Can virtual reality save the planet?

On Aug. 9, the U.N. released a dire climate report, the first since 2018, that warned of accelerated warming of the planet and splashed code red alert headlines across the world. To bring the Earth back from the brink will demand powerful collective action, the authors of the report wrote. But while the urgency of the message is growing in the public sphere, scientists, journalists, artists and creators have still so far struggled to communicate it effectively to large numbers of global citizens. Some of them are now pinning their hopes on virtual reality (VR) to get the message across. In fact, a substantial body of research from the Stanford Virtual Human Interaction Lab has shown that using virtual reality to change human behavior works. But how does it work, and what kinds of VR experiences can most effectively reach the largest numbers of people and have the most impact? Where can these VR experiences be delivered to people? Is VR just a communication tool or can it be something more?