The 2024 Hurricane Beryl underscored the urgent need for climate-resilient planning in Caribbean education, particularly in Grenada and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, where infrastructure losses were catastrophic. Loraine St. Louis Nedd, Permanent Secretary of Grenada’s Ministry of Education, highlighted that nearly all school structures on Union Island, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique were destroyed, disrupting the very foundations of education and necessitating extensive rebuilding efforts.
In response, the first regional workshop of the Climate Smart Education Systems Initiative (CSESI) was held from 16-19 September 2025, involving Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The initiative, funded by the Global Partnership for Education and implemented with UNESCO, IIEP, and Save the Children, aims to integrate climate adaptation and sustainability into educational planning, budgets, and strategies. CSESI, launched in 2023 in Malawi, Zimbabwe, Cambodia, and South Sudan, will expand to 35 climate-vulnerable countries by 2026.
CSESI assists Caribbean governments in developing climate-sensitive data systems, conducting gender-responsive risk analyses, and planning adaptation measures to safeguard students, teachers, and schools. The initiative also strengthens curricula and teacher training to prepare learners for increasingly extreme weather and climate events. Mariana Clucellas, IIEP training coordinator, emphasized that technical expertise combined with local knowledge is essential to translating climate-smart planning into actionable strategies.
Data-driven planning is a cornerstone of the initiative. Strengthening Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) and integrating climate and gender-disaggregated indicators enable ministries to respond effectively to climate events and build resilient education systems. Neva Pemberton, senior consultant for CSESI, stressed that without adaptive systems, investments in addressing systemic education challenges remain vulnerable, with consequences worsening during crises.
Schenelle Leonce, Chief Planning Officer for Saint Lucia’s Ministry of Education, highlighted the tangible impacts of climate change on education, including rising temperatures and the influx of Saharan dust, and emphasized the value of CSESI in supporting evidence-based planning. Collaboration across agencies, policies, and stakeholders was also highlighted as essential. Loraine St. Louis Nedd noted that sustained inter-agency coordination ensures education systems are better prepared, with the right data and strategies in place when crises strike.
