If only decarbonising our economies were a game!

Who: 40 CEOs and senior executives from companies across France, participated today at a Shift
Forum organised by the Shift Project.
What: They played a serious game. The objective was to decarbonise the production of a fictional
fertiliser company whilst keeping the firm 1. competitive, 2. resilient and 3. with a good reputation.
What outcome: Good news. All six teams managed to make the transition, albeit with varying
degrees of success on the three different scores.
What learnings: A. Europe lacks raw materials and pays much higher prices for its energy in
consequence (e.g. natural gas prices in the EU are estimated as being 350% higher than in the US
according to the Draghi report). The energy transition therefore not only vital for the environment,
but also for the economy. B. Timing is key. Jumping too soon can make you uncompetitive. But going
too late means scrambling for same resources as everybody else. 3. Hence it can be useful to move in
close cooperation with political authorities to ensure that everyone is pulling in the same direction
when it comes to allocating scarce resources in a coordinated manner. Indeed, whereas you may
only have worried about supplies for your own sector in the past, in the future, it may be that sectors
are increasingly in competition with each other for physical as well as human resources.
What next: As the game’s developer, it was super to see everybody engaging fully with the
experience. It was also wonderful to have had the support of so many in the team (special thanks to
Heloise and Eric) – and thanks to @Matthieu Auzeneau for bringing me into the Forum.
#strategy #serious games #scenario