New, Comprehensive Online Tool Tracks Global Climate Change Developments-

The Climate Scoreboard is a new initiative brought forth by the Sustainability Institute, which allows the public, media professionals and other concerned parties to track current negotiation developments down the road toward an international climate treaty. The Scoreboard lets visitors examine suggested treaty proposals to see whether they require sufficient enough greenhouse gas emission reductions to accomplish commonly expressed targets. Based on the C-ROADS (Climate Rapid Overview and Decision Support) computer simulation, the results are carefully calibrated to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report and are delivered as a widget that may be embedded in media reports, blogs, websites, and even Facebook. Developed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, C-ROADS allows users to input mitigation proposals for China, India, the US, the EU, and other nations; simulating the emissions’ impacts on greenhouse gas concentrations, temperature change, per-capita emissions, cumulative emissions, sea level rise and other statistics. To add, C-ROADS analysis of current proposals is shared online in a wide variety of forms including graphics, data files and slide sets; with past implementation recognized in strategic planning sessions for decision makers from government, business and social organizations and in interactive role-playing policy exercises. Dr. Elizabeth Sawin of the Sustainability Institute states, “The Climate Scoreboard helps make sense of what is happening in the climate treaty process. It helps negotiators, political leaders non-governmental organizations, the media and citizens understand the state of the negotiations. All of us have a stake in these negotiations, and the reporting, which will be continuously updated during the Copenhagen conference, will help us track how close the negotiations are to achieving their goals.” Video below illustrates the significance of this tool, courtesy of the Sustainability Institute.