Climate professionals have a problem; when we present the climate crisis and its solutions, the engagement we seek from our audience often needs to be improved.  

Merely providing new information and showing enhanced connections between policies and impacts often do not result in meaningful shifts in decision-making among business leaders, elected officials, or concerned citizens. One impediment is the staggering complexity of the interrelated issues.  

Climate change is both a global and a local problem, with global and regional solutions, cascading effects, and feedback loops. Equity considerations bring real human beings into the picture, with life-and-death consequences, especially for the most vulnerable. In addition, the relative effectiveness of various possible actions often must be clarified.   

To help, many climate professionals are improving communications tools, for example, creating powerful infographics. While such work is essential to climate education and improved decision-making, it appears insufficient. Our audience often remains unengaged at the deeper personal level required for sustained, difficult commitments.   

En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator 

Imagine a method of getting true engagement in a way that is not overwhelming but is instead empowering.  

Trained facilitators are now using the En-ROADS climate solutions simulator to create this kind of informed engagement in workshops conducted around the globe.  

En-ROADS allows direct exploration of the impact that sets of policies —such as increased incentives for electrifying transport, national legislation for pricing carbon, and adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices—have on hundreds of factors, including the price of energy, number of deaths due to poor air quality, maps showing future sea level rise, and, of course, the projected increase in global average temperature. 

En-ROADS is a systems-dynamic model that uses the best available science, is free of charge, and is updated monthly.  

It was developed by Climate-Interactive, the MIT-Sloan Climate Initiative, and Ventana Systems and is highly accessible using a laptop. Training to become a facilitator is provided at no cost and is now available through a series of self-paced online modules. 

This article was contributed by our expert John Finn 

Frequently Asked Questions Answered by John Finn 

Q1. How does the complexity of the interrelated issues affect decision-making for the climate crisis?

The complexity of the issues can result in hesitancy by decision-makers to make time-critical decisions. They are uncertain of outcomes and knock-on effects. 

En-ROADS helps decision-making by helping to navigate the interrelations quantitatively, based on the best available science and systems-dynamics modeling.

Q2. How can En-ROADS be used to assess the potential impacts of climate solutions on different sectors of society, such as energy, transportation, and agriculture?

The simulator currently features hundreds of graphs and charts of impacts on many sectors of society. When a climate solution is modified, the model runs instantaneously, and the graphs and charts are updated in real-time. A comparison feature allows users to click back and forth to see the before and after effects of the proposed solution.

Q3. How can En-ROADS be used to explore the role of technological innovation in addressing the climate crisis?

The fact of innovation is built into the models used in the simulator. Additional innovation rates can be adjusted. In addition, breakthrough technologies can be added, and their impacts can be seen along the timeline to the year 2100.

Q4. How can the Climate Solutions Simulator be used to engage and educate the public about climate change and the need for action at a local level?

The current reality of climate change is illustrated in the base-case scenario that forms the starting point of the simulation workshop. The graphs and charts can be explored to understand the current situation. Climate solution scenarios can then be built, with participants trying out various solutions that are meaningful to them.

Although the results are shown globally, participants have found the En-ROADS experience empowering, as it encourages them by linking local actions to global outcomes.