VII. CONCLUSION

VR is not a panacea for solving the world’s climate problems. However, VR is an exciting technology that can provide global audiences with intense, motivating, fulfilling, and resonant visceral experiences. As such, VR offers enormous promise for organizations that want to employ it in service of pro-climate agendas. VR should be seen as a capable and innovative tool, a sleek piece of technology that can shift how humans, including leaders, perceive climate change. Moreover, as described in sections V and VI of this report, if properly positioned and marketed, VR experiences can be leveraged for significant impact around climate messaging.

Leading organizations therefore should embrace VR as a means for engaging global leaders. This claim means that VR provides the starting point, rather than the endpoint, of a systematic, structured, and ongoing engagement with world leaders. As summarized in section II of this report, the Atlantic Council intends to treat VR in just these terms. The Atlantic Council will accelerate its reach and positioning in this space, with the goal being to have its VR experiences become an effective means for sustained and actionable dialogue with the world’s leaders on the growing challenges and opportunities presented by a changing climate.