Environmental Education Ontario

Groundbreaking Report: Fossil Fuel Influence on Children’s Education in Canada

Anne Keary, of For Our Kids and Environmental Education Ontario, in partnership with Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE), released a groundbreaking report about the extensive influence of the fossil fuel industry on K-12 climate education in Canada.

"Polluting Education: The Influence of Fossil Fuels on Children’s Education in Canada,” written by For Our Kids and EEON member Anne Keary, and Ontario teacher Jennifer Chesnut, with support from the Raffi Foundation for Child Honouring, finds that oil and gas companies have been funding and supplying misleading climate education to children across the country.
At least 39 oil and gas companies and 12 industry-tied organizations, including Shell, TC Energy and Pathways Alliance, are involved in climate education, either by supplying education materials directly to schools, through government partnerships, or funding third-party nonprofits. These industry-supported education materials often downplay the fossil fuel industry’s role in climate change, and obscure the urgent need to transition off of fossil fuels for a safe climate.
See For Our Kids’s webpage for actions to take, additional teaching resources, data, and recommendations.

Report Summary

Full Report

Join Us for an Upcoming Talk:

What would it mean to teach for regeneration in climate education? In this session, Maria Vamvalis shares insights from her research on holistic climate justice education, inviting educators to design learning that nurtures well-being and action rooted in relationality, regeneration and justice. Participants will leave with renewed clarity on the importance of engaging curriculum, pedagogy, and community partnerships toward a flourishing future.

Speaker: Maria Vamvalis is a Director at The Critical Thinking Consortium (TC²) and Founder of Anayennisi, working at the intersection of climate justice, transformative learning, and regenerative systems change. Her nationally recognized doctoral research at the University of Toronto conceptualizes holistic climate justice pedagogies that cultivate critical discernment, relational well-being, and courageous action in times of uncertainty. Over two decades, she has supported classrooms, districts, ministries, and national initiatives, including Canada’s first online climate education course, to integrate critical inquiry, equity, and transformative thinking habits across learning environments. Through Anayennisi, she partners with communities and organizations to advance regenerative, justice-centered approaches that challenge dominant paradigms and foster more life-affirming futures.

The talk will be followed by EEON’s Annual General Meeting.

Register Here

Let’s make April Earth and Climate Education Month

EEON is launching a multi-year campaign: to make April ‘Earth and Climate Education’ Month.

Starting April 2024, we’re encouraging students and teachers everywhere in Ontario to integrate ecological and climate learning into all of their programs in the month of April. We invite schools, school boards, colleges, non-profits, faith groups and community organizations to get involved and endorse this campaign.

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Current endorsers