A new RMetS survey was released today.
Details from Professor Sylvia Knight.
Among the key findings of the 2025 Climate Literacy Survey:
- Students show good awareness of which countries are currently emitting the most greenhouse gases, but less understanding of per capita and historical emissions, as well as regional variations in future climate impacts, which underpin global discussions on climate justice.
- Trust is highest in teachers, reinforcing the need to ensure teachers have access to high-quality, up-to-date training and classroom resources.
- Trust in social media is comparatively low, highlighting the importance of teaching media and data literacy to help students evaluate information sources and biases.
- Students in Scotland showed the strongest awareness of wind power’s contribution to the UK’s energy mix, suggesting stronger visibility of careers in this sector.
- 10% of respondents in Wales reported not learning about climate change since primary school – considerably higher than in other nations.
- The current geography curriculum’s emphasis on past climate change and its natural causes has led to limited recognition among students in England that the warming since the Industrial Revolution has been driven almost entirely by human activity. Without this awareness, students may struggle to recognise that people can – and should – take meaningful action to reduce climate change and its impacts on both society and the natural world.
Some interesting conclusions here for teachers and those who develop curriculum materials with links to climate change and careers.
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