Italy is to become the first country in the world in which the study of climate change will be made compulsory in schools! Under a new law, all state schools will dedicate around an hour a week to sustainability and climate change issues from the beginning of the next academic year, said Lorenzo Fioramonti, Italy’s education minister. That would amount to around 33 hours a year.

“This is a new model of civic education centred on sustainable development and climate change. It’s a new subject that will be taught from grade 1 – 13, from the ages of 6 through to 19.”

The syllabus will be based on the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals, including how to live a more sustainable lifestyle, how to combat the pollution of the oceans and how to address poverty and social injustice.

“Italy will be the first country in the world to adopt this framework. There are countries like Bhutan which focus on happiness and well-being rather than GDP, but this is the first time that a country has taken the UN agenda and turned it into a teaching model.” said the minister, who was appointed education minister two months ago.

“The law has been passed. So unless there is a new government that really hates the law and destroys it, it will be implemented. It goes beyond this government.”