THE North-East will become the world’s leader in educating children about climate change.

The newly-formed North of Tyne Combined Authority pledged this week to provide each state-funded school in Northumberland, Newcastle and North Tyneside the opportunity to train one member of staff as a United Nations-accredited climate change teacher.

The project will be led by Corbridge Middle School teacher Dr Meryl Batchelder, who became Northumberland’s first UN teacher, with the aim of educating pupils about the world’s environmental problems.

To qualify as a UN-accredited teacher, people need to complete 15 to 20 hours of online training which is designed for teachers across all age groups and disciplines.

Dr Batchelder said: “The Industrial Revolution started in the North of Tyne and now the Green Revolution begins in the North of Tyne. The three councils of Newcastle, North Tyneside and Northumberland have all declared a climate emergency based on warnings from the United Nations.

“Education on climate change is essential for everyone in the North-East to understand the seriousness of the situation”

The project has the full backing of North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll, who declared a climate emergency on his first day of taking office in May.

He said: “This is our opportunity to be the first region in the world to meet the UN’s sustainable development goal.

“It’s also a manifest commitment to give every child a world class environmental education, and to make such progress so soon is fantastic.”

The combined authority will partner with the eduCate Global UNCC Teacher Academy to roll out the scheme.