MAKING THE CLIMATE CONFERENCE WORK

Climate conferences fail due to their focus on consequences and not causes. With this in mind, Sciences Po and its partners in the Make it Work initiative decided to organise a “real” simulation prior to the official conference Paris Climat 2015. The goal: test new methods of negotiation. An unparalleled experience that will take place the 29, 30 & 31 May at the Nanterre-Amandiers Theater.  

“Climate conferences are well-known for the fact that they don’t work!” says Bruno Latour, Sciences Po professor and co-founder of the initiative Make it Work. After the failure of the Copenhagen conference in 2009, Sciences Po students attempted- and succeeded- at finding the compromise that the “real” actors were unable to obtain. Relive it in video (Fr). In 2015,  Sciences Po is mobilising its resources around the Make it Work initiative to ensure the success of the climate conference.

A simulation of the negotiations at the end of May

The project goal: organise a simulation of the negotiations the 29, 30 & 31 of May at the Théâtre des Amandiers in Nanterre, six months prior to the climate conference in Paris from the 30 November to the 11 December. What is the objective of these negotiations? To obtain an outcome that influences the “real” negotiations, with the help of Laurence Tubiana, Sciences Po professor, co-founder of Make it Work and President of IDDRI. Laurence Tubiana will also serve as the Special Representative of the French Government at Paris Climat 2015.

This simulation, simultaneously a role playing game, pedagogical experiment and research laboratory, will bring together 200 Sciences Po students and international university partners who will “act out” the negotiations on stage at Amandiers.

Represent the oceans

Unprecedented in its scope, the simulation will also experiment with new rules. In addition to the country delegations, the simulation will also include a new set of actors. Those who do not hold a seat at the United Nations, but who have great influence: the oceans, underground fossil fuel, and indigenous delegations. 

“Indigenous populations represent more than 280 million people in the world: more than the population of the United States!” explains Bruno Latour. “They never have influence because they are very scattered, but when they are represented by an entity, they form an enormous power.” By introducing these non-state actors into the negotiations - human and non-human- and representing their interests with data, Make it Work aims to do geopolitics differently. Follow this unmatched academic, scientific, artistic, and civic experience the 29, 30 & 31 of May 2015 at the Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers.

Learn more:

Make it work includes conferences, courses, and research projects about climate change and sustainable development. Learn more on the Make it Work website.