From play to principle or not: Geoethical aspects of climate change simulation/games

Climate change (CC) is a global challenge.  It requires communication to drive societal action (IPCC, 2022).  However, conveying the complexity of climate science and its socio-economic implications remains difficult.  One method that is increasingly being used to communicate and educate about CC is simulation/games, a global activity.  The question that arises is: Are CC games geoethical, and in what ways?

The field of geoethics provides a powerful framework for attempting to answer this question.  Geoethics holds that geoscientists have an ethical responsibility to communicate knowledge accurately and responsibly (Peppoloni & Di Capua, 2022).

This presentation reports the findings of a study analysing CC simulation/games.  Our research has highlighted important deficits in existing resources, deficits that can be qualified as unethical or wanting geoethically.  More specifically, we have identified three areas that raise geoethical concerns in regard to three aspects of CC simulation/games.  These are:

• Design and implementation of CC simulation/games.  This includes the unethical absence of structured debriefing materials and guidelines essential for geoethical communication.
• CC content of simulation/games.  This includes the unethical omission of certain CC topics in the simulation/games that we examined, for instance, climate justice and health.
• Geoethical issues.  This is the total absence of any discussion or treatment of the geoethics of CC.

We also offer recommendations for improving the geoethics of CC simulation/games.