World Climate Simulation

The World Climate Simulation, from Climate Interactive, the MIT Sloan Sustainability Initiative, and U-Mass Lowell’s Climate Change Initiative, is an in-person role-playing exercise of the UN climate change negotiations. Through the simulation, participants get to explore the necessary speed and level of action that nations must take to address global climate change. At the heart of the experience is the use of our interactive computer model C-ROADS, which is used to rapidly analyze the results of the game play. All the materials and tools for the game are available for free in multiple languages.

Explore the C-ROADS simulator

Check out the World Climate Materials

Explore the Training Plan

Tens of thousands of people around the world have participated in World Climate since its debut. Audiences have included Nobel Prize winning scientists, a former U.S. Secretary of State, (actual) UN climate negotiators, university presidents, European Union policymakers, oil executives, and countless students of all ages.

World Climate works best for groups of 8-50 people (although it has been adapted for as many as 500). A facilitator plays the role of a UN leader, while each participant plays the role of a delegate representing a specific nation, negotiating bloc, or, in some cases, an interest group. Everyone then works together to reach a global agreement that successfully keeps climate change well below 2˚C.

Simulation events vary in length, but most run 2-3 hours. Condensed versions have been run in as short as 45 minutes. During the event participants face the climate science, engage in the drama and tensions of global politics, test their ambitions against a climate-modeling tool used by actual climate negotiators, and then reflect on how the experience challenges their assumptions about climate action.

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World Climate Ambassadors

Chang Kwon (Benjamin) Chung
South Korea

Dr. Diana Pritchard
UK

Eduardo Pedro Fracassi
Argentina

Florian Kapmeier
Germany

Joshua Amponsem
Ghana

Laurent Richard
France

Oğuz Tosun
Turkey

Sheila Shefo Mbiru
Kenya

World Climate Ambassadors are expert facilitators who work closely with Climate Interactive to disseminate World Climate around the world and act as spokespeople in their communities. Learn more about them by clicking their photos!

Learn How to Lead It

Read our training plan to learn how to facilitate the World Climate Simulation:

Explore the Full
Training Plan

Learn from the experiences of other World Climate facilitators:

Explore Blog Posts on World Climate

Join the Community of Facilitators on Facebook

Learn About the Evaluation Process

Watch Videos of Our Games

Feedback from Facilitators

“I can vouch for how enlightening, challenging, and oddly fun — racing to come up with a climate deal before the clock runs out — this role playing game is. If I were climate czar, it would be required of all high school students before they graduated … and incoming freshmen in college should have to do the energy game.”

Mark McCaffrey, Programs and Policy Director, National Center for Science Education

“From an instructors perspective I found the support materials very helpful and brought to life a topic that I have taught previously to classes with high levels of interest but without such broad engagement – every student seemed switched on today.”

Dr. John Broderick, Research Fellow, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Manchester

“It was intriguing to see how the behaviours of the youth participants switched into ‘talking and acting’ as world leaders once the simulation game started. As a facilitator, I was amazed at the passion participants exhibited towards negotiating to arrive at a temperature below 2 degrees Celsius using C-ROADS. Reflecting on the event, it seems to me that young people understand climate better.”

Joshua Amponsem, World Climate Ambassador, Green Africa Youth Organization Ghana

“The World Climate Exercise made the consequences of climate change feel more real to me, further fueling my motivation to address climate change.“

Courtney James, UMass Lowell undergraduate

GAME MATERIALS & EVENT PLANNING

Everything you’ll need to run the World Climate Simulation:

Explore the Game Materials

Explore the C-ROADS Simulator

Print the Event Planning Checklist

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Find a Facilitator

Do you have a specific audience who you believe could greatly benefit from experiencing the World Climate Simulation, but aren’t able to facilitate yourself? Our team might be able to connect you to an experienced facilitator to run your game.

Send us an inquiry to find a facilitator

Register Your Event

Have you run a World Climate event or have one planned? Great! Make sure to register your event below. Registering your event allows us to keep track of who is running World Climate around the world.