Building Climate Warriors:

Why Education is Key to Disaster Resilience

By Dr Rajendra Shende

Founder Green TERRE Foundation

Former Director UNEP , IIT Bombay alumni  Coordinating Lead Author of IPCC 2007

While global carbon management efforts fall short, climate disasters escalate alarmingly. Since 1990, trillions in damages and hundreds of thousands of lives lost paint a grim picture. From 2000-2019 alone, over 7,300 disasters claimed 1.23 million lives and caused nearly $3 trillion in losses (ScienceDirect.com). Events have increased five-fold in 50 years.

Recognizing this urgent parallel challenge, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at the recent International Conference on Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (ICDRI Europe 2025), stressed a critical solution: "integrating climate resilience and disaster management into higher education."

PM Modi called for embedding dedicated courses, modules, and skill development programs within universities. This creates a skilled workforce ready to tackle future climate shocks. He further advocated for a global digital repository to share best practices and learnings from nations rebuilding resiliently after disasters.

This focus is vital. Efforts toward Net Zero must proceed concurrently with building resilience. Higher education institutions are uniquely positioned to act as "living laboratories," fostering practical, 'learning by doing' approaches.

Initiatives like the Green TERRE Foundation’s Smart Campus Cloud Network (SCCN) exemplify this strategy, turning campuses into hubs for developing crucial climate resilience and disaster management skills. Investing in education today builds the resilient societies of tomorrow.