The gaming industry is working with the United Nations to engage audiences like never before and inspire a new wave of climate action<\/p>\n
Sometime before the COVID-19<\/a> pandemic, Cassie Flynn was heading to work on a rush-hour packed New York City subway train.<\/p>\n As the Strategic Advisor on Climate Change for the UN Development Programme (UNDP<\/a>), she often used the monotony of the commute to think of innovative ways to get ordinary people involved in the climate fight, and on this morning, she noticed everyone around her busy with their phones, not just staring at them or scrolling, but doing something<\/em>.<\/p>\n \u201cI was a bit cheeky, and I started looking at what people were doing and I kind of peeked over this woman\u2019s shoulder and saw she was playing Angry Birds<\/em>, and then I looked over and this other guy was playing Candy Crush. <\/em>All of these people were playing games on their phones,\u201d she recalled while speaking to UN News.<\/p>\n A lightbulb went off, and Ms. Flynn thought: \u201cWhat if we could meet people there?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know how in [some] games they have these 30-second ads that pop up? What if we could use that? Instead of it being an advertisement for another game or something else, what if this is where we could talk to people about climate change?\u201d<\/p>\n And that\u2019s exactly what she and her team at UNDP decided to do.<\/p>\n Ms. Flynn\u2019s momentous subway ride gave birth to UNDP\u2019s Mission 1.5<\/em> mobile game<\/a>, which allows people to learn about the climate crisis and at the same time communicate to governments about solutions that could be put in place to tackle it \u2013 all while they\u2019re exploring virtual universes.<\/p>\n \u201cMore people play videogames on their phones than they [listen to] music and [watch] videos combined, it\u2019s just massive,\u201d says the expert.<\/p>\n Thanks to an inter-agency effort and a partnership with a gaming company, UNDP\u2019s game \u2013 which challenges users to make the right decisions to keep the world on the path to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees<\/a> \u2013went online at the beginning of 2020.<\/p>\n \u201cFast forward [to today], we have about 6 million people that have played the game so far in 58 countries<\/strong>, with a 50 per cent completion rate. So, when people start it, they really play it, which is something that we\u2019re really excited about,\u201d Ms. Flynn adds.<\/p>\n But it goes beyond educating the users on climate solutions in 17 languages; the game asks them to cast a vote about which strategies, in their opinion, would be more successful to tackle the crisis.<\/p>\n These answers have become the source for what is now known as the \u2018People\u2019s climate vote<\/a>,\u2019 the largest survey of public opinion on climate change ever conducted.<\/p>\n \u201cWe took data from about 50 countries, and we were able to use the samples to cover over half of the world\u2019s population in terms of their thinking on how they should solve the climate crisis,\u201d Ms. Flynn explains.<\/p>\n That information has now been shared and discussed by parliamentarians all over the world and during major international meetings, such as the recent G20 summit and the latest UN Climate Conference, COP26<\/a>. The results were even included in the latest series of reports issued by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC<\/a>), which are very influential for intergovernmental negotiations.<\/p>\n Mission 1.5<\/em>\u2019s success is only the tip of the iceberg if we think about the reach of today\u2019s video gaming industry, which stretches beyond our smartphones onto the screens of at least 3 billion people in the world \u2013 or 1 in every 3 people in the planet.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThe video gaming industry is probably the most powerful medium in the world in terms of attention, reach and engagement,\u201d says Sam Barratt, UN Environment<\/a>\u2019s Chief of Education, Youth & Advocacy.<\/p>\n Mr. Barratt is the Co-Founder of the first-of-its-kind group of private video game sector organizations that have made commitments to help protect people and the planet, with the support of the United Nations.<\/p>\n Launched during the pivotal 2019 UN Climate Action Summit<\/a>, the Playing for the Planet Alliance<\/em><\/a> has made headlines in recent years for including commitments from some of the major names in the gaming industry, such as Microsoft, Sony and Ubisoft, as well as dozens of other well-known videogame studios.<\/p>\n Mr. Barratt was inspired by watching his son spend time exploring, playing, and socializing on these platforms, and seeing how the games created incentives to keep the players engaged.<\/p>\n \u201c[It was] an industry that hadn\u2019t really thought about what difference it could make<\/strong>\u201d, he explains to UN News.<\/p>\n The alliance aims to work with these companies on two fronts: First, reducing the carbon footprint of their industries; and second, harnessing the power of their platforms to include messages or steps they might take related to climate action.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve built a really strong community of practice on this agenda. We\u2019ve doubled in size \u2013 for now, at least over 40 studios \u2013 with more coming on board. The way I see our role [as United Nations] is that we\u2019re facilitating leadership, we\u2019re here to help the industry<\/strong>\u2026 but in the end, it\u2019s a voluntary initiative where the kind of leadership that they show is determined by them,\u201d Mr. Barratt explains.<\/p>\n Playing for the Planet also hosts a yearly \u2018Green Game Jam<\/a>\u2019, which is an opportunity for videogame studios to get extra creative and integrate green activations within their popular games or create new ones.<\/p>\n This means including environmentally themed features and messages, educating users and inviting them to donate or to participate in UN conservation and restoration campaigns.<\/p>\n Over the past two years there has already been an array of cool initiatives and games that have made a difference outside of the screens.<\/p>\n For instance, different activations in games during the Jams have contributed to the planting of over 266,000 trees,<\/strong> with this number likely to increase.<\/p>\n Another remarkable example is the popular video game Alba: A Wildlife Adventure<\/em> by the English studio Ustwo, which is a member of the Alliance.<\/p>\n The game features a girl protagonist who tries to prevent the construction of a resort on a beautiful Mediterranean Island. It teaches the importance of conservation and restoration to PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo Switch, PC and iOS users, while devoting some of the proceeds from every download to support tree-planting as a strategy to reduce greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.<\/p>\n Alba<\/em> has so far led to a remarkable 1<\/strong> million trees planted and 3 habitats restored<\/strong>, with this number set to grow.<\/p>\n During the last Green Game Jam in 2021, UN Environment invited participant studios to support campaigns such as Play4Forests<\/a>, a petition to demand action from world leaders in protecting forests; and Glowing<\/a> Glowing Gone<\/a>, to accelerate ocean protection and climate action.<\/p>\n Studios with a combined reach of 1 billion players participated in the 2021 Jam, and they were able to engage 130 million players around the world<\/strong> with some 60,000 pledges signed for the UN campaigns, and $800,000 in donations to different charities working with environmental causes.<\/p>\n And of course, it was also fun. Just to give you a few examples:<\/p>\n PAC-MAN <\/strong>players were able to play a forest-themed \u2018Adventure Mode\u2019 with six stages, an album filled with collectibles and a skin [a download which changes the appearance of characters in the game] as the reward for the event completion.<\/p>\n Minecraft, <\/strong>a 3-D computer game where players can build anything, <\/strong>added an additional lesson plan on \u2018Radical Recycling\u2019 to player maps, and therefore was able to make a $100,000 donation to The Nature Conservancy.<\/em><\/p>\n Pok\u00e9mon Go<\/strong> created a first-of-its-kind avatar item to give players a new way to voice their support for sustainability efforts.<\/p>\n Angry Birds<\/strong> fans were able to collect a special Mariner Hat Set for participating in a Sea Adventure, and the campaign reached over 280,000 people.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, for Anno 1800,<\/strong> a city-building real-time strategy video game, PC players usually grow settlements and create massive production chains in a world with infinite resources. This time, they learned how, in the real world, their decisions affect the environment and could end up destroying it.<\/p>\n Players start out on an untouched island with a small population and are required to create a sustainable city. If they don\u2019t keep in mind the downsides of population growth and find measures to counter them, the island\u2019s ecosystem and the city will ultimately collapse.<\/p>\n For example, building monocultures depletes island fertility, over-fishing destroys food supplies for future generations, and deforestation leads to deserted islands.<\/p>\n This last game initiative won the Jam\u2019s UNEP\u2019s choice award for 2021.<\/a><\/p>\n Speaking about change in the real world, according to the latest report of the Playing for the Planet Alliance, 60 per cent of its members are now committed to becoming net zero or carbon negative by 2030 at the latest.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cSo, we do know that for many gaming companies, most of the carbon is produced through games that play on devices. Mainly through mobile and all through other parts of that scope. But we still don\u2019t have a full picture. We are working this year to get the whole industry to come up with a methodology so they can understand how they can recall that carbon impact,\u201d Alliance co-founder Sam Barratt, explains.<\/p>\n He adds that while gaming seems to have a lesser carbon footprint when compared with other leisure activities, it all depends on how long users play and what media they use for it.<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re playing on a CD ROM and playing that game a lot, the carbon consequence of its life cycle approach is less than streaming lots of small games,\u201d Mr. Barratt says, highlighting that the Alliance is working together to figure out ways to measure their emissions better. <\/p>\n Last year, Microsoft conducted a report that details the amount of energy in Watt-hours that mobile devices use while playing mobile video games in a 30-minute period of gameplay.<\/p>\n The previous study that was being used for calculation was from 2012, so this new dataset will allow companies to make more accurate calculations of gamers\u2019 energy use through mobile gaming.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Sony created a carbon footprint tool on the carbon impacts of the gaming sector and made substantial improvements in the energy efficiency of their Play Station 4 and 5 consoles. <\/p>\n \u201cWe also recognize the impact we have on climate change as an industry \u2013 and we are taking steps to address it… We\u2019ve achieved an estimated avoided energy use for PS4 and PS5 consoles of 57.4 TWh [Terawatt-hour] and 0.8 TWh respectively from energy efficiency improvements we\u2019ve made to date, such as efficient chipsets, power supplies, and low power rest mode,\u201d Ross Townsend, Sony PlayStation Corporate Communication Manager, tells UN News.<\/p>\n He adds that for this year\u2019s Earth Day, Sony Interactive Entertainment invested in high-quality projects and was able to offset carbon emissions equivalent to 100 million hours of average console electricity during gameplay.<\/p>\n Gameloft, a giant mobile game developer, has also made moves to reduce its carbon footprint.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have the ambitious project to become Net Zero Carbon with long-term work consisting of focusing on Scopes 1 [direct greenhouse emissions associated with fuel combustion] and 2 [Indirect emissions associated with electricity, steam, cooling etc.] and by reducing our energy and electricity footprint by 80 per cent and onboarding our providers in our decarbonization’s journey,\u201d emphasizes Stephanie Cazaux-Moutou, Gameloft Communications Manager.<\/p>\n Since 2019, the company is also reducing its business travel and compensating the remaining emissions.<\/p>\n Other Alliance members are also working on a new protocol to reduce the use of plastics within the industry to be launched sometime in 2022.<\/p>\n \u201cThree quarters of the consumers around the world expect brands to be actively involved in solving social and environmental changes. Videogames being the biggest entertainment industry, the impact is real: there is a room to lead rather than follow,\u201d adds Ms. Cazaux-Moutou.<\/p>\nInfluencing global policy by playing a mobile game<\/h2>\n
Reaching new populations: The Playing for the Planet Alliance<\/h2>\n
Less carbon footprint, more action<\/strong><\/h2>\n
It\u2019s not all fun and games<\/h2>\n
Decarbonizing the industry<\/h2>\n
Big companies are already starting to take the lead<\/h2>\n
Into the Future<\/h2>\n