Education on Climate Change for Sustainable Development – Mapping

contribution of Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Rapid and rampant industrialization over the last couple of centuries has severely impacted
resource utilization. Be it raw material, energy, land-use patterns, every aspect of human life
changed. Consumerism stepped in as affordability improved delivering a gigantic impetus to
manufacturing of goods and services. The effects were soon visible in the form of increased
pollution of natural spaces, degrading forests, loss of flora and fauna, rivers drying up, global
warming, climate change giving rise to a general consensus on “sustainable development”.
Large scale development (largely economic) has had its repercussions, the gaping and
constantly increasing divide between the rich and the poor, leading to extreme poverty
coupled with lack of education, increased disease and ill-health and lack of basic facilities in
so many parts of the world. In 2015, the UN declared the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
with the aim to combat these issues which were unanimously accepted by all member
nations. Goal 4, Quality Education has received increased focus as it aims to bring equity
amongst the global population through cooperation and sharing of teaching and learning
resources. The aim of this correlational research was to establish a direct relationship between
sustainability, sustainable development, and a knowledge based society. In the Gulf region,
the economies are petrochemical dependant, energy rich and sufficient but have realised that
they play a vital role in transforming this dependence to alternatives that are sustainable and
equitable. Education, especially higher education has played a metamorphosing role by
creating an educated, aware and sensitive youth faction whose demands for goods and
services have changed, thus compelling the industry to comply and assist in creating a
sustainably developed society.

Keywords Knowledge, Higher education, Sustainability, Climate change, transformation