European Association for International Education (EAIE) Blog, November 2023
Global news brings more evidence of the impact of climate change each day, and this year more than ever. More than 70,000 delegates are about to converge in Dubai for COP28. It marks a milestone moment as they review commitments made under the 2015 Paris Agreement. At the same time, international educators are stepping up their own commitments, joining forces to measure and track climate action across the sector.
We all know international education is a force for good. We need students to travel across borders, to foster greater mutual understanding and to enrich the education experience for all. However, to demonstrate our commitment to climate action, we need to start to measure it, compare it, and track changes over time. Why? ‘What gets measured gets done’. Without hard data, real positive change can be hard to achieve. Experience tells us that external comparators drive better-informed institutional decision-making.
International Education Sustainability Group (IESG) co-founders Ailsa Lamont and Nannette Ripmeester explore the importance of measuring environmental sustainability in international education on the EAIE blog.