How Educational Psychologists Can Support Climate Action Plans for Schools
- louiseedgington
- May 20
- 4 min read
Young people today are growing up in a world marked by rapid change, with the climate and ecological crisis being among the most significant challenges we face. This year, all schools in England are expected to implement whole-school Climate Action Plans (CAPs), a cornerstone of the Department for Education’s (DfE, 2023) Sustainability Strategy. Educational psychologists have a unique role to play in supporting teachers and school sustainability leads in shaping these CAPs—not only as a tool for addressing environmental challenges but also as a pathway to improving pupil wellbeing and resilience.
DfE’s Sustainability Strategy—An Overview
The DfE has outlined flexibility in the requirements for CAPs, which must address four key areas:
Decarbonisation: Lowering school emissions and involving pupils in the journey toward net zero.
Biodiversity: Enhancing green spaces and fostering connections with nature.
Adaptation and Resilience: Preparing school buildings and systems for climate impacts.
Climate Education and Green Careers: Equipping pupils with knowledge and skills for a climate-impacted future.
CAPs are led by School Sustainability Leads, ideally supported by a team that includes senior leaders, estates staff, teachers, parents, and pupils. To ensure success, CAP goals should be monitored, reviewed, and celebrated within the school community.
Promoting Pupil Wellbeing Through Climate Action
CAPs are often seen as an additional responsibility for schools, but reframing them as an opportunity to enhance pupil mental health and resilience can be transformational. Educational psychologists can help schools tap into the mental health co-benefits of effective CAP implementation.
1. Decarbonisation: Combatting Climate Anxiety
Research indicates that many young people experience climate anxiety, often coupled with feelings of betrayal by older generations who they perceive as inadequately addressing climate issues (e.g. Hickman et al, 2021). By demonstrating proactive climate action, schools can reassure pupils that their future is being prioritized, creating a sense of care for pupil futures.
Strategies for EPs to recommend include:
Ensuring the entire staff body contributes to the CAP, reinforcing collective responsibility.
Empowering pupils through project-based learning, eco-clubs, and councils.
Encouraging schools to celebrate climate efforts through assemblies, newsletters, and displays.
2. Biodiversity and Nature Connection: Building Relationships
Supporting biodiversity initiatives is more than building bug hotels. It's about fostering an understanding of interconnectivity—that humans are an integral part of ecological systems. Strengthening connections with nature can address disconnection, which underlies many mental health difficulties.
EPs can advise on:
Incorporating systems thinking into lessons, such as exploring the lifecycle of materials and the impact of human activities on ecosystems.
Providing spaces for emotional expression and empathy, where pupils can share concerns and ideas.
Supporting teachers in processing their own climate-related emotions through wellbeing circles (e.g. Climate Staffroom)
3. Adaptation and Resilience: Safeguarding and Empowerment
With extreme weather events becoming more common, preparing schools for climate-related risks is crucial for pupil safety. Well-prepared schools can instill confidence in pupils and demonstrate that adults are equipped to protect them.
Recommended strategies include:
Advising schools on robust safeguarding practices, including communication protocols for extreme weather or disruption to public services.
Making allowances or provision for the adverse effects of temperature on cognitive performance and aggression in pupils (Wargocki et al., 2019)
Encouraging backup systems for utilities, such as water and internet, to minimise disruption. Consideration of remote learning plans to minimize disruption due to travel difficulties.
Promoting emotional resilience by modeling tolerance for uncertainty and change—e.g., through affirmations or mindfulness exercises.
4. Climate Education and Green Careers: Preparing for the Future
To help pupils navigate a climate-impacted world, it’s essential to incorporate climate and environmental understanding across the curriculum. Educational psychologists can support teachers in balancing difficult facts about planetary boundaries, earth systems and the interconnectivity of global threats (e.g. Pfenning-Butterworth et al., 2024) with the emotional care pupils need to process this all.
EPs can contribute by:
Facilitating CPD sessions for teachers on climate literacy, age-appropriate communication and eco-emotional support.
Encouraging critical thinking skills, such as comparing sources of information and discussing bias in media.
Supporting schools in embedding emotional regulation practices like mindfulness into the daily routine.
· Address Thinking Traps: Teach pupils to recognise and challenge negative thought patterns. Provide examples of common thinking traps and strategies to overcome them (see image).
CAPs: A Pathway to Relational Resilience
Psychologically-informed CAPs offer schools an opportunity to address environmental challenges while nurturing pupil wellbeing. EPs can act as key advocates and advisors, helping schools and communities turn the climate crisis into a powerful opportunity for growth and care for our home, each other and ourselves.
References:
Department for Education (2023). Sustainability and climate change: a strategy for the education and children’s services systems. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sustainability-and-climate-change-strategy/sustainability-and-climate-change-a-strategy-for-the-education-and-childrens-services-systems
DfE funded schemes for schools’ sustainability support:
Hickman, C., Marks, E., Pihkala, P., Clayton, S., Lewandowski, R. E., Mayall, E. E., ... & van Susteren, L. (2021). Climate anxiety in children and young people and their beliefs about government responses to climate change: a global survey. The Lancet Planetary Health, 5(12), e863-e873.
Pfenning-Butterworth, A., Buckley, L. B., Drake, J. M., Farner, J. E., Farrell, M. J., Gehman, A. L. M., ... & Davies, T. J. (2024). Interconnecting global threats: climate change, biodiversity loss, and infectious diseases. The Lancet Planetary Health, 8(4), e270-e283.
Wargocki, P., Porras-Salazar, J. A., & Contreras-Espinoza, S. (2019). The relationship between classroom temperature and children’s performance in school. Building and Environment, 157, 197-204.
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