Washington, Jun 3 (IANS): Education ministers from across the globe are being urged to prioritise quality climate education as a major outcome at the next UN Climate Conference when they meet in Italy as part of the Group of 20 (G20) round of meetings.

An international alliance of labour and teachers' unions, green groups, youth and parents' organisations, research institutes, and international organisations issued a statement on Thursday underlining the importance of climate literate citizens in combating climate change.

The groups involved, representing millions of people across the globe, also see quality climate education linked to strong civic engagement as key to better decision-making by governments, green jobs, and building a new, stronger, and more sustainable 21st century economy.

The Joint Civil Society Statement on Climate Education Ambition, focusing on the G20 meeting in Sicily on June 22, argues technological shifts and innovations in areas such as clean energy and electric mobility will be crucial towards achieving the goals of the landmark Paris Climate Change Agreement.

But it also states that without the behavioral change made possible through climate and environmental literacy, the long-term goal of 'net zero' by 2050, to which increasing numbers of nations aspire as the safety line, will be tough to realise, if not impossible.

Research suggests that individual behavior changes around food and waste, agriculture, transport, and heating can reduce 20-37 per cent of emissions -- this is vital for the world to keep climate change in check and within science-based safety limits, the statement argues.

Rebecca Winthrop, Co-Director of the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution, said: "Early studies also suggest that students who learn about climate action influence not just their own choices, but their families' and communities' as well. Education systems should urgently empower young people with the knowledge, skills, and mindset to act on climate in their families and communities."

Kathleen Rogers, President of EARTHDAY.ORG, said: "We wanted to issue this collective statement to let the Italian G20 Presidency and the G20 Education Ministers know that a strong outcome on climate education would have strong backing worldwide -- citizens, labour, teachers, youth, parents, development organizations, academics, and green groups are right behind them."

Since its official launch in September 2020, EARTHDAY.ORG's Climate and Environmental Literacy Campaign now has over 550 signatories from organizations in over 100 countries representing hundreds of millions of professionals from the environmental, education, faith, justice, and labour sectors.

David Edwards, General Secretary of Education International, which represents nearly 33 million unionised teachers in close to 180 countries, said: "2021 needs to be the year where climate education moves from being a nice to have to being a core in every child's educational life. It also needs to be the year when governments agree that teachers are supported to deliver this."

"It is fitting that the crucial meeting of G20 Education ministers is happening under the presidency of Italy, one country that has already announced its commitment and its understanding of the urgent need for quality, compulsory, climate education," he added.