An enhanced greenhouse effect, leading to global warming and associated changes in the climate system, is arguably one of the greatest environmental challenges facing humankind in the 21st century. The challenge extends to the scientific, political, economic and ethical domains of the human enterprise. The science of climate change involves understanding the complex workings of the climate system and predicting how this system might respond to increased atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. Climate politics are controversial on the international arena, as illustrated by the recent debates surrounding ratification of the Kyoto protocol. In the economic and ethical domains, climate change involves issues such as burden-sharing between countries with widely differing vulnerability and adaptability to climate change, as well as choices made by individuals regarding everyday consumption and transportation patterns. The authors describe some "challenges" facing climate education for empowerment, aiming to: (1) identify some scientific, societal, political and education-related "complexities" of the global warming problem; (2) draw up some "perspectives from sociology", describing aspects of modern Western societies, including findings from youth research on young people's images of the future and their feeling of empowerment (or lack of it) for influencing global development; (3) describe some research findings concerning young people's "understanding" of the science of climate and global warming and their ability to use their knowledge in decision-making contexts; and (4) give examples of existing "resources" for climate education, to illustrate the range of teaching material and to identify possible deficits. Drawing on these four elements, they discuss implications for science and climate education in schools and suggest possible next steps for climate education for empowerment.