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Our world is undergoing two transformational and concurrent transitions: the green transition and the digital and artificial intelligence (AI) transition. While both transitions hold promise to help us realize a better future and achieve national and international goals for development, they are often perceived as distinct, or even in conflict.

Education is the key to bringing these transitions into harmony and confluence, argues Stefania Giannini, UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Education. It can shape a new kind of citizenship – one that is committed to harnessing the power of digital technology to drive and accelerate the green transition. Her new paper “Bridging the digital and green transitions” explores how education might link the green and digital transitions to support a sustainable and prosperous future, with four concrete ideas for action. The main points of the essay are summarized and adapted below. 

The urgency of the green transition cannot be overstated. Despite growing awareness and calls for action, we continue to push the climate and natural environment to withstand new extremes of strain. While the green transition struggles to gain momentum, the digital and AI transition is fully underway and profoundly affecting how we live, communicate, work and learn. 

The digital transition often appears to be working against the green transition, leading to a perception that the two are fundamentally at odds. However, Ms Giannini argues that these transitions can be brought into alignment, so that they work in tandem to improve human and wider planetary well-being. Her paper is centred on four ideas that provide a roadmap to leverage technology in education.

First, we need technology to help understand climate change through multimedia and interactive digital tools. By providing a platform for both knowledge dissemination and dynamic engagement, digital technology can be an ally in building awareness about sustainability and equipping learners with the skills and understanding needed to take action to rebalance our relationship with the climate and natural environment.

By using technology to facilitate hands-on experiences, schools and communities can deepen understandings of sustainability and empower students to adopt environmentally responsible behaviours. 

Technology, in general, and AI, in particular, are instrumental in driving research and innovation to promote green energy solutions. Technology optimizes renewable energy sources like solar and wind, advances climate adaptation strategies, supports sustainable agriculture, and enhances waste management, among many other uses. 

Finally, and perhaps most important, we must equip a new generation of global citizens with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours to confront today’s interconnected challenges, including climate change.

When used thoughtfully and critically, technology is a powerful and versatile tool for global citizenship education. However, to harness this potential, education must prioritize approaches that integrate digital literacy, sustainability, ethical participation, creativity and emotional intelligence. 

This will help learners develop the mindset and skills needed to bridge the green and digital transitions.

As the 2030 deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals approaches, Stefania Giannini argues that education provides the means of connecting the global digital transition with the green transition that we – and the natural world upon which we depend – so urgently need.