What Would It Actually Take to Cool the Planet?
Most of us understand that climate change is making everyday life more expensive — from rising grocery bills and soaring insurance premiums to higher utility costs and disaster recovery expenses. But it can be hard to connect those realities to the policy decisions that drive them.
That's where En-ROADS comes in.
En-ROADS is a free, interactive climate simulator developed through a collaboration between the MIT Sloan School of Management's Sustainability Initiative and the nonprofit think tank Climate Interactive. Launched in 2019, it has since been used by more than 200,000 people across 140+ countries — from corporate executives and government policymakers to educators and students.
The tool lets you play decision-maker. Using a simple slider-based interface, you can test the real-world impact of different policy choices — things like carbon pricing, shifts in energy sources, changes to land use, or improvements in energy efficiency — and see the projected effect on global temperature, energy costs, and emissions, all updated in real time. No technical background required.
What makes En-ROADS particularly relevant to conversations about climate and affordability is its ability to show the cost of inaction alongside the cost of action. The decisions made at the policy level — by governments, regulators, and corporations — have direct downstream effects on what households pay. En-ROADS makes that chain of cause and effect visible and explorable.
You can try it yourself at en-roads.climateinteractive.org.
En-ROADS is a free public tool. No account or download required.
