Bridging the Digital Divide in Climate Education: Evaluating AI-Powered Pedagogical Innovations to Enhance Climate Literacy in Pakistani Higher Education

With the increasing severity of the global climate crisis, climate literacy is becoming an essential concern that must be tackled by empowering students in climate literacy, especially in the Global South, where education inequities are still present. This research explores how AI-driven pedagogy can support climate literacy of university students in Pakistan with a focus on the role of digital inclusion and student engagement that act as mediators. This study was base its theories on constructivist learning theory, theory of digital equity, and theory of self-determination, and in the proposed conceptual model, the use of AI-enabled instructional innovations can support the development of the learners to better understand the problem of climate issues by ensuring that they have equal access to resources in the digital domain and the way to engage in learning activities. The sample included the data of 400 students in public universities, and a quantitative method, Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM)) was used. It is suggested that AI pedagogy is of significant concern to climate literacy, where student motivation and digital inclusion are partial mediators. It suggests the trans figurative potential of generative AI to facilitate education inequalities in higher education and promote an ecological consciousness in education. The study can be applied practically in policymakers' and teachers' terms, generally, who would like to utilize education technologies with an eye towards closing the digital divide and making sustainability of education in cases of under-resourced resources more significant.