This project will strengthen the resilience of educational systems in Cambodia, South Sudan, and Tonga by retrofitting schools with climate-resilient features, integrating early warning systems, and embedding climate risk into education policies and planning. It supports GCF’s ambition to scale up investments in early warning systems and resilient infrastructure in climate-vulnerable sectors, advancing replicable models for systemic adaptation.

Climate change is disrupting education systems in Least Developed Countries and Small Island Developing States, leading to school closures, higher absenteeism, and increased dropout rates due to rising temperatures, floods, and droughts. Addressing these challenges is essential to protect learning continuity and build long-term resilience for children and communities. 

 The BRACE project will strengthen educational systems by integrating climate resilience into school infrastructure, policy, and planning. It will retrofit schools with climate-smart features, implement early warning systems to reduce disruptions, and support curriculum reform. Ministries of education will be supported to access climate finance and embed education in national climate strategies, while knowledge-sharing platforms will promote learning and replication across countries. 

GCF will provide USD 40.75 million in grant funding to support implementation across Cambodia, South Sudan, and Tonga.  Co-designed with the Global Partnership for Education, BRACE is the Fund’s first education-focused climate resilience initiative. It sets a transformative precedent for integrating climate resilience into educational systems and unlocking global scale-up opportunities. 

 GCF's Project Preparation Facility (PPF) support was deployed to help develop the project.

Building the Climate Resilience of Children and Communities through the Education Sector (BRACE)

<p>Project information is sourced from Green Climate Fund. Please check terms of use for citation and licensing of third party data.</p>

Gender action plan for FP274: Building the Climate Resilience of Children and Communities through the Education Sector (BRACE)

Project

Cambodia

South Sudan

Tonga

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

People whose sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression differs from the majority or societal norms

People who are less able to respond to the effects of climate change due to having limited financial or physical assets

An integrated system of hazard monitoring, forecasting and prediction, that enables individuals, communities, governments, businesses and others to take timely action to reduce disaster risks in advance of hazardous events.

Financial actors and resources that are primarily directed towards climate change mitigation, adaptation and compensation.

Dedicated pool of financial resources for climate-related projects.

Aligning the skills of the workforce with the requirements of the just transition.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Conditions that enhance the feasibility of adaptation options. Enabling conditions include finance, technological innovation, strengthening policy instruments, institutional capacity, multi-level governance and changes in human behaviour and lifestyles.

Actions to adapt human health, healthcare systems and well-being to climate change.

Actions and measures to adapt and increase resilience of societies and the economy to climate change.

Hot temperature extremes are daily maximum temperatures  that were exceeded on average once in a decade or once in 50 years, and includes heatwaves.

Risks to the ecosystem health of the marine environment, including ocean warming, ocean acidification, and ocean deoxygenation, harming biodiversity, species health, ecosystem services, and coastal community livelihoods.

Extreme weather refers to events where a weather variable exceeds (or falls below) a threshold. Meaning it is significantly different from the average or usual weather pattern.

A drought is an extended period of unusually dry weather marked by a significant and sustained lack of precipitation, falling below a specific threshold over a large area for more than a month

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Social inclusion is the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

People with different national or cultural traditions from the dominant population

Work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for all, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity.

People whose health, both mental and physical, makes them more vulnerable to the effects of climate change

People who have left their homes, whether through force, voluntarily, or a mixture of both

woman and genders outside of the gender binary

Activities that involve planning, designing and building infrastructure, residential, and commercial structures.

Activities that provide lodging, food, and entertainment services to guests, including hotels, restaurants, and resorts.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Activities of businesses and institutions that provide financial services and products to individuals and organisations.

Activities that involve the cultivation of crops and raising of livestock for food, fibre, and other products essential for human life and industry.

the fair distribution of risks and opportunities of climate change and the transition to a regenerative economy, cognisant in particular of disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities and the working class

Procedural justice means ensuring that decision making is safe, transparent and inclusive, emphasizing the agency and influence of vulnerable groups and those most impacted.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Heavy precipitation refers to any form of weather where substances fall from the sky, including rain, snow, sleet, or hail.

Gender action plan for FP274: Building the Climate Resilience of Children and Communities through the Education Sector (BRACE)

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Climate justice

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance