“Climate action competence is not only hope-inspiring but also develops professional agency in head teachers and teachers,” writes Claudia Gillberg of Jönköping University in ELM’s “I argue” series.
Climate education and the resulting climate action competence require in-depth knowledge about climate change and its increasing impact on every aspect of civic life (UNESCO 2024).
However, for ethically conscientious education professionals, a Whole School Approach towards systemic change, aligning with UNESCO and Education for Sustainable Development recommendations (Climate Action Project, 2025), often remains dilemmatic due to organisational opposition to this vital, necessary change (Gillberg, 2025).
Municipal leadership may neither acknowledge nor support education for sustainable development on preschool leaders’ terms: no earmarked funding is made available, and organisational leadership is reluctant or entirely averse to consider professional concerns linked to the national curriculum.
Climate action competence, however, is not only hope-inspiring but also develops professional agency in head teachers and teachers. Preschool leaders have the ethical conviction to create appropriate opportunities for action-taking despite organisational opposition.
Preschool leaders are ethically committed to acting, even amid organisational opposition.
Agency in education settings generally involves curricular interpretations which necessitate some form of lifelong learning for any teachers engaged in education for sustainable development. Such interpretations may include the building of more connections, for example with local communities, wildlife, colleagues at national and international levels, and researchers. Agency can also mean facilitating lifelong learning about ecological issues and global climate actions in support of both personal and professional development.
SOME HEAD TEACHERS consistently create learning opportunities towards education for sustainable development. These professional achievements and personal commitment to professional development and lifelong learning should be recognised as exemplary by senior municipal leadership and other overarching organisation.
Also, the expertise of these teachers in leading for sustainable change ought to be utilised in other organisational settings, even outside of the education system. Those settings could include, for example, the children’s parents’ workplaces, the wider community that delivers organic compost to a preschool, local paediatricians and primary care nurses.
LEARNING AND LEADING for sustainable change need not be costly but require organisational and knowledgeable support. This means organisational leadership willing to earmark government funding towards preschools that explicitly work towards climate action competence.
Knowledgeable support means the ability to prioritise future generations’ well-being. Hence, some of the municipal budget should be redirected towards future-proofing today’s generation of preschool children, and beyond.
Budgets require a shift toward future-proofing today’s preschool children.
Creating opportunities for professional learning about climate change and ways to incorporate educational tools and pedagogically appropriate measures for change towards sustainability competence will eventually lead to climate action (Climate Action Project, 2025; Gillberg, 2025).
Such facilitative leadership towards climate education is not only fully cognisant of the scientific facts (Morrison, 2025; Ripple et al. 2025). It is also cognisant of the necessity of climate-action-competent teachers, savvy children and communities (UNESCO, 2024).
Ultimately, leading towards climate action competence is an ethically and professionally conscious choice which senior leaders in governing bodies, and beyond, should meet with intellectual curiosity and open-mindedness.
IN SUMMARY,
- Climate action competence is key for civic life and planetary wellbeing
- A Whole School Approach and Education for Sustainable Development are strongly recommended towards building climate action competence in alignment with wider civic present and future needs
- Facilitative leadership cognisant of the scientific facts is conducive to creating opportunities for professional and lifelong learning
The “I argue” series of columns features texts written by researchers, each presenting a well-argued statement on a topic of their research.
References:
Climate Action Project, Climate Action Education Report 2025., available at https://www.climateactionproject.org/docs/CAE-Report.pdf accessed 15 November 2025
Gillberg, Claudia (2025). Leadership for sustainability and democracy – critical action learning and the implementation of ESD in preschools in Sweden. Action Learning: Research and Practice, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767333.2025.2510799
Morrison, A. (2025). ‘New Reality’ as World Reaches First Climate Tipping Point. University of Exeter News, 13 October 2025. Available at https://news.exeter.ac.uk/research/new-reality-as-world-reaches-first-climate-tipping-point/
Ripple, W. J. et al (2025). The 2025 state of the climate report: a planet on the brink. BioScience, 29 October 2025. Available at https://doi.org/10.1093/biosci/biaf149
UNESCO (2024). Greening Curriculum Guidance, Teaching and Learning for Climate Action. https://www.unesco.org/sites/default/files/medias/fichiers/2024/09/Greening%20curriculum%20guidance%20Teaching%20and%20learning%20for%20climate%20action.pdf
Claudia Gillberg, PhD, is a Senior Research Associate with the Lifelong Learning Research Group at HLK, Jönköping University. She is currently employed as research lead by Värnamo municipality, Sweden, for a three-year critical action learning project for professional preschool educators in Sweden.
She draws on a Whole Systems Approach (WSA) to effect transformative change towards social and ecological sustainability, resulting in meaningful knowledge sharing, in-depth knowledge building about climate change, and all aspects of sustainable development towards Climate Action Competence (CAP).
With a background in lifelong learning, organisational development and critical disability studies, Gillberg has facilitated sustainable change in formal and informal education, the Ukrainian Institute in London, the Australian Trade Commission in Frankfurt, Routledge Publishers London, and the Centre for Welfare Reform, UK.
In recent years, she has been committed to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) to raise awareness among social scientists for the need to learn more about climate science and ecological sustainability.
