Climate Change Strategic Plan for Education, 2013 (Cambodia)

The Climate Change Strategic Plan for Education considers that climate change may affect the education sector directly through increased frequency and/or severity of extreme weather events, and a range of socio-economic impacts. Extreme weather events may lead to damages on educational and other key infrastructure that is necessary for the functioning of the education sector, disrupting educational services. A series of socio-economic impacts of climate change may reduce educational achievements and the performance of the education system. Some impacts may lead to increased school dropout rates or an increase in the number of days in which children and teachers do not attend school. 

The threats of climate change to education may mostly be addressed through actions in other sectors (e.g. health, water, agriculture, public infrastructure). At the same time, some adaptation measures can also be adopted within the education sector itself such as making educational infrastructure climate resilient and provision of free meals, basic medical surveillance, raising awareness of disease prevention and detection among teachers and students. The education sector may also contribute to climate change mitigation by improving the energy efficiency of education facilities, opting for local power supply based on renewable energy, and developing public or collective transport to schools. Finally, adaptation and mitigation strategies can be supported through awareness raising and capacity building in the education sector though the integration of climate change awareness raising at different levels of the curricula, vocational training to generate in-country capacities for implementation of adaptation and mitigation plans, and post-graduate studies to create a pool of in-country experts for the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies.