More than 100 leaders of countries accounting for around 85% of the world’s forests (including Brazil) have committed to end deforestation by 2030. Currently, if deforestation – the loss of tree cover – was a country it would have the third-highest carbon footprint behind China and the US.
Japanese gaming giant Sega Corporation has agreed a strategic alliance with Microsoft to produce large-scale global games using the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
The announcement pushed Sega’s shares 6% higher in early trading on Monday (1 Nov), as the alliance would form a key part of the firm’s medium to long-term strategy and would allow it to move forward with “Super Game”, a new initiative for developing new and innovative titles, with a focus on global online communities.
Sega said the partnership would utilise Sega’s game development capabilities and Microsoft’s cutting-edge technology to “further advance our game development”.
In particular, it noted the widespread deployment of 5G and cloud services, stating that the agreement in principle would allow Sega to “anticipate trends” as online gaming evolves.
The alliance will also look to further enhance technology in areas such as network infrastructure and the communication tools required for global online services.
The UK and US were among the countries pledging support at COP26 to make climate finance more accessible to developing countries, through the Climate Investment Funds’ (CIF) new Capital Market Mechanism.
Rishi Sunak, the UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced that in addition to committing £100m to help ‘rewire’ the global financial system and help developing countries go green, the UK would also support the new mechanism that will issue investment-grade ‘green bonds’. These would aim to raise new finances for scaling up clean energy and sustainable infrastructure in emerging economies.
The US also added its weight to the initiative, with Janet Yellen, US Treasury Secretary, suggesting the mechanism would help attract significant new private climate funds and provide $500m a year for the CIF’s Clean Technology Fund.
She noted: “The climate crisis is already here. Rising to this challenge will require the wholesale transformation of our carbon-intensive economies.”
