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The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD 2005-2014): the first two years Year of publication: 2007 Corporate author: UNESCO The implementation of the DESD has made considerable progress since its international launch in March 2005. Apart from regional and national launches, progress has been achieved in both institutional and programmatic areas at international, regional and national levels. The objective of this report is not solely to highlight and showcase to Member States all that has been achieved in the two years since the international launch. The report also takes stock of on-going UNESCO initiatives, established prior to the Decade, which are providing major contributions to the implementation of the DESD, and thus cannot be by-passed. Equally important are the recommendations to remedy problems in the implementation of the DESD and strengthen those measures that are working efficiently. 
UNESCO-Weltkonferenz bildung für nachhaltige Entwicklung, 31. März-2.April 2009, Bonn: Tagungsbericht Year of publication: 2009 Corporate author: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) | German Commission for UNESCO As the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) approached its midpoint, the “UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development – Moving into the Second Half of the UN Decade” was held from 31 March to 2 April 2009 in Bonn, Germany. It brought together 900 participants from 147 countries, among them 49 Ministers and Deputy-Ministers. Participants included representatives of UNESCO Member States, UN agencies, civil society organizations, education institutions, youth, and the private sector, as well as individual experts. The Conference was organized by UNESCO and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, in cooperation with the German Commission for UNESCO. The programme was developed in consultation with an international advisory group. UNESCO world conference on education for sustainable development: 31 March-2 April 2009, Bonn, Germany: proceedings Year of publication: 2009 Corporate author: German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) | German Commission for UNESCO As the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) approached its midpoint, the “UNESCO World Conference on Education for Sustainable Development – Moving into the Second Half of the UN Decade” was held from 31 March to 2 April 2009 in Bonn, Germany. It brought together 900 participants from 147 countries, among them 49 Ministers and Deputy-Ministers. Participants included representatives of UNESCO Member States, UN agencies, civil society organizations, education institutions, youth, and the private sector, as well as individual experts. The Conference was organized by UNESCO and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, in cooperation with the German Commission for UNESCO. The programme was developed in consultation with an international advisory group. 
UNESCO strategy for the second half of the United Nations decade of education for sustainable development Year of publication: 2010 Corporate author: UNESCO The UNESCO Strategy for the Second Half of the United Nations (UN) Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (DESD) draws on the findings and lessons learnt from the first phase of the DESD monitoring and evaluation (M&E) process (as reflected in the 2009 DESD M&E report Learning for a Sustainable World: Review of Contexts and Structures for Education for Sustainable Development. It also builds on the UNESCO World Conference on ESD and the Bonn Declaration as well as on the outcomes of other key international ESD meetings. The Bonn Declaration gives particular emphasis to the importance of education for the global development agenda and underlines the essential contribution of ESD to shaping the purpose, content and quality of all education. The UNESCO strategy will be implemented in line with the International Implementation Scheme (IIS), which, along with the Bonn Declaration, will provide the global strategic framework for UNESCO and its DESD partners during the second half of the Decade. The Strategy takes into account key DESD regional challenges and opportunities. It is also shaped by the shared vision of education emerging from the four 2008-2009 UNESCO international education conferences: one of education systems that encourage equity and inclusion, quality learning, flexibility and innovation. While UNESCO puts highest emphasis on achieving Education for All (EFA), the Organization’s actions in education extend beyond this, to pay explicit attention to inclusion, social cohesion and social justice, to lifelong learning and to the crucial role of higher education and research. The overall goal of the UNESCO Strategy for the Second Half of the DESD is to support Member States and other stakeholders in addressing global sustainable development challenges at regional, national and global level through ESD, thus addressing the challenges of learning for bringing about a more sustainable world. Water education for sustainable development: a global synthesis Year of publication: 2012 Corporate author: International Hydrological Programme (IHP) Water education is key to achieve the water related MDGs. While there is a range of materials and projects focusing on water-related education, these are not well connected to offer customised solutions to individual countries. Some of the limitations identified with the existing water education include use of outdated, biased or irrelevant information; poor medium of instruction; lack of continuity between different levels of water education; lack of integration with the wider curriculum and with local knowledge; lack of practical relevance to local and community needs; lack of resources; and poor linkages with locally available professional bodies. The programme on “Water Education” is an initiative of the International Hydrological Programme (IHP) of UNESCO, Water and Sustainable Education focused on an integrated understanding of biological and hydrological processes at a catchment’s scale in order to create a scientific basis for a new, cost-effective and systemic approach to the sustainable management of freshwater resources. Education for sustainable development good practices in early childhood Year of publication: 2012 Corporate author: UNESCO To support the growing interest in early childhood issues and ESD, UNESCO is publishing this volume containing 12 examples of programmes addressing ESD in early childhood settings and practices. These good practices and shared experiences, which were provided by a range of different stakeholders, are concrete examples of successful implementation of ESD in different fields and sectors, from the political to the school level, and including formal, nonformal and informal learning situations. Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the Inaugural Lecture on: Diverse Societies, Inclusive Democracies: New Skills for a Sustainable World, Organized by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace Year of publication: 2014 Corporate author: UNESCO. Director-General, 2009-2017 (Bokova, I.G.) This document is the address of Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the inaugural lecture on: Diverse Societies, Inclusive Democracies: New Skills for a Sustainable World, organized by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Education for Peace in Delhi, India, 25 November 2014. She insisted the importance of social integration, the human rights for all and education for sustainable development. Education for sustainable development and climate change Year of publication: 2009 Corporate author: UNESCO The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in its 2007 report, stated unequivocally that humans are contributing to climate change. People’s actions are intensifying the climate’s natural variability, and the Earth’s temperature is rising. Scientists make a distinction between climate variability (where climatic variations are attributable to natural causes) and climate change (where human activities are altering the atmospheric composition). Human induced (or anthropogenic) climate change is caused by increased production of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide (CO2), methane and nitrous oxide. Carbon dioxide, the main contributor, is produced primarily by the burning of fossil fuels — oil, gas and coal. Although methane occurs in smaller quantities than CO2, it has higher warming effects. Increased methane production is linked to increased levels of livestock farming for meat production. Warming of permafrost areas in Siberia and Canada may also contribute significantly to an increase of methane emissions, since permafrost lakes store methane gases. Increases in greenhouse gas production are directly linked to the post-1750 period of industrialisation in Western countries. These gases now far exceed the natural rate of greenhouse gas production as measured in pre-industrial era ice cores spanning many thousands of years. The IPCC projects that global average temperatures are likely to rise by 1.8 - 4 degrees Celsius by 2100. This might sound small, but the difference between today’s temperatures and the last Ice Age is around 4-5%. A small temperature rise is likely to have a substantial impact. It may also take many years for the real impact of current rises in temperature to show. Even if people substantially reduced CO2 emissions tomorrow, the atmosphere would go on warming for a long time to come. Changes in temperature will impact on the whole of the Earth’s system, and on human activities everywhere. Projected impacts include warming of the oceans, melting of the icecaps, sea level rise, unpredictable weather patterns, increased flooding and droughts, loss of biodiversity, changes in agricultural productivity, increased health risks, massive human migration and economic decline. Scientists are worried that change will be faster than expected due to ‘positive feedback’, which is a process where the warming fuels itself, causing accelerated temperature increase. The acceleration of climate change needs to be reduced urgently, and everyone everywhere needs to be involved. Address by Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the International Seminar on Climate Change Education; UNESCO, 27 July 2009 Year of publication: 2009 Corporate author: UNESCO This document is the address of Mr Mr Koïchiro Matsuura, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the International Seminar on Climate Change Education; UNESCO, 27 July 2009. He presented the climate change issues and highlighted the importance of education for sustainable future. Fostering safer and resilient communities: a natural disaster preparedness and climate change education program Year of publication: 2009 Corporate author: UNESCO Jakarta The Asia and the Pacific region is vulnerable to many natural disaster and expected impacts from climate change. In 2006, 74% of people killed by natural disasters were in Asia, with Afghanistan, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Vietnam among the countries most badly affected. Natural disasters such as windstorms, floods, droughts, earthquakes in combination with human-induced conditions such as deforestation, pollution, soil erosion collectively contribute to serious challenges for communities and governments. Climate change impacts are imminent and inevitable. The consensus among natural and social scientists, economists, and policymakers is that climate change is the most important challenge that this planet faces. It is pervasive, touching on every facet of the environment and human life including the environment, economy, transportation, communication, food production, and health. The temporal and geographic scale is wide. The projected economic, health, and societal costs put forth by experts are extraordinary. For example, the total economic cost of climate change threats could be an annual loss of 6-7% of Southeast Asian countries’ GDP by the end of the century, and the Pacific sub-region will see a sea-level rise of 0.19-0.58 meter by 2100 severely changing the lives of more than 50% of the people that live within 1.5 km of the shoreline leading to relocation, water and power shortages, and submerged infrastructure. Climate change impacts in Asia and the Pacific is particularly serious because of the fact that: 1) over 60% of the global population reside in Asia and the Pacific; 2) it has the most extensive coastline of any geographic region; and, 3) many of the world’s largest cities are located along Asian coasts. The impact of climate change in sea level rise would impact small island states such as the Maldives and Kiribati, and many of Asia’s largest coastal cities, such as Jakarta, Bangkok, Manila, Shanghai, and Ho Chi Minh City. Tens of millions of people in Asia may have to be resettled. Further, the expected greater intensity of cyclones and typhoons could have a larger impact than before on Bangladesh, China, India, Vietnam, and the Philippines, whose coastal areas already encounter among the world’s worst weather-related disasters year after year. Parts of many countries in Asia, including Northwestern India, Western China, and almost all of Pakistan, are already suffering from shortages of water, as well as land degradation and desertification, which will be further exacerbated by climate change. The World Conference on Disaster Reduction held in January 2005 in Kobe, Japan, adopted the Framework for Action 2005-2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters (referred as the “Hyogo Framework for Action” – HFA). The framework emphasizes the need to understand the linkages between disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, and that stakeholders work toward reducing disaster vulnerabilities of communities by helping them build their capacity to deal with disasters.