However, where we as Microsoft have the biggest potential to align ourselves with the UAE’s visionary leadership and the country’s sustainability goal is where we work with and through partners and customers. Such efforts align closely with the UAE National Agenda and UAE Vision 2021, which list sustainability as central pillars. Microsoft is investing US$50 million in AI for Earth that will accelerate innovation by putting AI in the hands of those working to directly address sustainability challenges. (Carbon Call is a collective of organisations across multiple industries that co-operates on access to underlying data and science.) And through the Carbon Call initiative, we have tried to standardise this reporting for others to help them reach their own carbon goals.

We have sought to lead on decarbonisation by being transparent in our reporting. Our strategy involves shifting to 100% renewable energy, extending our carbon fee to our supply and value chains, and investing in new carbon-reduction and removal technology by way of a US$1 billion Climate Innovation Fund. Having been carbon neutral since 2012, we have committed to being carbon negative by 2030.Īnd by 2050, we will have removed from the environment an equivalent amount of all the carbon the company has emitted since its founding in 1975. We are proud to be leaders in the battle to reduce carbon footprint.

We also strive to extend those benefits across our corporate boundaries and out to the communities we serve. When it comes to sustainability, Microsoft works diligently to minimise the environmental impacts of our operations while maximising the positive impacts of our technology. However, can you tell us about your sustainability mission – and how you’re helping the UAE address issues over talent acquisition and skills shortages in the IT sector? We know that Microsoft is a key partner for the UAE in terms of helping the nation achieve its national agenda objectives and outcomes. When I spoke with the Microsoft UAE team last year, sustainability was a key theme that featured prominently throughout the discussion. CNME Editor Mark Forker spoke to the new General Manager of Microsoft UAE, Naim Yazbeck, to learn more about the company’s take on the Metaverse, the role Microsoft Cloud has played in driving new innovation, entrepreneurship and economic growth in the UAE – and its continued commitment to sustainability.

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