Model Lily Cole Wants Everyone to Have a Climate Education

The scale of the problem facing the planet hasn’t reached the masses. This is what keeps Lily Cole up at night. — As told to Jess Shankleman

What keeps me up at night is the distance between what the science is asking us to do and the extraordinary level of transformation that’s required on all levels of society in order to avoid the most catastrophic impacts of climate change.

I don’t think education is the only lever, but I think it’s one of the key levers, because only with understanding the scale of the challenge will we galvanize the level of action that’s required.

There’s formal education, in terms of schools and universities and the critical role they can play in raising awareness, and developing solutions, which is why I’m backing the MadeatUni campaign. Academics have a huge role to play in imagining alternative economic possibilities. Universities in the UK have taken a more proactive position in driving research and development. For example, my university has the Cambridge Zero plan, which is trying to galvanize its research facilities toward meeting this challenge.

You’re seeing a lot of education coming out of the youth and educational facilities, but I don't think it’s yet reached the level of mainstream understanding that we need. Awareness is growing, but there’s still a gap in the true understanding of the scale of the problem.