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Playing for the Planet’s Annual Impact report provides a year-on-year review of the work of the Alliance, facilitated by the UN Environment programme, and its membership. The following is an excerpt from the foreword of this year’s report, written by Dr. Susan Gardner, Director of Ecosystems at UNEP.
In September 2024, the Playing for the Planet Alliance celebrated its fifth anniversary. In under half a decade, the Alliance has expanded from a handful of members to a collective of over 50 leading video games businesses driving forward the environmental agenda in games, and beyond.
The achievements of the Alliance over this period should not be underestimated. Members of the Alliance and partners within the industry have shared knowledge to inspire effective climate action, introduced production innovations which have substantially reduced the industry’s carbon footprint, and empowered over a billion players around the world to take positive action to support the climate.
The half-decade that lies ahead of us is arguably even more important than the five years that lie behind us. Efforts to keep global temperature increases under 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2030 and keep critical biospheres intact is hanging in the balance. While the economic and political context may have changed, the science and the impact of climate, nature and pollution on people and this planet, haven’t.
For Playing for the Planet, the challenge this presents is two-fold. First, the Alliance needs to continue to ensure that delivering more energy efficient gaming is good for players and the planet. While larger studios are retaining their commitments, ensuring these are sustained will be key. Second, there is a need to strengthen the body of evidence and insight through the Green Game Jam, storytelling working group and research so that this industry can learn, test, and deploy new ideas at scale.
With this in mind, this year I am particularly excited to see how studios move forward with the theme Nurture Yourself with Nature. The sheer awe of nature, be it through giant landscapes or specific species, has always been in the backdrop of many great games.
The Alliance’s premise has been founded on its coalition of passionate professionals, forward-thinking games companies, innovative technology businesses, and the powerful convening forces of trade associations. Expanding this movement through teamwork and co-creation is a critical ingredient which cannot be understated, with UNEP also sharing the learning it has gained from this initiative with other major UN agencies and entertainment sectors who are keen to replicate the kind of work the Alliance has been undertaking.
Annual Reports can be staid affairs that reflect on what hasn’t, rather than what has been done. Reading this one is different. Already, the millions of actions players have taken to support the environment over the past half decade has led to investing in ecosystems and funding work to protect endangered species. But this, we believe, is only just the start.
We know that play has potentially an extraordinary power to change lives. And if we continue to mobilise that power to support the preservation of the environment, we believe that the Alliance and the movement that is growing around it can demonstrate the life-changing power for the benefit of our entire society.
This post was edited for clarity by Alex Avard, Project Manager for Playing for the Planet.
