Climate change, and its effects, have been highlighted more frequently and with more urgency in media across the globe during the past decade. This phenomenon – which is threatening livelihoods, biodiversity, sustainability, and human settlements – is only expected to worsen. In 2023, with the return of El Niño phenomenon1, scientists are expecting the effects of climate change to be further exacerbated – with unprecedented heat waves, drought, wildfires, and intensified severe weather events (Mahdawi 2023).

Current and upcoming effects of climate change directly affect human mobility within and across countries. This often-forced mobility has immediate repercussions on the fulfillment of human rights, notably the right to education.

This report aims to examine the barriers to education as a result of climate change and climate displacement, taking into account the policy implications of heightened human mobility. The comparative analysis contained is based on research undertaken in four regions around the globe (Central America and the Caribbean, Asia-Pacific, South-Eastern Europe and East Africa).

The key conclusion of the analysis is that climate change poses direct and indirect threats to the fulfillment of SDG 4 and the right to education in all four regions studied.