When I played my role in the policy exercise, I felt worried about the future of planet Earth. If we didn’t do anything as a planet, the global temperature would raise over 4 degrees celsius by 2100. What made me more concerned was that even after two rounds of negotiation and hundreds of billions of dollars spent per year on reducing deforestation, promoting afforestation, and green energy, the planet will still be 2 degrees celsius warmer by 2100.
In the first round, we (the developing nations) asked for $200 billion to save trees, plant trees, and move towards green energy. Many countries were not willing to meet this number. After the second round of negotiations, once other countries realized how important the money was to producing results, we were able to receive $190 billion per year in order to reduce the global warming. The negotiation periods were stressful because other countries had different motives and goals that didn’t seem to always align with just saving the planet.
Our group changed our ideas because we were initially more concerned with saving the Amazon rainforest and planting more trees, but what was even more important was moving to green energy and reducing carbon emissions. We ended up spending around $20 billion a year just for green energy.
We decided to focus on green energy more because of the future climate calculator. Having 100% of our resources dedicated to trees was not as effective as dedicating some to the trees and some to green energy.
In the end, I do think emissions can be cut. Technology is progressing rapidly, but the problem is getting everyone to do their part. It is a worldwide effort to make sure that emissions can be cut.
There were major economic and social costs to make these proposals possible. It takes billions per year to try and cut emissions and utilize green energy and maintain forests. It also requires people around the world to be more conscious of carbon emissions.
I believe that the United States needs to lead by example. In the simulation, the US always just matched China or matched another country, but if they took the initiative, it is possible that other countries would be more inspired and make more of an effort to save the planet.