The Association of Colleges (AoC) said that less than 1 per cent of college students are currently on a course with broad coverage of climate education and that £1.5bn would be needed to transform classrooms and provide the equipment needed to train people for green jobs.
The body has written a joint letter to Boris Johnson, the COP26 president, the business secretary and the education secretary arguing that the ambition for a green economy is at risk without the next generation, as well as adults who need to retrain, having access to the education and skills they need to equip them for green jobs.
The government announced its net-zero strategy on Tuesday with broad plans to decarbonise areas including transport, waste, energy, heat, and fuel alongside a widely criticised initiative to provide £5,000 grants to homeowners in order to install heat pumps.
But the AoC said these efforts will need to include both young people and those within existing workforces...