Interview | Climate education starts with teachers: How Central Asia can learn from Japan

For this interview, CAPS Unlock spoke with Professor Hiroki Fujii, UNESCO Chair in Research and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), and director of the ESD Promotion Centre at Okayama University in Japan. ESD refers to an approach to teaching and learning that equips learners with the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes needed to build a more sustainable and just future.

This is the first of two interviews with international experts that we are publishing as part of our effort to bring a more global perspective to climate change education. While Professor Fujii’s work is rooted in the Japanese context, his reflections offer valuable insights for Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries. His experience reminds us that climate education is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Understanding local contexts, whether they are cultural, institutional, or curricular, is essential when adapting global ideas to regional realities. Climate change is a global problem, but the solutions must be grounded in place, and informed by the experiences of others, as Professor Fujii explained.

CAPS Unlock: What have been the main challenges in integrating climate change education into Japan’s teacher training system? Are there structural or societal factors that have made this difficult?

Professor Fujii: Climate change education is a relatively new field in Japan, formally introduced in 2010. It gained momentum after COP18 in Doha in 2012, when the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and UNESCO launched the Doha Work Program to promote awareness and education on climate issues.

Since then, governments and other sectors have taken steps to enhance climate education. At our center, we focus especially on teacher training, since many of us are teacher educators. A major challenge is integrating climate content into already packed curricula. Implementing it effectively requires clear policies, but often it depends on individual educators’ interests. As a chemistry educator, I’m personally committed to this, and subjects like science, geography, and biology are natural fits. But not all colleagues share the same level of interest or feel they have the time.

In Japan, the lack of national guidelines is a serious barrier. Each university designs its own teacher education program, as the Education Ministry does not provide common standards. This is unlike some Southeast Asian countries, where the central government plays a more active role.

As a result, progress varies widely and depends on individual effort. Social attitudes also matter. In Japan, there is relatively little public engagement with climate action. Unlike in Europe or North America, youth-led movements and climate demonstrations are rare and receive little media coverage. This weak societal pressure further slows the uptake of climate change education.

CAPS Unlock: In many countries, climate education starts with national curricula or standards. But in Japan, did your efforts begin by working directly with teachers?

Professor Fujii: That’s right. We’ve taken both top-down and bottom-up approaches, but much of our work has focused on teacher education. We regularly compile reports on our projects and share them with Japan’s Domestic Committee for UNESCO. These reports help raise awareness about the importance of climate change education in both teacher training and school systems.

Although our influence is limited, we’ve built a strong network with teacher education institutions and UNESCO Associated Schools; there are about 10,000 worldwide, including 1,000 in Japan. Our Education Ministry and the UNESCO committee take note of our practices, and they may eventually consider integrating these ideas into the national curriculum.

In the meantime, we’re pushing forward with teacher-focused initiatives. We’re planning national training sessions in collaboration with the Pacific Culture Center for UNESCO, which coordinates the Associate Schools in Japan. Through online training, we aim to spread practical climate education tools across the country.

CAPS Unlock: Here in Kazakhstan, we face similar challenges. People are more familiar with education for sustainable development (ESD), but climate education still gets less attention. We think it’s essential to highlight climate change more directly. How is this balance approached in Japan?

Professor Fujii: In Japan, the Education Ministry presents a general framework for ESD on its website. It lists various topics, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, disaster risk reduction, renewable energy, peace and human rights, sustainable consumption, and poverty. While climate change is included, it’s treated as just one topic among many.

But climate change is different. It’s more urgent and interconnected with everything else. It influences biodiversity, energy use, consumption habits, and even peace and social stability. That’s why we believe it should be prioritized and given more dedicated time in education.

UNESCO also recognizes this urgency. Two years ago, it launched the “Greening Education Partnership” to push climate education across school management, teaching, teacher training, and adult learning, as part of an eight-year plan. Still, in Japan, many decision-makers continue to view climate as just another ESD topic. We think a shift in mindset is needed.

Climate change is not just one issue. It is the issue that links them all.

CAPS Unlock: How do students in your region understand climate change, especially in terms of their own behavior and leadership? Have you seen any differences across countries?

Professor Fujii: Yes. Last August, we conducted a survey of sixth-grade students, children aged between 11 and 12, in Japan, South Korea, China, and Mongolia. It was a large-scale effort supported by the UNESCO Beijing office, with 1,000 students surveyed per country.

The results were very telling.

Students in Mongolia and China showed strong motivation to become climate leaders. By contrast, Japanese and South Korean students were more inclined to support others rather than lead themselves.

We also looked at consumption habits. Students in all four countries, including Japan, buy a lot of clothes, often from fast-fashion brands like Uniqlo. But very few made the connection between clothing production and climate change. The same disconnect often exists among teachers too.

While awareness of climate change is growing, understanding how personal choices relate to it, especially in terms of leadership and consumption, still needs much more attention.

CAPS Unlock: Given how much consumer behaviour drives climate change, how are these issues reflected in Japan’s school textbooks? Are subjects like home economics or science helping students make the connection?

Professor Fujii: In Japan, home economics is taught from grade five, and while it covers sustainable consumption, it rarely links that to climate change.

Even in science, where climate topics could fit naturally, progress is slow. I sit on a national textbook committee that includes professors, teachers, and scientists. I often push to include climate content, but some members argue that science textbooks should stick to core knowledge, and that climate change, with its social aspects, belongs in social studies.

Still, we try to find common ground. It’s slow, but important work. Interestingly, language subjects like English and Japanese have made more headway. Because they’re text-based, it’s easier to include readings about the SDGs or climate change and build lessons around them.

So, while progress in science and home economics is limited, language education has become a useful entry point for climate topics in schools.

CAPS Unlock: In Kazakhstan, we often look to traditional knowledge, like sustainable nomadic practices, as a way to support climate education. Are there elements of Japanese culture or lifestyle that can serve a similar purpose, even if they need to be adapted?

Professor Fujii: Yes, traditional knowledge definitely has value. In Japan, people once lived in very sustainable ways. For example, traditional houses were designed to stay cool in summer by opening doors and allowing air to flow through. But in winter, they weren’t well insulated. People just used small stoves to warm specific spots.

Today, most homes follow more Western designs, with poor natural ventilation and no central heating. In summer, we rely heavily on air conditioning, which increases electricity use. And with rising temperatures (now often over 35°C in places like Hiroshima, compared to 32–33°C thirty years ago) returning to old housing methods isn’t realistic.

Still, some traditional practices are very relevant. One good example is food. Eating locally and seasonally, as people used to do, can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While not everything from the past can be reused, some aspects of our heritage still offer practical lessons for today.

CAPS Unlock: Are younger people in Japan showing interest in more sustainable, nature-based ways of living?

Professor Fujii: We are seeing a shift. While older generations still focus on economic growth and status, many young people in Japan now prioritize quality of life and well-being. Few aim to become company directors. Instead, some are exploring simpler lifestyles; working in farming, fishing, or moving to rural areas to escape the fast pace of big cities like Tokyo.

They’re thinking more deeply about what happiness means and are increasingly drawn to nature-based solutions to today’s problems. This change in values could be a strong foundation for promoting sustainability and climate action through education.

CAPS Unlock: How can we engage teachers who may be apathetic or skeptical about climate change education?

Professor Fujii: Teachers play a vital role in climate education. They convey subject knowledge across disciplines, but knowledge alone isn’t enough. The real challenge is helping students turn understanding into action. Teachers need to guide students in transforming both themselves and society, which requires more than just teaching content or critical thinking. It means motivating students to act, and that’s not easy.

Part of the difficulty is that many teachers themselves haven’t had training in self-motivation or leadership. In the past, Japanese students developed these skills through school events like cultural or sports festivals, where they had to collaborate, plan, and solve problems as a team. These experiences taught empathy, responsibility, and how to work with others. That is essential for any kind of social or environmental action.

But such activities have become less common today, leaving a gap in both student and teacher experience.

CAPS Unlock: How do school-based experiences like collaboration and decision-making support climate education?

Professor Fujii: Climate education depends on democratic procedures, like working with others, discussing ideas, weighing options, and making joint decisions. These are the kinds of skills students used to build through school activities, and they’re essential for tackling climate issues as a community. Unfortunately, many young teachers in Japan today (over half of them are under 35) haven’t had enough chances to develop these skills themselves.

At the same time, many older teachers are nearing retirement, and there’s a gap in mentoring. So even as climate education demands collaborative and problem-solving approaches, many educators haven’t experienced this kind of learning in practice. If we want to build a generation ready to act on climate, we need to ensure teachers themselves feel confident navigating those same democratic, participatory processes.

CAPS Unlock: Can you tell us about the outcomes of your teacher education network and how they’re shaping the next phase of climate education?

Professor Fujii: Yes. In February, we completed the first phase of the Asian Teacher Educators for Climate Change Education Network, which ran for four years. Our main achievement was the Asian Framework of Teacher Education for Climate Action, a leading guide for integrating climate education into teacher training. We also published a dissemination guide to help institutions apply the framework.

Now, we’ve launched the second phase with partners like Abay National Pedagogical University [in Kazakhstan]. This includes developing an online course for teachers, which will span one semester and offer certification. Each partner institution will design one 90-minute lesson. The first few weeks will cover theory, and later modules will share practical examples, including classroom strategies from Kazakhstan and other countries. Teachers will learn not just concepts but also how to apply them in school settings.

CAPS Unlock: How do you make sure these outcomes actually reach and influence ministries, schools, and students?

Professor Fujii: We use a bottom-up approach. During the first phase, we shared the framework and research findings with Ministries of Education, UNESCO offices, and national education bodies. This helps raise awareness at policy level.

We’re also expanding the reach through online courses backed by real-world learning. For example, if a lesson focuses on desertification, schools can organize field visits to affected areas. This kind of hands-on experience brings the issues to life.

In the future, we plan more student exchanges, especially for future teachers. Abay University already hosted students from Indonesia and Malaysia, combining classroom learning with field visits. Japanese students visiting Mongolia, where climate impacts are visible, have found it especially transformative. These experiences help young teachers connect global issues with local realities, which is something textbooks or videos alone cannot fully achieve.