UMaine students debate international climate action in UN negotiation simulation

As the United Nations prepares to kick off its annual Climate Change Conference of the Parties next week, students in a political science class at the University of Maine will debate international climate action tomorrow as part of a semester-long simulation of U.N. negotiations.

Their debate on international climate action will be held at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 28.

Nicholas Micinski, an assistant professor with the Department of Political Science and School of Policy and International Affairs at UMaine, will task students in his Introduction to World Politics course with working together to devise solutions for global warming and sea level rise. In the simulated activity, each student represents a different country, and their collective goal is to create a new international treaty for mitigating the effects of climate change.  

“Climate change is the paramount problem in world politics today,” Micinski says. “This semester-long simulation challenges our students to think creatively but within the constraints of real political situations. They are learning that compromise is hard but that the perfect should not be the enemy of the good. Next week, the real UN will host the actual climate summit in Glasgow, but this week our UMaine students are negotiating in Orono for the future of our planet.”

Micinski has been hosting simulated debates for his students throughout his course, having them tackle various issues in an effort to build stable economics, a strong quality of life and world peace among the states.