Dr Jessica Robins, Centre for Business in Society

As COP29 approaches, the urgency for concrete action on climate change has never been greater. The past year has underscored the reality of climate-induced disasters, with countries worldwide experiencing floods, wildfires, heatwaves, and storms of unprecedented intensity. Spain recently faced devastating flash floods that swept through communities before official warnings could be issued, demonstrating the unpredictability and suddenness of such events. As government leaders, scientists, and policymakers gather to discuss global climate goals, one crucial question looms: how can we better prepare for an era of increasingly frequent and severe climate-related disasters?

While traditional disaster preparedness methods include infrastructure reinforcement, early-warning systems, and emergency response planning, an innovative approach is emerging within the field of climate adaptation: serious games. These are not games in the conventional sense; rather, they are designed to tackle real-world issues, enabling participants to engage with complex challenges in a controlled environment. Serious games offer unique advantages for preparing communities, authorities, and businesses for the multifaceted challenges posed by climate change. This blog delves into how these games work, their potential to transform disaster preparedness, and why they deserve a place on the agenda at events like COP29.

Serious Games: The Secret Weapon for Climate Resilience?

Serious games are interactive simulations that use gaming mechanics to explore complex, often “wicked” problems—issues that are difficult to solve due to incomplete, contradictory, and changing requirements. Climate change is one of these wicked problems. In the context of climate resilience, serious games offer players a virtual space to experiment with various strategies, experience the consequences of their choices, and develop a better understanding of how different factors interact in disaster scenarios.

Unlike traditional training exercises or informational campaigns, serious games are immersive and experiential, allowing users to engage actively rather than passively absorbing information. For instance, a flood preparedness game might place players in the role of city planners, tasking them with designing flood defence systems within budget constraints. Players would have to balance immediate costs with long-term resilience, making decisions about infrastructure placement, resource allocation, and emergency response protocols.

Why Serious Games Matter

• Exploring Scenarios: Serious games allow players to model various disaster scenarios, like extreme rainfall or heatwaves, and test responses in a risk-free setting, gaining insight into the impact of their choices.
• Learning from Failure: Mistakes in a game come without real-world consequences, letting players learn from failed strategies, building resilience without risking lives or resources.
• Enhancing Collaboration: By assigning roles such as emergency responders or community leaders, serious games encourage teamwork, strengthening communication and coordination, crucial for real crises.
• Raising Awareness and Empathy: Immersive disaster scenarios help players understand the struggles of vulnerable communities, fostering empathy and inspiring more commitment to climate action.

Serious Games in Action: Training for Climate Chaos

Several serious games have already been developed to address climate-related risks, with promising results. For example, Climate Adaptation Game is a simulation that challenges players to protect a coastal city from flooding through a combination of green infrastructure, policy changes, and engineering solutions. Players must weigh the costs and benefits of each decision, balancing short-term needs with long-term resilience goals.

Stop Disasters is a game created by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. Players must build defences for different communities against natural hazards and reduce the community’s vulnerability by making strategic investments in areas such as housing, education, and infrastructure. Through gameplay, participants learn about the interconnectedness of these investments and the importance of a holistic approach to disaster preparedness.

Games Tailored for the Frontlines

While many serious games are designed for general audiences, some target specific sectors with unique disaster scenarios. Hurricane Log, for example, is created for humanitarian aid workers preparing for hurricane season. In this game, players manage disaster preparedness for islands with varying demographics, economic resources, and logistical challenges. By navigating these complexities, workers develop a nuanced understanding of the trade-offs and strategic decisions that influence disaster response outcomes. In this controlled environment, humanitarian workers can practice making critical decisions, exploring the consequences of different allocation strategies without real-world risks. Sector-specific games like Hurricane Log highlight the potential of serious games to support sector-specific training, allowing practitioners to gain valuable experience that can enhance their readiness and effectiveness when real climate disasters strike.

Why COP29 Must Embrace Serious Games

Serious games aren’t just for fun—they’re a hands-on tool for climate resilience, offering critical insights and skills in a safe, interactive way. As COP29 delegates look for innovative solutions, serious games could be a powerful ally in preparing communities for a changing climate; offering a valuable tool to advance climate action discussions. While traditional policies and regulations are essential, they often lack the immediacy and tangible experience that serious games provide. By incorporating serious games into climate preparedness training, policymakers can explore potential outcomes of various climate policies in a dynamic, interactive way. Additionally, serious games can help bridge the gap between experts and the public, making climate change impacts more relatable and understandable.

Integrating serious games into the COP29 agenda could encourage wider adoption among nations, businesses, and communities worldwide. By promoting serious games as a method for climate preparedness, COP29 can inspire stakeholders to think creatively about disaster resilience, emphasizing proactive strategies over reactive responses. As climate change accelerates, preparing for its impacts will require not only knowledge but also innovative approaches like serious games to ensure readiness and adaptability.

Serious Games Deserve a Place on the COP 29 Agenda

Serious games hold immense potential as a transformative tool for climate resilience. By allowing players to explore disaster scenarios, fail safely, and collaborate on solutions, these games can improve readiness at all levels—individual, organisational, and governmental. As COP29 unfolds and leaders seek actionable steps toward a climate-resilient future, serious games offer a promising addition to the toolkit for adaptation and preparedness. Through the unique blend of education, empathy-building, and experiential learning, serious games can empower communities to confront the challenges of climate change with greater insight and resilience.

Updates from the Baku sessions for COP29 are available live: https://unfccc.int/cop29

Through understanding the impact of organisations’ activities, behaviours and policies, the Centre for Business in Society at Coventry University seeks to promote responsibility, to change behaviours, and to achieve better outcomes for economies, societies and the individual.

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