The impact of climate change on education outcomes: a systematic review

The review explores the direct and indirect effects of climate change on children's learning, the mechanisms driving these impacts, and the interventions that can build resilience at individual, community, and system levels. Human-caused climate change is driving extreme weather events with increasing frequency and scale, causing significant damage to life, infrastructure, health, nutrition, and education. With the world currently on track for 2.7°C of warming this century (nearly double the 1.5°C target), it is the most vulnerable people and systems that bear the greatest burden. While climate impacts on ecosystems and infrastructure are well understood, the effect on education and learning outcomes remains under-recognised in international discourse—notably, the annual COP conference includes no space for negotiations on education, and there is no consensus on the interventions needed to support climate-resilient education systems.

This systematic review addresses that gap by examining how major climate hazards (floods, droughts, cyclones, wildfires, and temperature variations) affect educational outcomes for children in low- and middle-income countries. It explores both the direct and indirect effects of climate change on children's learning, the mechanisms driving these impacts, and the interventions that can build resilience at the individual, community, and system levels. By focusing exclusively on human-linked climate hazards (excluding events like earthquakes and volcanic eruptions), mapping clear pathways to impact, and drawing on quantitative evidence of causal linkages, the study offers a rigorous, actionable contribution to both the education and climate communities.