Towards The MIT Climate Pathways Project: Systems Thinking for Leaders in a World on Fire. In June 2026, John D. Sterman, Jay W. Forrester Professor of Management at MIT Sloan School of Management, joined the International Conference of Sustainable System Development at National Chengchi University chaired by Prof. Min-Ren Yan (the President of Taiwan Chapter of the System Dynamics Society). The conference is organized by iiLABs and SSD Alliance for ESG Business Transformation supported by National Science and Technology Council and Taipei City Government.
Prof. Sterman noted that the planet has already warmed about 1.5°C and that current policies point to roughly 3.3°C by 2100, a path the IPCC links to severe, irreversible impacts. The debate, he argued, is not about whether solutions exist but about where the high-leverage points are. Using En-ROADS, a free climate simulator developed by MIT and Climate Interactive, he showed that heavily subsidizing nuclear power lowers warming by only 0.1°C: plants take a long time to build and largely displace wind and solar investment. A meaningful carbon price is the single highest-leverage policy; combined with energy efficiency, electrification, nature-based solutions and cuts to methane and deforestation, warming can stay below 2°C, and, he argued, the economy grows faster because climate damage is avoided. Turning to Taiwan, he suggested that Taiwan has a good GDP growth and nation-wide net-zero policy, while En-ROADS can be facilitated for combined management policies to achieve the goals of sustainable development.
In the interactive session with government commissioners, industry leaders, school principals, educators and young students, he stressed that telling people what to do does not work; leaders must learn for themselves through simulation and role play, ideally alongside people who hold opposing views. He recalled a bank chairman whose questions shifted from technical doubts to a commitment to build a safer world for his grandchildren. Answering a student’s question on AI, he showed that if AI boosts economic growth, emissions rise, so technology alone cannot solve the problem without policy. His closing message: “Time is short, but it’s not too late. We can do this.”
【Topics covered】 • Why showing people research doesn’t change minds, and why leaders must learn for themselves • Where global warming stands today and where current policies lead (about 3.3°C by 2100) • Taiwan’s emissions, energy mix, economic growth and 2050 net-zero target • Using the En-ROADS Climate Solutions Simulator to test policies and find high-leverage points • Why single solutions fall short: time delays and crowding-out effects • Building a policy mix: carbon pricing, efficiency, electrification and nature-based solutions • Climate action and economic growth • AI, data centers and the rebound effect
【Learning outcomes】 • Understand how systems thinking and simulation help leaders tell high-leverage policies from popular but ineffective ones • Recognize how time delays, crowding-out and rebound effects shape the results of policy decisions • Gain insights into using interactive simulation and role play to help leaders and stakeholders learn for themselves and act together
