Report

Integrating the Education Sector Into the National Adaptation Plan Process

A briefing for NAP teams with a focus on children’s education

To build a climate-resilient education sector, adaptation must be at the centre of decision making. This requires coordination, collaboration, and action among education and climate change actors, which are core aspects of the national adaptation plan (NAP). This report provides an overview of a climate-resilient education system, highlighting enabling factors and key considerations for including the education sector in the NAP process.

By Jennifer Merryweather, Jessica Cooke on May 12, 2026

Key Messages

  • Education is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change—but also critical to building the resilience of communities.

  • To build a climate-resilient education sector, adaptation must be at the centre of decision making.

  • Bridging the gap between education and climate change adaptation requires collaboration among key actors. The NAP process can support these two sectors in coordinating and acting together.

Education is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change—but also critical to building the resilience of communities. Human-induced climate change is already disrupting learning and destroying infrastructure, disproportionately affecting the most fragile education systems. To build a climate-resilient education sector, adaptation must be at the centre of decision making. This requires coordination, collaboration, and action among education and climate change actors, which are core aspects of the NAP process. 

Developed in partnership with Save the Children, this report aims to support NAP teams to consider the education sector in the NAP process. It provides an overview of a climate-resilient education system, particularly as it relates to children, and highlights enabling factors and key considerations for including the education sector at each stage of the NAP process. 

The report was developed through desk-based research, a review of evidence, tools, and approaches used in the Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative and by the NAP Global Network, and case studies.

Report details

Topic
Climate Change Adaptation
Project
NAP Global Network
Impact area
Climate
Publisher
IISD
Copyright
IISD, 2026