Open letter to all state educational institutions and political decision makers
Dear Madam, dear Sir,
At the beginning of their careers, teachers commit themselves to serve children as
conscientiously as they can. They also pledge to work to protect the values enshrined in
the Constitution. However, this oath or contractual obligation poses a real dilemma for
teachers in the face of climate policy decisions at state and federal level.
Article 20a is an elementary provision of the Constitution, especially from the
perspective of today's youth and the next generations. Here it says: "The state protects
the natural foundations of life also in responsibility for future generations". What
answer should teachers give their schoolchildren to the question of why laws are passed
that quite obviously violate Article 20a? Laws that help to further increase the
CO2 content in the atmosphere? The retention of coal-fired power generation
until 2038 or the climate package of the German government alone is classified by science
as "absolutely insufficient".
With the Fridays for Future movement in 2019, it was schoolchildren
who spread the conviction that climate justice and protection of the natural foundations
of life are part of the political core business. Their appeal that politicians should
stick to commitments already made is conservative in the best sense of the word and
anything but rebellious. But it is already clear today that the current measures are far
from sufficient to achieve the Paris climate target, which is binding under international
law, and to limit global warming to a reasonably safe 1.5 degrees with an acceptable
probability.
The teachers' dilemma becomes even greater in view of the fact that many refugees are
already climate refugees. By 2050, several hundred million people will have to leave their
homes due to catastrophic climate conditions. What should a teacher answer when
asked in class why our government seems to willingly accept this humanitarian catastrophe?
And what should a teacher answer who is asked why the German government is allowing German
companies worldwide to drive up CO2 emissions while undermining ecological and
social standards?
Teachers in our country should be able to explain to our children and young people that
their state is doing everything possible to ensure that the goals of the Constitution
are not lost sight of. That, as we experience it in the context of Corona, even in the
much more profound climate crisis, it is doing everything possible to shape a future
worth living in accordance with the sustainable development goals of the United
Nations.
At the moment they cannot: without decisive action in the climate crisis, our
schoolchildren lack any hope that they will experience a future to which they are entitled
under the Constitution.
How should teachers explain this dilemma to their schoolchildren?
We need a climate policy that offers our schoolchildren a secure future and restores
meaning to the educational efforts of schools.
With kind regards,
