UH Hilo poli-sci students hold world summit simulation on climate
Each student took on the role of a delegate representing one of six countries or regions, as well as journalists, fossil fuel company lobbyists, and environmental NGO representatives.
By Susan Enright/UH Hilo Stories.
A class of University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo political science students in an international law course held a world summit simulation on climate last week.
A World Climate Simulation is a role-playing exercise premised on a fictitious international climate summit. The exercise was created by Climate Interactive, a Washington, DC, non-profit think tank that creates tools and interactive experiences to help people understand and address the world’s climate.
Each of the UH Hilo students at last week’s simulation took on the role of a delegate representing one of six countries or regions, as well as journalists, fossil fuel company lobbyists, and environmental NGO representatives.
“This is the second year I have had students participate in the simulation, and it continues to be a powerful learning experience,” says Su-Mi Lee, professor of political science who teaches the international law course.
The groups worked through rounds negotiating among themselves and with other teams to propose climate pledges, with a facilitator calculating and analyzing the impact of each group’s actions as they added up. Everyone then worked together to reach a global agreement that successfully keeps climate well below 2˚C and aims to stay within 1.5˚C, the international goals formally recognized in the Paris climate agreement.
“The initial pledges by the country delegates resulted in a projected global temperature increase of 2.1°C by 2100,” says Lee about the outcomes of the negotiations. “After the first round of negotiations, the projection was reduced to 1.7°C, still above the 1.5°C target. Following the second round, the projection was lowered to 1.4°C, marking a significant improvement.”
Professor Lee makes two observations about the exercise.
“As with last year, the U.S. delegation was surrounded by delegations from other countries and regions,” says Lee. “Unlike other groups who circulated around the classroom to initiate negotiations and seek collaborators, the U.S. delegates never had to leave their seats, everyone wanted to speak with them.”
In another instance, a representative from an environmental activist group created a sign to promote their cause, only to be ignored by country representatives who were too busy collaborating with one another.
One student shared that she sometimes struggled to balance her personal beliefs with her assigned country’s interests. Lee says that’s an experience that mirrors the challenges faced by real-world delegations.
Story by Susan Enright, public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories. She received her bachelor of arts in English and certificate in women’s studies from UH Hilo.
