— the CHALLENGE

Despite education's clear contributions to climate mitigation and adaptation, its potential to attract co-investment from climate finance remains significantly underutilised. The core problem is a gap in evidence and methodologies linking educational interventions to measurable climate outcomes—making it difficult for education projects to meet the eligibility criteria of many climate funders. Some climate benefits of education, particularly those dependent on behavioural change, manifest through complex, indirect causal chains over long timeframes, compounding the challenge.

Thematic area

PRIMARY SERVICE

— WHAT WE DID

Unbounded Alliance led the research, writing, and synthesis of this paper, commissioned through the CLEAN Help Desk (funded by FCDO).

• Developed a conceptual framework mapping five education pathways to climate mitigation, adaptation, and resilience outcomes
• Conducted a rapid desk review of academic and grey literature on education's contributions to climate action
• Conducted expert interviews to fill gaps in the literature, including on methodologies for carbon markets and climate finance
• Assessed the strength of the evidence base for each pathway and identified data and methodology gaps
• Produced recommendations for how the education sector can strengthen its case for climate co-financing
• Integrated a GEDSI-sensitive lens throughout, examining equity and inclusion dimensions of climate finance for education

— THE IMPACT

The paper provides education and climate stakeholders with a comprehensive, actionable map of five pathways through which education investments can drive climate outcomes—from climate-smart school infrastructure to foundational learning—identifying where evidence is strong, where gaps remain, and how to unlock new climate finance opportunities. It positions education as a critical, investable climate strategy at a moment when both climate urgency and education funding pressures are acute.