Climate change in higher education across the US
Tracking policy action
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 17757651 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kristen Hargis (University of Saskatchewan Department of Educational Foundations, , Saskatoon, corresponding author), Marcia Mckenzie (0000-0002-8037-8059, University of Melbourne Faculty of Education, , Melbourne) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-21 |
| Publication date | 2026-04-02 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1467-6370 • E-ISSN: 1758-6739 |
| Publisher | Emerald Publishing Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1108/ijshe-01-2025-0010 |
| OpenAlex | W7147514756 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 33 |
Purpose Education, in general, and higher education institutions, in particular, play a crucial role in driving the societal changes needed to address the climate crisis. While growing, there is still relatively little research on the inclusion of climate change in higher education, either within or across institutions, including in relation to education policy. Design/methodology/approach Higher education policies from all 50 US states and Washington D.C. were collected and analyzed for climate change content. Policies were collected and analyzed using a whole institution approach across the areas of: overall governance, teaching and learning, facilities and operations, community engagement and research. Findings Most institutions had no climate change content in their policies. When present, climate change was included to a very low extent. Climate change content was usually found in overall governance and facilities and operations policies and focused on reducing greenhouse gas emissions through carbon offsets or renewable energy credits. Universities with larger student populations that were research intensive or climate- or sustainability-affiliated tended to have more climate change content. Institutions in states that were Democrat-led, had a climate plan or were climate-affiliated also had more climate change content. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to benchmark how US higher education institutions include climate change in education policy
Action plan · Climate change · Climate commitment · Corporate governance · Greenhouse gas · Higher education · Political economy of climate change · Sustainability · Climate Change Communication and Perception · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Sustainability in Higher Education
Renewable energy certificates threaten the integrity of corporate science-based targets
University air travel and greenhouse gas mitigation
Action learning partnerships
A comprehensive review of environmental, sustainability and climate change curriculum in Taiwan’s higher education institutions
Education and Climate Change
The polarizing impact of science literacy and numeracy on perceived climate change risks
Meta-analyses of the determinants and outcomes of belief in climate change
Towards coherence on sustainability in education
Carbon neutrality should not be the end goal
It’s time to (climate) change the way we teach
Justice in climate change education
Is the 1.5°C target possible? Exploring the three spheres of transformation
Narrative matters for sustainability
Global education policy mobilities and subnational policy practice
Bearing worlds
Learning to teach climate change as if power matters
Climate change education and research
Climate fiction and young learners’ thoughts—a dialogue between literature and education
The unbearable heaviness of climate coloniality
To address the Anthropocene, engage the liberal arts
Teaching climate change in the Anthropocene
| Highly cited | No |
|---|