Grassroots Action for Mitigating Emissions (GAME) by Igor & Marc

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Pitch

Let’s engage millions of Internet and mobile players in climate action: reduce your emissions, earn “in-game” currency and spend it on fun!

Description

Summary

The Grassroots Action for Mitigating Emissions (“GAME”) platform will combine the ideas from environmental economics and behavioral science with experience from serious games and "gamification" initiatives to encourage climate-friendly individual behavior in a fun and easy way. GAME will create, manage and promote rapid scaling-up of a universal “in-game” currency to incite consumers who play mobile and social games on the Internet to make measurable behavioral changes in the real world, reduce their carbon footprints and “earn” virtual currency points. Players would in effect create carbon credits and enjoy gameplay by spending these credits rather than hard currencies – as they currently do in ever-increasing amounts. The GAME platform will thus encapsulate solutions sets for game developers and publisher/distributors to incorporate in-game currency based on carbon value into new and existing games targeting consumers worldwide.

The key advantage of this “gamification” approach is that it will promote mass-market involvement of very large numbers of consumers who play Internet games – and will not be limited to only those people interested in combatting climate change. The GAME platform will focus on reducing the personal carbon footprint of gaming consumers, generating virtual currency value through measurable change and finally rewarding participants. GAME will therefore consist of three main pillars, the 3R: reduce, report, and reward. The combination of expertise in carbon markets and the gaming industry of its founders (Igor & Marc) will enable the GAME platform to offer a reliable user-friendly in-game carbon currency that can be rapidly scaled-up worldwide.

Category of the action

Changing public perceptions on climate change

What actions do you propose?

Alternative approach to shifting consumer behavior

Despite the 97% scientific consensus (Cook et al. 2013) and popularization of the climate change issue in books, movies and mass media, there remains a significant share of climate-deniers, sceptics and people who are swayed by overwhelmingly powerful misinformation campaigns backed by the fossil-fuel lobby and industrial elite. Even among those in the general population convinced by the science only a small minority is ready to take a proactive position and change their consumer behavior to reduce their personal carbon footprint. While some of them are hindered by structural barriers – e.g. one cannot switch from to public transport if it is not available in a rural area – the barriers are often purely psychological. There are seven categories of such barriers that hinder emission reductions on an individual level: limited cognition about the problem, ideological worldviews that tend to preclude pro-environmental attitudes,  comparisons with key other people, sunk costs and behavioral momentum, discredence toward experts and authorities, perceived risks of change, and positive but inadequate behavior change (Gifford 2011).

The gradual nature of climate change coupled with hyperbolic spatial and time discounting results in the “boiling frog syndrome”. Behavioral inertia and fear of change further aggravate the problem making people stick to the old, ostensibly reliable behavioral patterns. In this respect, lack of individual climate action can be compared to smoking: despite the overwhelming evidence regarding health risks millions of people struggle to overcome the nicotine addiction. Borrowing the logic of the successful “easy way to quit smoking” (Carr 2011) the GAME will offer alternative approaches to change the consumer behavior – “an easy way to stop polluting”. Instead of appealing to long-term benefits of climate change mitigation and moral imperatives, which may be too complex or daunting to grasp, the alternative approach will focus on immediate emotional and potentially material rewards building upon the natural human willingness to play and interact.

Unlike classic economics that rests on the assumption of rational choices made by “homo economicus”, the behavioral science argues that framing the choice and indirect suggestions may influence the behavior without altering economic incentives or applying coercion. In fact, this is the underlying principle of modern marketing in the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry that uses “persuasion technologies” to boost product sales – indeed, the layout of washing powders in a supermarket is a result of multiple behavioral studies. The idea of using a “nudge”  to drive positive behavioral change (rather than as a pure marketing tool) in such areas as food consumption and recycling gained academic and political popularity in recent years in the spirit of “libertarian paternalism”, whereby individuals’ sets of choices and economic incentives remain unaltered, but more responsible options are encouraged indirectly (Thaler and Sunstein 2008). In practice, nudges can be implemented by changing the default option (e.g. double-side printing), clarifying the framing (e.g. using the “gallons-per-mile” fuel efficiency measure), social comparisons (e.g. electricity consumption compared to neighbors) and other indirect motivations (Croson and Treich 2014).

Another unconventional approach to dealing with social issues is through “serious gaming” and “gamification”. Serious games can be defined as “games that have an explicit and carefully thought-out educational purpose and are not intended to be played primarily for amusement. This does not mean that serious games are not, or should not be, entertaining” (Abt 1970). Serious games have been increasingly used in the fields of education (e.g. Tragedy of the Tuna), healthcare (e.g. Captain Novolin), defense (e.g. America’s Army), environment (e.g. PowerUp), etc. “Gamification” thus means applying the proven techniques and mechanisms from electronic games to software apps and media which have goals and business models which go beyond simply entertaining. The Games for Change (G4C) movement and community, founded in 2004, promotes the use of serious games to induce positive social change.

The Grassroots Action for Mitigating Emissions (GAME) platform will combine these ideas from environmental economics and behavioral science with experience from serious games and gamification initiatives to encourage climate-friendly individual behavior in a fun and easy way.

The GAME Platform

The GAME project promotes mass-market involvement of very large numbers of consumers who play Internet games and is therefore not limited to only those people interested in combatting climate change. The GAME platform will focus on reducing the personal carbon footprint of gaming consumers, generating virtual currency value through measureable change and finally rewarding participants. The platform will thus consist of three main pillars, the 3R: reduce, report, and reward.

The GAME platform will follow the Pareto principle and first focus on the largest categories of the individual carbon footprint: food, shelter and mobility. GAME will offer a list of possible emissions reduction measures in each category together with corresponding amounts of virtual currency points and (if applicable) potential monetary savings from implementing these measures. The measures may include for example:

• Food: reducing/excluding beef from consumption, switching to partial/full vegetarian diet, excluding products shipped from overseas, reducing consumption of processed/packaged products, etc.
• Housing: installing solar PV panels, smart meters, improving house insulation, reducing indoor temperature during the heating season, switching to energy-saving light bulbs, etc.
• Mobility: replacing gasoline vehicles with electric cars, switching to public transport, using a bicycle, switching from plane to train for long-distance journeys, etc.

The full list of potential measures and associated emissions reductions will have to be elaborated based on the analysis of literature on carbon footprints and life-cycle assessment in collaboration with existing initiatives, e.g. EcoAct. The amount of emissions reduced can be calculated for example in comparison to the average (or e.g. the average of the lowest 20%) emissions of residents in the same area. The GAME platform will build on the experience with carbon offset mechanisms, such as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and voluntary offset standards, to set emissions baselines and calculate emissions reductions.

Reporting of behavioral changes can be realized in three different ways:

• Self-reporting: individuals respond to a fun and simple questionnaire through the mobile app on a regular basis (weekly/monthly) or report their single actions taken. This will be the case for behavioral categories that cannot be monitored or measured otherwise, such as for instance food consumption patterns. The mobile app will have to user-friendly and enable “friends” in the network to encourage the continuous engagement of the players.
• Household bills: independent measurement via data reported on electricity/gas/water consumption in households may be obtained through service providers (utilities) and/or smart meters installed in homes with the consent of participants – or in some cases through “opt-in” submission of the data by consumers themselves. The GAME platform will use the readily available data from IOT-connected smart meters, such as for example Aikos (France) or Nest (Google subsidiary). Such smart meters will be widely deployed in households in developed countries in the coming years and will provide a reliable source of consumption data.
• Mobile phone data: independent measurement by analyzing data or signal footprints from mobile phones to identify mobility patterns and differentiate between different modes of transport used. This innovative approach is already being developed by some telecom companies and has been presented at the MRV conference organized by CDC Climat and the World Bank in Bonn in June 2014.

GAME’s growth strategy should be driven by innovation, therefore it will constantly be looking for new and innovative ways to measure and quantify GHG emissions reductions from consumers’ behavioral change. This innovation will therefore increase the scope of games that GAME can be implemented in and it will generate more low carbon behavior promotion in players.

Based on the reported behavioral changes players playing games backed by GAME can be rewarded in three different ways:

• In-game currency or “points” linked to carbon credits value: players accumulate points that correspond to the amount of GHG emissions reduced thanks to behavioral changes. Further GAME will facilitate use of these points to all players to compete against their peers in the gaming community (e.g. via Facebook and other social media platforms), local (e.g. city), national and international levels. Peer-comparison nature of the game will help motivate people to keep playing similar to competing with friends in Candy Crush or 2048. The GAME will also provide players with estimations of cost-savings from implementing emissions reduction measures.
• Public acclaim and glory: best players at different levels will receive public “future citizen” badges and awards on partner-sponsored leaderboards on a monthly and annual basis. Awards can also be coupled with environmental entertainment events such as for example We Love Green music festival or the Greenpride as well as endorsements by celebrities (think Al Gore, Angelina Jolie, Leo Messi, Bono, etc.).
• Credits: carbon “credits” corresponding to GHG emissions reduced may also be used to obtain discounts with partners of the GAME – providers of green products and services – such as bicycle and recycled clothes retailers, sustainable groceries, individual carbon offset providers, socially-responsible electronics such as fairphone, etc.

The GAME platform will thus promote the development of new games and adaptation of existing games to rally Internet gaming audiences worldwide to engage in generating in-game virtual currency and exchange value that is created by reducing GHG emissions.

What is the advantage of the GAME platform?

There are multiple sustainability-oriented mobile apps available, but none of them manages to tap into the vast majority of population who do not actively seek to take part in the sustainability movement. There are several categories of apps that tackle the climate change issue including raising climate awareness (Skeptical Science), carbon footprint calculators (Carbon Calc), sustainable lifestyle (JouleBug), energy management (DreamWatts), eco-driving (GECO) and educational games (Sustainability). While useful in their respective areas, the immediate impact of these apps is nevertheless marginal due to their limited popularity and mass-appeal, as highlighted by low numbers of app downloads compared to consumer games.

The GAME platform is unique in its approach to making climate-friendly behavior fun and rewarding as it focuses on positive reinforcement and indirect encouragement to unlock behavioral change across the society as part of consumer entertainment activity. GAME’s concept does not require people to fully grasp the climate change problem or understand the underlying science, nor does it apply to morality, which often results in a defensive psychological response. Instead, GAME will build upon the proven popularity of social gaming, peer-competition and other successful gameplay mechanisms and constructs to enable mass participation, even if participating consumers are not primarily concerned by the climate change issue. It would also perfectly fit into the growing G4C movement and fill the gap of consumer games focused on real climate impact.

Who will take these actions?

The paradoxical situation with the climate change issue mirrors the infamous “tragedy of the commons” (Hardin 1968)– a failure of Adam Smith’s “invisible hand” to regulate the use of a common resource, eventually exceeding the carrying capacity of the system and resulting in the overall degradation. Thinking through the lens of this conceptual framework yields a conclusion that the top-down coercion alone will not be sufficient to reduce GHG emissions fast enough to meet internationally endorsed climate targets. Moreover, top-down climate policies usually do not address the broader issue of the transition towards more sustainable societies: indeed, the resource use by humanity is already exceeding the carrying capacity of the planet (UNEP 2012).

A bottom-up grassroots movement is therefore necessary in order to shift consumer behavior and lay the foundations of more responsible global citizenship in the long run. Such movement would also complement top-down climate policies and help close the “emissions gap” in the short-run.  The GAME platform will help pioneer this global movement from the bottom-up with an innovative approach to shifting consumer behavior through adapting and enhancing proven mechanisms within massively popular social and mobile Internet-based games. Climate action will thus be taken worldwide with small individual emission reductions yielding large-scale global shifts.

Where will these actions be taken?

Initially the GAME platform will be implemented in developed countries that can offer sufficient infrastructure and the largest games markets, namely Asia Pacific, North America and Europe. In the long run with the wide spread of smartphones and online games the GAME platform has potential to induce climate action worldwide.

How much will emissions be reduced or sequestered vs. business as usual levels?

72% of global GHG emissions are related to household consumption. The GAME platform will focus on the three largest categories, namely food, shelter and mobility, which account for 20%, 19% and 17% of emissions respectively (Hertwich and Peters 2009). The overall emissions reduction potential is therefore enormous, although it will ultimately depend on the number of players involved.

What are other key benefits?

The GAME platform will not be limited to a mobile app and may later evolve into a global social network of responsible citizens. On some occasions players could be allowed to earn additional currency by taking active political positions, e.g. signing a petition to pass climate legislation. A partnership with such organizations as Avaaz can be envisaged in this respect. Besides immediate emissions reductions that will occur thanks to shifting consumer behavior, GAME has a potential to raise awareness on sustainability issues, to boost the market for sustainable goods and services and to provide a platform for forming environmentally conscious communities around the globe.

What are the proposal’s costs?

The costs of launching the GAME platform are comparable to that of a typical silicon-valley start-up, i.e. in the order of US$2-5 million. The business model of the GAME will have to be developed once GAME’s carbon-based virtual in-game currency concept is clarified and deemed viable for mass-market consumer games. Several potential models can be envisaged, for example:

• a not-for-profit organization supported by players’ donations and/or private companies’ CSR;
• a not-for-profit organization supported by research grants for analyzing consumer behavior data obtained through the app;
• a for-profit organization with revenues stemming from classic app advertising and/or advertising by partners – providers of sustainable goods and services;
• a for-profit organization with revenues stemming from carbon offsets generated thanks to emissions reductions. In fact, there is a similar project not focused on gaming though (https://www.compteepargneco2.com/). Registration of such an offset project may take a couple of years and requires additional investments into monitoring methodology development (Shishlov and Bellassen 2012), the feasibility of this approach therefore requires risk-analysis;
• different combinations of the above are also possible.

The GAME platform will also build upon a number of academic, business and NGO partnerships. Potential partners include:

• CDC Climat, a leading European research and investment company focused on low-carbon economy and energy transition;
• Seahorn Capital, a boutique advisory and investment firm specialized in interactive entertainment, social impact projects and gamification initiatives;
• EcoAct, a leading European carbon advisory;
• G4C, a non-profit that facilitates the creation and distribution of social impact games that serve as critical tools in humanitarian and educational efforts;
• Climate KIC, a European platform for climate change innovation projects;
• InfoDEV, the World Bank’s program for funding climate change innovations;
• Etc.

Time line

• Jul-Dec 2014 – finalization of the business plan, team-building and fundraising
• Jan-Jun 2015 – design & development, research on carbon footprints, establishing partnerships
• July-Oct 2015 – small pilot launch within the HEC MSD alumni network, refining the platform
• Nov-Dec 2015 – large pilot launch at the COP21 conference in Paris, final fine-tuning
• Jan 2016 – global launch online and at different sustainability events

The number of gamers worldwide is projected to increase from 1.21 billion in 2013 to 1.55 billion in 2016. Consumer spending on electronic and Internet-based games is rocketing past $80 billion worldwide this year, estimated by some to reach $100 billion by 2017.  This rapid growth provides an unprecedented opportunity to tap into consumer behavior shift to tackle climate change. GAME will facilitate this shift by offering a platform for a global in-game currency based on carbon value.

Related proposals

ClimateCoin, motivate voluntary carbon offsets with cryptocurrency

iCarbon, a simple service helps measure personal carbon footprint

Vermontivate, a cultural intervention and community competition that brings fun and creativity to the serious work of wholesale systems transformation

Using Smartphones to Propagate Eco-Friendly Behavior

People follow the crowd. Harness that through inter-community competitions

References

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