The Education Policy Outlook, the OECD’s analytical observatory of education policy, is a collaborative effort between OECD countries and economies, the OECD Secretariat, and invited organisations, as well as all actors working within participating education systems, to help students achieve their potential.

The commitments outlined in the 2022 OECD Declaration for Building Equitable Societies Through Education underscore a crucial reality: the imperatives of sustainable and equitable societies are no longer concerns for some distant tomorrow; they are pressing issues for all of us today. For tens of thousands of years, the place of humankind on the planet was a relatively insignificant one. All ancient cultures submitted to the forces of nature. Today, it is the planet and all its species that are dependent on humans for their survival and well-being. As humans, we are now accountable for the well-being and survival of life on earth. Education is key to help us rise to this challenge. It can help us fulfil the balancing act between fostering sustainability, keeping the world we know in balance, and resilience, helping us to live in an increasingly imbalanced world.

Environmental sustainabilityis a key global megatrend influencing education and training policy in 2024, alongside digitalisation, and equity, inclusion and diversity. There is no inherent trade-off between achieving environmental sustainability and addressing other megatrends. The Declaration on Building Equitable Societies Through Education (2022) recognised ‘the unique potential’ of education 'to build strong foundations for equitable, inclusive, sustainable democratic societies’.

What global changes are expected to drive education in 2024 and for the next few years to come? This chapter provides an overview of key global megatrends (including short-term change and disruption and accelerated longer-term evolutions) influencing education systems in 2024, explaining some of the related implications for the transition towards greener and fairer societies. It will connect these trends to sustainability to explain why reinforcing it through education today is central for societies and economies.

Today’s education systems have tremendous potential to foster the cultural change and resilience required to tackle the climate crisis at scale. The OECD Declaration on Building Equitable Societies (2022) includes a commitment to support countries to foster environmental sustainability through education. Yet, policy efforts have typically focused on top-down, curriculum-oriented approaches over bottom-up efforts that empower all learners to take action. This chapter explores recent and promising or impactful policy efforts to foster environmental agency and engagement among all learners, and to empower educators and education institutions to nurture a culture of collective environmental action. Drawn from this analysis, the chapter presents emerging policy lessons to support policy makers to translate learners’ environmental awareness into action in 2024 and beyond.

The increasing frequency of extreme weather events and the imminent prospect that the planet will cross climate tipping points in the coming years mean the transition towards a low-carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive economy has become an immediate priority for 2024 rather than a distant goal. The OECD Declaration on Building Equitable Societies Through Education (2023) outlines countries’ commitment to ensuring that education and training equips people of all ages and backgrounds with the skills they need to thrive through this transition. To achieve this vision, policymakers must go beyond simply embedding green skills in the curriculum and updating the training offer. This chapter therefore explores how policymakers can provide all learners with active learning experiences that empower them to shape the green economy, drawing on an analysis of recent data and promising or impactful policy efforts. This analysis leads to policy lessons to guide policymakers efforts in 2024 and the mid-to-long-term.

Education must be at the forefront of strategic and short-term planning for economic and broader green transformation. Education shapes individuals’ behaviours, values, and purposes. It inspires community action and influences local economies. At systemic level, it drives global economies and policy agendas. Adopting the lens of policy implementation, this chapter explores the role the education sector currently plays in the transition to greener and fairer societies, perceptions of this role and collaborations with other sectors, and ways in which education can be better positioned for greater impact in the shorter term, with policy pointers for 2024.