Education! Education! Education!

I was delighted to find references to education and art’s power to change the world all over the COP today, not just at the Education hub. The day started though, as always (apart from tomorrow but more on that tomorrow…) with the trade union constituency meeting.

Massive shout-out and thanks to my UNISON comrade Tony who did week one and gave me such detailed advice and instruction that I actually found everything and everywhere on time (despite the site being MASSIVE!). Even my free water bottle, train pass and, of course, the security pass. In fact I was checked in and ready so early that I had time to follow-up with Tony’s contact, in the youth hub, from deMontfort University in Leicester, where EVERY course now has a module related to sustainability and climate change.

In the ITUC meeting we heard from reps that we really need to nail down the language of Just Transition to make sure workers’ rights are included in all the agreements. We then heard from an interesting guest speaker, Jonas Kuehl, from the International Institute for Sustainable Development, who was able to report on the data regarding “NDCs” (nationally determined contributions to decarbonising from countries). The data counted how many countries actually had the words “social dialogue” in their agreements. We then went on to share our own experiences of not having proper dialogue as workers but, more typically, “tick-box consultations”.

There was an amusing moment when several business men came into the union meeting and sat listening. Bert then took over the microphone and asked them to introduce themselves. “What union are you?” he said and they replied “Beijing” so were then asked politely to leave the private meeting.

Next up was the “high level ministerial meeting of the first annual meeting of the Greening Education Partnership” (snappy title!). There wasn’t originally going to be a teacher on the panel that was discussing how to make schools and the curriculum green. Thanks to Education International’s lobbying, I was allowed three minutes to speak…on…guess what? Just Transition! Changes to education and the curriculum MUST include teachers- they can’t deliver it without us!! Actually the Education ministers of Somalia and South Sudan agreed, as did Brazil, and also Finland (whose speaker was a Finnish ambassador to the UAE, not a member of their new far right government!). Barroness Barran also spoke in this meeting and I was able to present to her afterwards the artwork from some Year 2 pupils that I’d referred to in my speech, a piece called “We are all responsible”. She seemed delighted, though sadly she was restricted to a 2 minute speech thanks to the late arrival of the Princess of Morocco throwing the timing.

A mad dash then took me to the opposite end of the site (it’s like a kind of mad, surreal fitness programme) as I was late for a pre-arranged meeting with MPs from the Labour Climate and Environmental Forum. These MPs were really engaging and listened and asked lots of questions about what we wanted. I again explained the true meaning of a just transition for workers (all work sectors of course, not just education!) and the need for public funding and public services. We were joined by Lord Adair Turner who led on a letter to governments regarding cutting fossil fuels today (as opposed to offsetting) and he listened and nodded when I explained most workers cannot afford electric cars and need good public transport instead and affordable homes near to where they work. It led to a good discussion.

My next stop was the UK pavilion where I delivered the other artwork, calling for us to save the planet, by the pupils of St Matthew’s Leeds. The two civil servants I met there were genuinely impressed by the art and its messages and selected a few to hang up in “the drab room upstairs where the ministers meet”; let’s hope this focusses their discussions…

More Greening Education Partnership meetings in which again, I seemd a lone voice in stating that teachers need to be included and need to lead on changes to curriculum, etc,…..and then I attended a showing at the big dome of a film of children’s voices from around the world where they implored COP to “stop talking and writing and ACTUALLY DELIVER!”

And although Dubai really isn’t my thing (I agreed with the American woman in the women’s carriage on the way home saying she likes hearing birds sing and seeing trees outside the window), they’re pretty good at this kind of stuff: