Climate Skills – Seeds for Transition India
Climate Skills is a multi-year programme currently running in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, India, Viet Nam, and the United Kingdom. This is a global programme that supports an inclusive transition by building pathways for a greener future and equipping young people (18–30 years) with core skills and climate knowledge.
The programme is led by British Council in partnership with HSBC to build a global approach to youth skills development and equip the next generation to understand, mitigate and adapt to climate change.
The Climate Skills programme operates in India within the context of a country highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. With a rapidly growing population and industrialisation, India faces numerous challenges related to climate adaptation and mitigation. The programme targets marginalised young individuals between the ages of 18-30, acknowledging the importance of inclusivity in climate action. By providing resources, training, mentorship, and grants, Climate Skills empowers these youths with the necessary tools to not only navigate the challenges posed by climate change but also to actively contribute to solutions.
In India, Climate Skills adopts a Higher Education/Research Institution led approach, encouraging partner universities to embed climate education and action into their academic curricula. This approach aims to ensure the long-term sustainability and impact of the project’s outcomes. Through an open call, three HEIs were selected as delivery partners: The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), University of Mumbai (UoM), and Hyderabad Sind National Collegiate (HSNC) University. These institutions lead the delivery of climate skills across various locations in India, ensuring that marginalised young individuals gain the knowledge and tools necessary to drive social action in their communities.
In 2025, Climate Skills-Seeds for Transition India enabled:
- The training of 2,000+ young people to build a nationally diverse network of climate-skilled youth
- 260+institutions to deliver climate skills training, reaching students from diverse geographies and disciplines
- The creation of a legacy network of 270+facilitators who continue to cascade knowledge to new groups of young people
- Participation from youth across 20+ states, ensuring national diversity and regional inclusion
- Community - level change through youth-led social actions, addressing local sustainability challenges Youth agency, supported by seed grants powering diverse and community-based youth-led social actions.
- The mobilisation of over 150 youth-led social actions across themes like biodiversity mapping, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy, waste management, and GIS-based pollution tracking.