Ms Aoibh?nn Doyle:

I thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to appear here today. My name is Aoibhínn Doyle. I will be talking about the importance of the effective implementation of climate action education.

Implementation, by dictionary definition, is the process of putting a decision or plan into effect. In other words, execution. It can often be summarised by that key term. Although creativity, adaptability and innovation are extremely important when it comes to climate action education, it goes hand-in-hand with the implementation of the course, which is why it is so vital that this subject is not only innovative but also effective in its execution.

Climate change is a challenge that we as young people often feel we face alone. That feeds into the disconnect and hopelessness that many young people feel about this issue. According to the Psychological Society of Ireland, one of the main things that we can do to reduce climate anxiety among young people is to educate and raise awareness about this issue. This can be done through climate action education in schools. Currently, there is only a basic concept of climate action education in schools and even still, many of my peers still express their frustration over multinational corporations' lack of accountability on this issue. This proves that through further climate action education, students will be equipped to have their voices heard. On this issue, we recommend that a task force which would connect students to the business community be established in order that MNCs can be actively questioned on this issue.

In a survey of 1,053 participants conducted by ECO-UNESCO Ireland in 2022, 84% of young people said that they are involved or wish to be involved with climate action, 34% say they do not have enough knowledge on this issue and 32% stated that they do no have enough skills in relation to climate change.

Ralph Ellison said that education is all a matter of building bridges, and with this in mind we recommend the following actions be taken. A circular mandating that all primary, post-primary and education centres appoint climate action officers who would have a voice on both the student councils and boards of management of their schools should be issued. We also recommend educating students about climate change through climate action education in schools. We further recommend bridging the gap between students and their local representatives, which can be done through climate action education and schools, respectively. I thank the committee.