Climate change is the defining challenge of our time, and its most severe impacts will disproportionately affect future generations.

As educators, we have a moral responsibility to equip young people with the skills needed to tackle these threats. This is why sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at UWC.

Our mission to make education a force for peace and sustainability drives us to empower students to become resourceful, ambitious and inspiring changemakers. Education must evolve to address the dynamic, interconnected nature of global challenges. To thrive in future careers, young people need the freedom to explore and create solutions. They must experience how their actions can drive positive change for our planet.

UWC’s approach

In 2024, UWC launched the Climate Action Leadership Initiative (CALI) – a UWC education programme for planetary impact, boosting UWC’s path to carbon neutrality by 2040. With the generous support of our partners, the initiative addresses the climate crisis by:

Defining and implementing a factually validated roadmap to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across all UWC campuses by 2040.
Scaling up UWC’s best practice climate action learning pilots to serve as globally replicable climate action educational models.
Empowering the UWC community – students, alumni and staff – to be global leaders in climate advocacy and action.

At UWC, sustainability education goes beyond theory — it is experiential. We require agile, innovative teachers who mentor students through systems-based learning to understand and help solve the climate crisis. When education, youth, and opportunity converge, powerful systemic changes occur. We intend to scale up sustainability learning opportunities across all the UWC campuses for generations to come.

UWC schools and colleges integrate climate action into their curricula, empowering students to become informed and active citizens. Through innovative programmes like the Climate Action Leadership Diploma (CALD) and Systems Transformational Pathways, launched at Pearson College UWC, UWC Atlantic and UWC South East Asia, students engage with climate science, sustainability, and social responsibility in real-world contexts.

Support UWC’s Climate Action Leadership Initiative

UWC needs your support to further its climate education initiatives. Your contribution will:

Provide scholarships: Fund scholarships for students from regions most affected by climate change.
Enhance infrastructure: Support marine science and experiential learning at UWC schools and colleges.
Accelerate innovation: Fund impact projects such as curriculum design, student recruitment, and global partnerships.
Develop future leaders: Equip students with the skills to lead sustainable change.

Your support ensures UWC can continue to provide the education needed to confront the climate crisis and create a sustainable future.

Make a donation and support UWC’s to provide climate education programmes

To learn more about our climate and sustainability plan, have a look at the guides below and read some of our impact stories to see what we have achieved so far.

The front cover of the Climate Action Leadership Initiative featuring two teenage girls studying with a microscope

UWC sustainability brochure cover featuring a group of people walking across a rural grassy ridge

Watch the UWC climate education forum webinar

You can explore key discussions from the UWC Climate Education forum held on 22 June 2023, where experts shared their insights on the role of education in combating climate change:

H.E. Aminath Shauna (Moderator): Maldives Minister for Climate Change and Pearson College UWC alumna (2004-2006).
Barrise Griffin: Disaster Risk Management Expert and UWC Costa Rica alumna (2012-2014).
Bill McKibben: Environmentalist, Author, Educator, and Activist.
Camila Fernández Nion: Environmental Geographer and Researcher, UWC South East Asia alumna (2014-2016).
Marija Uzunova Dang: Vice Principal of Learning Innovation at UWC Atlantic.

This was a lively and far-reaching discussion providing valuable insights into driving forward solutions for a sustainable future.