Playing for climate protection

Today they will stop global warming: Bertrand, a food engineer, and Stephi, a biochemist with a PhD and a soft spot for environmental issues. Ariane and Salomon, two experts in sustainability, as well as Patrick, instructor for teachers, Marcel, an Empa scientist, and Tamar, a spatial planner. Between 41 and 56 years old, they bring a diverse range of skills and a lot of experience. And curiosity as to whether they will reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland to net zero – in half a day?

Saturday, 23 October, 1:30 p.m.: "postfossilCities" at Empa St. Gallen. "We're about to take off and accelerate! " says Markus Ulrich, a simulation game professional who helped develop it. With Empa researcher Andreas Gerber, he explains the simulation, which is based on several years of studies (see infobox). From now on, Bertrand is an investor, Stephi represents the general population, Ariane is a planner, and Salomon is an energy supplier. Patrick becomes a niche player, Marcel a politician and Tamar an industry representative.

Seven roles, equal rights – a climate federal council, so to speak. To make the simulation feel real, the rules of the game specify several goals. On the one hand, success in the struggle for less greenhouse gases and "a good life for all," on the other hand, pure self-interest. In other words, the politician should promote his popularity, the niche player new technologies; and industry wants to maximize its profit.

Third round: 2027 to 2030. Only five minutes to reflect – after all, time is running out for climate protection, too. Nevertheless, Stephi remains level-headed. Drastic action may not be necessary for her "population," she hopes. And black-and-white decisions like "Nuclear power? No thanks"? Better to wait and see.

Negotiate again. Groups of three, four and five, proposals, compromises. The game gets faster and also more intense. "He just won't budge on CO₂ capture and storage!", grumbles niche player Patrick about a colleague and leaves the group. "Vested interests versus collaboration," says Andreas Gerber with a satisfied smile, "now everyone is really in the middle of the game!"

A metronome starts ticking: one minute to go. And then another drastic directive. "Ban fossil heating systems," Andreas reads out. Energy consumption by refrigerators, stoves and other appliances will also be reduced, but the projection shows: The greenhouse gas emission curve slides only minimally downward as a result. Household appliances thus do not play a major role for the greenhouse gas balance.

"On balance, an effective round. But our emissions are still three times the available carbon budget," the game leader sums up. Much remains to be done, but at shortly before 4 p.m. time is running out, because the de-briefing, which is part of the game, is still to come – aborting the exercise. Disappointed expressions here and there. "Leave your roles," says Markus Ulrich all the same, "return to the year 2021!"

Coffee, chocolate, time to breathe – already thoughts are swirling through the round like leaves in a storm. "Coordination is important," says Stephi, "but sometimes you just have to take a decision and then see what happens. Very exciting!" Planner Ariane also found the game inspiring. "More topics from areas like biodiversity or health would be nice," she adds. And Solomon? "You're happy when a coup succeeds," he says, grinning, "but in the game, of course, there are only 'good' measures – no antagonists like 'climate Taliban' as opponents."

No word on that, nor any question. The seven are simply not interested in who came out on top in the end – a quiet piece of advice, perhaps, to politicians, companies, investors and everyone else who plays a real role in climate protection.

"postfossilCities" is a simulation game, in which players test the transformation of a fictitious Swiss city to climate neutrality. In addition to role-playing elements, the game also includes a new dynamic computer model that contains data on the material flows of the entire Swiss economy. This model makes it possible to spontaneously calculate various scenarios – the basis for estimating the impact of around 200 decision options ("action cards") on greenhouse gas emissions in various sectors. Because of its complexity, the game is not available in stores – it is designed for guided workshops and is aimed at current and future decision-makers such as managers, students and other interested parties. There is also a version for virtual game occasions. The game was developed as part of a project within the National Research Program "Sustainable Economy" (NRP73) at Empa in St. Gallen with partners Ulrich Creative Simulations, the University of Zurich, the University of Applied Sciences of Eastern Switzerland and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.