The chapter examines the complex relationship between environmental education and climate justice in India, tracing both historical developments and current challenges. The author begins by establishing that while climate change represents an urgent global crisis, conventional educational approaches have been inadequate in addressing its full complexity, particularly in Global South contexts where climate impacts intersect with existing social and economic inequalities.
The historical analysis reveals that India has a rich tradition of environmental thought in education, with figures like Rabindranath Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi advocating for locally-rooted environmental education long before global environmental movements emerged. However, post-independence policies shifted toward Western models of modernization and development, moving away from these Indigenous approaches to environmental education.
The paper identifies several key limitations in current environmental education approaches. The dominant focus on scientific literacy and technical solutions fails to address the sociopolitical dimensions of climate change, particularly questions of historical responsibility and global inequality. The information-deficit model of education proves especially ineffective for climate change due to cognitive limitations and sociocultural barriers that create disconnects between knowledge and action.
The author highlights how the environmental discourse in the Global South faces unique challenges. Climate change discussions can be seen to detract from what for many are more immediate local environmental concerns, like pollution and water scarcity. Additionally, proposed climate solutions can sometimes perpetuate environmental injustices, such as when renewable energy projects displace Indigenous communities.
The paper presents several promising alternatives through examination of civil society organizations and grassroots movements in India. These initiatives demonstrate how environmental education can effectively integrate climate justice by connecting it to local contexts and existing environmental struggles. Organizations like Teachers Against the Climate Crisis and various youth climate networks show how education can foster critical consciousness about climate justice while promoting collective action.
Looking forward, the author argues for developing new learning alliances that can bridge different knowledge systems and foster transformative change. This requires moving beyond purely technical approaches to embrace Indigenous knowledge, local practices, and alternative visions of development. Educational institutions need to create safer platforms for collective thinking and action while supporting critical, justice-oriented curriculum development.
The chapter concludes that effective climate justice education must build on existing grassroots initiatives and local knowledge systems rather than imposing standardized global approaches. This is particularly crucial in countries like India that face both significant climate vulnerability and complex development challenges. The author emphasizes that the fight for climate-relevant education is part of a larger struggle to create educational approaches that are critical, humane, justice-oriented, and ecologically responsive.
The research contributes significantly to understanding how environmental education needs to evolve to address climate justice, particularly in Global South contexts. It demonstrates the importance of moving beyond technical solutions to engage with historical inequities, local knowledge systems, and alternative visions of development. The paper provides valuable insights for educators and policymakers working to develop more effective and equitable approaches to climate change education.
The Bottom Line
This book chapter examines how environmental education needs to evolve to address climate justice, particularly in the Indian context. The author argues that conventional environmental education has focused too narrowly on climate literacy and technical solutions while neglecting crucial sociopolitical, historical, and cultural dimensions. The chapter demonstrates how grassroots movements and civil society organizations in India offer valuable models for developing more contextually relevant and justice-oriented climate education approaches.