Italy is to become the first country in the world in which the study of climate change will be made compulsory in schools, the education minister announced on Tuesday.

Under a new law, all state schools will dedicate around an hour a week to sustainability and climate change issues from the beginning of the next academic year, said Lorenzo Fioramonti. That would amount to around 33 hours a year.

“This is a new model of civic education centred on sustainable development and climate change,” the minister told The Telegraph.

“It’s a new subject that will be taught from grade one to grade 13, from the ages of six through to 19.”

The syllabus will be based on the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals, including how to live more sustainably, how to combat the pollution of the oceans and how to address poverty and social injustice.

“Italy will be the first country in the world to adopt this framework,” Mr Fioramonti said.