By Nouman Alam
Nouman’s Journey: A Personal Reflection
Back in 2004, my hometown, Kaka Khel in Lakki Marwat, Pakistan, was hit by severe floods due to extreme rainfall. The devastation was widespread—houses collapsed, crops were destroyed, roads became inaccessible, and water sources were polluted. However, beyond the physical destruction, the biggest loss for my family was education.
While my schooling was disrupted, my sisters faced even greater challenges. As a boy, I had the freedom to navigate the dangerous roads, but cultural norms and safety concerns prevented my sisters from continuing their studies. The only girls’ school in the area became unreachable due to frequent floods, and with no alternative learning options, they fell behind. Eventually, they had to drop out altogether, losing their chance at education.
This experience opened my eyes to how climate change, coupled with societal barriers, disproportionately affects girls’ education. It fueled my passion to use education as a tool to empower communities and build resilience.
The Birth of Climate Class Connection
In 2021, I joined Teach For Pakistan, where I witnessed how climate change disrupts education, especially for children. The urgency of this issue became even clearer in 2022 when floods destroyed nearly 26,000 schools across Pakistan. More than 7,000 schools were converted into shelters, disrupting the education of 3.5 million children, including thousands of girls in refugee villages. In Lakki Marwat, entire villages were severely impacted, with schools serving as shelters for months, making it even harder for girls to return to their studies.
Despite these hardships, many in the community saw climate disasters as fate rather than a problem they could address. Even teachers believed that tackling climate change was solely the government’s responsibility, leaving communities feeling powerless.
In response, I founded Climate Class Connection (CCC) in 2023, a platform that uses education to build climate resilience and leadership among young people. Our initiative is built on four key pillars:
1. Training Teachers and School Leaders
We equip teachers and school leaders with the skills to integrate climate education into their lessons through interactive methods like storytelling, outdoor learning, and hands-on activities. By making climate education relatable, we empower students to understand and address the environmental challenges around them.
2. Engaging Students in Climate Action
We encourage students to develop innovative solutions for environmental problems in their communities. Through debates, discussions, and creative competitions, they gain confidence and leadership skills. Many students have now become climate advocates, leading change within their schools and neighborhoods.
3. Connecting Communities for Collective Impact
Parents play a crucial role in climate action. We involve them through community dialogues and workshops, where students, teachers, and local leaders collaborate on solutions. Events like mother-student workshops help families learn about sustainable practices together and implement them at home.
4. Advocating for Policy Change
We work closely with policymakers through workshops and advocacy efforts to expand our impact. Our collaboration has helped CCC grow into 10 schools across Pakistan, influencing communities to adopt climate-conscious behaviors. By participating in global conferences like Schools2030 and TeachersCOP, we share our best practices and push for systemic change.
Building a Movement for Sustainable Change
Since its inception, Climate Class Connection has empowered over 1,200 students, including 700 girls, by equipping them with climate knowledge and leadership skills. One of our proudest achievements is Climate Bethak, an initiative where female teachers, students, mothers, and local leaders work together to address environmental challenges like deforestation. By breaking cultural barriers, this platform fosters collective action and long-term sustainability.
Our goal is to expand this initiative to more schools across Pakistan, bringing more teachers, students, and families into the movement for climate resilience.
A Call to Action
My story is just one example in a country where climate change is reshaping lives every day. We must ensure that no child is forced to give up on education, no teacher feels helpless in the face of adversity, and no family remains vulnerable to environmental challenges.
I invite educators to become climate role models in their classrooms, policymakers to prioritize climate resilience in education strategies, and community leaders to raise the voices that often go unheard.
The time to act is now. Together, we can build a greener, more resilient future—one classroom, one community, and one bold step at a time.