Education seeks to achieve profound, long-term changes in understanding, particularly among young people. It involves developing educational curricula, training trainers and teachers, and adequate pedagogies. The results of a successful programme would ultimately be a population whose deep-seated appreciation of the climate challenge leads to greater national action and commitment. 

Climate change is a complex global problem that crosses national borders. It is connected to many other issues, from global poverty and social inequality to biodiversity loss and natural resource depletion. This complexity makes climate literacy and awareness of what it takes to shape a low-emissions and equitable future pressing. 

Public awareness initiatives seek to enhance general understanding, impact attitudes, and help people make climate-friendly choices. Popular media, such as television, radio, and print, together with social media, are among the most important means of communication and outreach. This entails spreading information about the causes and effects of climate change and the practical and creative solutions that are urgently needed. 

While public awareness strategies are grounded on efforts to share information as widely as possible, they also enable diverse voices to contribute to global and local discussions. 

Training programmes seek to spread specific practical skills that can have an immediate  practical application. Examples include the ability to gather and interpret climate data, conduct inventories of national emissions, and identify climate-friendly technologies. Training is about learning by doing – individuals, communities and organizations can all benefit from ongoing learning. 

Moreover, training initiatives have a strong multiplier effect. Strategies and projects with a strong train-the-trainer element can ensure that best practices travel fast and can be scaled up from local to national and regional levels. 

Public participation recognizes that everyone’s voices matter. By ensuring that people can participate effectively in climate change decision-making and implement climate mitigation and adaptation activities, governments should seek to integrate civil society perspectives and mobilize the general public. In some places, this will prompt profound changes to how political leaders and civil servants are accustomed to working and encourage people to be more attentive to policy-making. 

Closely related to building public awareness are many actions that ensure climate information remains transparent and accessible. Public access to information is not just about the dissemination of knowledge. This is crucial in order to develop and implement effective policies and to engage people actively in implementing these policies. Public access to information encompasses the feedback loops and mechanisms that connect decision-makers, practitioners, and those directly impacted by the adverse impacts of climate change to share their understanding and experience. 

Technologies such as databases and the internet facilitate the provision of climate information, data and statistics to all citizens. 

International cooperation and exchange can play a major role in strengthening ACE efforts.  

Strong international cooperation is required to mobilize resources, knowledge, and expertise to advance the implementation of education and public awareness, training, public participation and access to information