Last week two significant reports were released detailing the Canadian public's perception of climate change and climate action. The first, from Carleton University based 'Re:Climate' (What do Canadians really think about climate change in 2025?) found that, despite political instability from the United States and concerns over affordability, over two-thirds of Canadians remain concerned or very concerned about climate change and see it as a serious or very serious threat.
The second report came from Learning for Sustainable Futures (LSF), an environmental education organization based out of Toronto. The findings from their survey (From Awareness to Action: Canadians on Climate Change and Education) echo the 'Re:Climate' report, finding a majority of Canadians believe that climate action should be a priority, including 62 per cent who support climate change education being a high priority in the Canadian Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K-12) education system.
What becomes evident from these reports is the disjuncture between the beliefs from the public on what public institutions should be doing, and what public institutions are actually doing. A key finding from the 'Re:Climate' report is that taking a future-oriented approach to talking about climate change that values a healthy and clean environment for future generations is one of the greatest motivators for climate action.
A belief that education should play a role in responding to wider societal challenges by providing a 'responsive, equitable and high quality environment which supports all children and youth to reach their full potential' is a well-trodden path — indeed, these are words lifted from the mission statement for Manitoba Education and Early Childhood Learning.
So what do we know about the current state of climate change education in the Manitoba K-12 school system?
Students in the K-12 education system are unsurprisingly the most concerned about climate change of any demographic, but feel increasingly disempowered to take action, in part because of the absence of climate change knowledge and skill development. In the 2025 LSF survey, 47 per cent of youth in Manitoba reported that climate change is rarely or never discussed in schools.
An increasing number of Canadian teachers feel prepared to teach climate change in their classrooms, but more than half feel they need much more support to do this work well. In Manitoba, the findings were more stark: teachers here report the lowest provincial average for teaching climate change content across each of seven categories including climate change science, climate change solutions, coping with climate emotions and grappling with disinformation in the media.
As the 'Re:Climate' report states, the public is calling for increased climate action of which climate change education is a key pillar. Manitoba teachers are in turn asking for support to teach this content, and the young people in the Manitoba K-12 system are telling us that without increased attention to climate change, they are feeling increasingly frustrated and anxious about their future.
In a time of decreased resources and chronic burnout in the K-12 education system, it is no surprise that leaving classroom teachers to 'figure it out' has led to gaps between the education system that we want and the education system we have.
Both the 'Re:Climate' and LSF reports conclude that Canadians want more, but schools are falling short. And nowhere in Canada is this more pronounced than in Manitoba.
Manitoba teachers are keen to engage with this content and know what they need from educational leaders to increase their confidence and competency: verbal and financial support, flexibility in facilitating curriculum and professional development. Fortunately, there is mounting scholarship on ways to effectively integrate climate change education into K-12 classrooms in ways that are both age-appropriate and contextualized to the needs of diverse communities across Manitoba.
What is needed now is leadership across the K-12 education system to match the wants of the public, educators and youth and reality in classrooms.
The time is long overdue for the province of Manitoba, school divisions, pre-service education programs and community experts on climate in Manitoba to meet, plan and direct resources towards a comprehensive approach to climate change education.
Doing so would align with not just what Manitobans want, but what our young people need in order to reach their full potential.
Will Burton is a former K-12 teacher and principal-teacher and currently works in the Faculty of Education at the University of Winnipeg.