NetZeroED

In collaboration with the DfE, school partners and a Youth Advisory Board, this project addresses the question: How can curriculum designers provide better Net Zero education for the next generation?

Achieving Net Zero is arguably the defining challenge of the 21st century, and education holds immense—yet still underutilised—potential to drive transformative change. Around the world, climate change education is gaining momentum, often spurred by the demands of students and teachers. However, a persistent gap remains between high-level curriculum ambitions and the everyday reality in classrooms.

As the quantity of climate change education balloons, there is growing urgency to address its quality. The rise in attention to climate change education represent huge opportunities, yet the interdisciplinarity of climate knowledge, its breadth, complexity and dynamism, the deeply politicised nature of Net Zero, its contested relationship with questions about justice, and the deluge of low-quality information, all present policy makers and classroom teachers with considerable challenges.

England is entering a key period of curriculum reform, led by the Department for Education’s Curriculum Review Group. This offers a timely and strategic opportunity to embed high-quality Net Zero education. The wider political context—marked by weakening Net Zero commitments and delays to key milestones—adds urgency. In this climate of uncertainty, education offers as a realistic, scalable, and long-term lever for change.

Globally, more than a billion young people are in school. What they learn—and how they learn—about Net Zero will profoundly shape their ability generate political will, advocate for meaningful action, and elevate the quality of public discourse. Equipping and empowering young people will unleash the creativity, ingenuity, and scientific expertise needed to meet this challenge. This Sprint brings together Oxford’s interdisciplinary expertise with the insights of practitioners and policymakers, including close collaboration with the Department for Education, the David Ross Education Trust and a Youth Advisory Board. It will deliver the Oxford Net Zero Education Framework to support curriculum designers in creating meaningful and ambitious climate education for all.