The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions
Citation: Cordero EC, Centeno D, Todd AM (2020) The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions. PLoS ONE 15(2): e0206266. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0206266
Research Headline
High quality climate change education can be as effective in reducing carbon emissions as other solutions such as rooftop solar or electric vehicles.
Abstract
Strategies to mitigate climate change often center on clean technologies, such as electric vehicles and solar panels, while the mitigation potential of a quality educational experience is rarely discussed. In this paper, we investigate the long-term impact that an intensive one-year university course had on individual carbon emissions by surveying students at least five years after having taken the course. A majority of course graduates reported pro-environmental decisions (i.e., type of car to buy, food choices) that they attributed at least in part to experiences gained in the course. Furthermore, our carbon footprint analysis suggests that for the average course graduate, these decisions reduced their individual carbon emissions by 2.86 tons of CO2 per year. Surveys and focus group interviews identify that course graduates have developed a strong personal connection to climate change solutions, and this is realized in their daily behaviors and through their professional careers. The paper discusses in more detail the specific components of the course that are believed to be most impactful, and the uncertainties associated with this type of research design. Our analysis also demonstrates that if similar education programs were applied at scale, the potential reductions in carbon emissions would be of similar magnitude to other large-scale mitigation strategies, such as rooftop solar or electric vehicles.
Research Results
Conjecture Map
Fig 1. Conjecture map illustrating the connection between the course design elements, the mediating processes (e.g., observable interactions) and the intervention outcomes.
In the course design column, the item superscripts indicate an alignment with predictor variables (i.e., 1—entry level; 2—ownership; 3—empowerment).
Energy-Related Actions
Fig 2. Survey results for questions related to how often participants make choices to reduce carbon emissions as a result of the COMM 168 course.
The blue bars represent the percentage of students who agreed with the survey response, while the orange bars represent the impact in carbon emissions in percent relative to the total reductions.
Reductions in Carbon Emissions
Fig 3. The distribution of carbon emission reductions (tons/year) for participants (n = 104) as a result of the COMM 168 course
Impact of Education on Carbon Emissions
Research Context
Climate change education is the missing link to solving the climate crisis. Until now, very few studies were able to quantify the role that education could play on responding to the climate crisis. We developed a unique way to teach climate change and our analysis demonstrates that if such an education approach were done at scale, education would be one of the top mitigation strategies for reducing climate change - bigger than installation of solar panels and adoption of electric vehicles.
Researchers at San Jose State University have quantified the impact of education on reducing individual carbon emissions. The recently published paper in PLOS ONE -- “The role of climate change education on individual lifetime carbon emissions” (Cordero, Centeno and Todd, 2020) -- demonstrates that students in California who received a high-quality climate change education went on to reduce their personal and household carbon dioxide emissions by an average of nearly 3 tons per year compared to the average Californian. The study reveals that if similar education programs were applied at scale, the potential reductions in carbon emissions would be of similar magnitude to other large-scale mitigation strategies, such as wide-scale adoption of rooftop solar or electric vehicles.