Mumbai: Students were motivated to take climate-positive action such as reducing the use of plastic in daily life after completing the Cambridge Climate Quest programme, according to a study released on Thursday.
The study, an independent evaluation of the Cambridge Climate Quest programme, was conducted by Professor Nidhi Singal and Dr Camilla Hadi Chaudhary from the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and included inputs from over 1,200 students from 18 schools in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.
The programme was conducted across 43 schools in four states from July 2024 to November 2025, and 7,000 students completed it.
Nearly 59 per cent of students reported feeling motivated to take climate-positive action after completing the programme, and identified practical steps such as reducing energy use, avoiding single-use plastics, planting trees, recycling, and raising awareness within their communities.
Students also recognised that climate action requires collaboration between citizens, businesses, governments and communities.
The study also found that students do not want fear-driven narratives and instead sought credible information, practical knowledge and meaningful opportunities to contribute.
Climate education should empower rather than overwhelm, equipping them to understand both the scale of the challenge and the solutions available to them, students said.
"Interest in climate issues increased from around 40 per cent before the programme to more than 61 per cent afterwards. What stood out even more was the breadth of their thinking. Students were not viewing climate change only through an environmental lens, they were connecting it to public health, social justice, equity, technology, innovation and future careers," Professor Singal said.
The findings suggest that climate literacy should be viewed as a foundational future skill rather than a niche environmental topic, she noted.
This report was published from a wire feed. Apart from the headline, the EdexLive Desk has not edited the copy.