#Teach10Hours4Climate: A Campaign to Increase Climate Education From 2 to 10 Hours Per School Year

The United Nations says that climate change should be part of curricula in all schools by 2025. The median amount of time K-12 teachers devote to climate change in New York City is just 2 class hours per school year. This mirrors the national average. Among teachers of all subjects, half say they don’t address the issue at all. There are no Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs in New York State devoted to renewable energy or climate solutions.

At the same time, New York is about to become an offshore wind hub and will require a clean energy workforce. We need a rapid and radical transformation of our educational systems and curricula to meet the urgency of this moment, to educate New York State's 2.6 million K-12 students about climate impacts and solutions, and to ensure that the state can reach 100% zero-emission electricity by 2040, as mandated by New York’s Climate Act.

The National Wildlife Federation in New York City, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, and partners have been working to empower students to advocate for climate education in their city and state.

Meet Mahdiya Siddiqui, Vivian Wanjing, Ellery Spikes, and Ajani Stella - NYC high school students - and NYC climate educator Vicki Sando for a youth-led conversation about the urgent need for climate education in our schools, then take the pledge to #Teach10Hours4Climate - a campaign to increase the amount of time that students spend learning about this existential topic - from 2 to 10 hours per school year.