Everything you need to know about Microsoft at UNGA

Thank you for joining us over the last 10 days as we engaged in conversation, debate and connection.

Sept. 23, 2022, 7:00 pm ET: It's been a busy time with the new Microsoft office in New York hosting 25 events and 68 bilateral meetings, with over 1,000 participants since Sept. 13, 2022. Scroll down for a glimpse at some of the many events that happened. We appreciate you following and we hope to see you again!

Sept. 23, 2022, 2:37pm ET: Welcome to the last day of high-level week at the 77th United Nations General Assembly here in New York. After a week of debates and speeches, global delegations are starting to return to their home countries. ?

Brad Smith , Vice Chair and President of Microsoft, participated in the UN SDG Action Zone today. The forum brings together the highest levels of UN leadership, activists, government officials, business leaders, changemakers and disruptors in a virtual collaborative space in order to highlight the ecosystem-wide solutions, plans, and investments needed to positively impact people’s lives and the future of our planet.?

Sept. 22, 2022, 1:25 pm ET:??

At the UN General Assembly, 微软 announced a partnership with Planet and The Nature Conservancy to map the entirety of the world’s solar and wind supply producing a first-of-its-kind Global Renewables Watch. The Global Renewables Watch is the first tool that will allow users to evaluate clean energy transition progress and track trends over a period of time rather than as a moment in time.?

Microsoft also released two new policy papers: one on carbon policy and one on electricity policy. The papers help illustrate Microsoft's principles and priority areas clearly and transparently including how the company will engage with governments around the world in these areas.?

Sept 22, 2022, 9:30 am ET: Microsoft announced support for the Copenhagen Pledge on Tech for Democracy, an initiative driven by the Udenrigsministeriet (MFA) to bring together representatives from governments, multilateral organizations, the tech industry and civil society to make technology work for democracy and human rights online.

Sept 22, 5:27pm ET: While we are in New York for the UN General Assembly, we asked some leaders across different issues at 微软 what makes?#UNGA?so important?Featuring?Brad Smith,?Chris Sharrock,?Juan M. Lavista Ferres,?Jenny Lay-Flurrie?and?Michelle Billig Patron

Sept 21, 12:37 pm ET: GZERO Media and the Eurasia Group livestreamed a second panel, Live from the UN General Assembly: Rescuing a World in Crisis featuring Brad Smith , Vice Chair and President of Microsoft. The discussion focused on how the world can advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals amid the challenges of climate change, growing inequality, recessionary pressures and an ongoing global pandemic - and who should be responsible for clearing the way.?

Sept 21, 12:05 pm ET: Microsoft launched its latest Transformation Guide on Climate Transition Action Plans at the Assembly. These plans were announced at an event featuring Elisabeth Brinton , CVP of Sustainability at Microsoft and executives from other founding companies including Natura &Co , 耐克 and 联合利华 . The plans include guidance on what makes an effective Climate Transition Action Plan and how to reach the goal of an inclusive net zero economy no later than 2050.?

Sept 21, 2022, 11:00am ET: As high-level week kicked off, Chris Sharrock , Vice President UN Affairs Office at Microsoft, met virtually with Maya Plentz of The UN Brief. Chris and Maya discussed the establishment of the Microsoft UN Affairs office and its key priorities in working with the UN, the core set of challenges that Microsoft aims to address at UNGA, what it will take for emerging economies to fully participate in the global digital economy and more.?

Sept 20, 2022, 5:05pm ET:?Microsoft announced expanded commitments and contributions to the Christchurch Call. The Call brings together over 120 governments,?private companies?and civil society organizations?to eliminate?terrorist and extremist content online.?These new commitments are part of Microsoft’s?wider work to advance the responsible use of AI more broadly and continue to fight harmful content online as technology rapidly advances.?

Sept 20, 2022, 1:05 pm ET: Microsoft AI for Health and the Novartis Foundation have announced the launch of Health Equity Initiative to use data and AI to help cities solve cardiovascular health inequity. The work will aim to identify social determinants of health and which have the most influence on cardiovascular health, which is the leading cause of death in for adults in the United States. ?

Juan M. Lavista Ferres , Lead Scientist for Microsoft's AI For Good Program, joined other experts to discuss how data and AI can address this issue, “After privacy, our second step is tied to bias. No matter how good your data collection system, is there’s always some bias in the data you collect. It’s really important to understand how the data was collected from the people who assigned the systems because, if you don’t understand the bias, you can end up training a model with the wrong data.”?

Sustainable Energy for All hosted a breakfast at the Microsoft space at the UN as a precursor to discussions expected at COP27.

Sept. 19, 2022, 5:15 pm ET: Tune in on Sept. 21, 2022 for a session live from the General Assembly discussing how the world can advance its goals despite several crisis's.

Sept. 16, 2022, 12:30 pm ET: The International Organisation of Employers (IOE) met with several government and business leaders this morning to discuss the ongoing skills crisis and steps to close the existing employment gap.

Sept. 15, 2022, 1:00 pm ET: In an announcement today, Egypt’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that Microsoft will be the Exclusive Technology Principal Sponsor of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP27).??

This year's conference will be in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt from November 6-18, 2022.??

GZERO Media / Eurasia Group livestreamed a panel with Vickie S. Robinson , Microsoft’s General Manager for Airband, on how to truly transform education and evaluate the importance of digital access and connectivity to attain this urgent global goal.??

Sept. 13, 2022, 1:05 pm ET: We are here because in January of 2020 Microsoft announced it was setting up a United Nations Affairs office in New York City. That office is now the United Nations and International Organizations (UNIO) team focused on 微软 ’s commitment to global action and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

For those unfamiliar, when we say the UN General Assembly, we are talking about the main policymaking organ of the United Nations. Every year, the General Assembly kicks off in September at the UN headquarters in New York.?

The UNGA adopted the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015. The goals provide a framework for international efforts to tackle climate change, alleviate poverty and inequality, and ensure peace and prosperity for all citizens of the world.??

The SDGs aim to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. As UNGA77 kicks off, Chris Sharrock, Vice President of UN Affairs and International Organizations at Microsoft, shares his thoughts on how technology remains a pivotal piece of advancing the SDGs and how Microsoft will continue to partner with the UN to help improve the wellbeing of everyone, everywhere.?

The UNGA meets in regular sessions that begin in September each year. At the opening of each session, alongside the world leaders, civil society activists, private sector organizations and young people from across the globe gather for a schedule of speeches, summits and dialogue. That’s what the next two weeks will be all about.??

?We'll keep updating this page so check back daily for updates!