Nairobi, 1 April 2011
- The United Nations has released details
of its greenhouse gas emissions for 52 institutions,
covering 200,000 employees, in a new report
published as part of ongoing efforts to
reduce the organisation's carbon footprint.
The report, co-ordinated
by the United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), calculates the UN's total greenhouse
gas emissions for 2009 at 1.7 million tonnes
of CO2 equivalent, or 8.3 tonnes per capita.
Over 50 percent of UN's
emissions are from air travel (4.1 tonnes
per capita) making this the biggest challenge
for the organisation in reducing its overall
carbon footprint. Around 37 percent of emissions
are from buildings and 13 percent are from
vehicles.
The report, Moving Towards
a Climate Neutral UN, was presented at the
meeting of the UN Chief Executives Board
of Coordination, in Nairobi, Kenya, where
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with
the heads of UN agencies, funds and programmes.
In the report's foreword,
Mr. Ban states that improving the UN's in-house
sustainability performance will make the
organisation more efficient, more effective
and less exposed to risk.
"The United Nations
has played a key role in elevating the profile
of climate change on the international agenda,
and continues to support Member States in
their efforts to reduce emissions, strengthen
adaptation and respond to this immense global
challenge," writes Mr. Ban.
"Such work has
a natural complement in our in-house drive
to reduce the UN's own carbon footprint.
What we demand of others, we must do ourselves."
The report provides
a progress update on implementation of UN's
Climate Neutral Strategy. In October 2007,
the strategy was approved the UN Chief Executive
Board and committed, all agencies, funds
and programmes to move towards climate neutrality
within the wider context of greening the
UN.
The Strategy requires UN bodies to estimate
their greenhouse gas emissions, undertake
efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and analyse the cost implications of purchasing
carbon offsets.
The emissions calculations
in the report are based on the Greenhouse
Gas Protocol, a widely used methodology
developed by the World Resources Institute
and the World Business Council for Sustainable
Development. The UN greenhouse gas inventory
includes emissions from all activities that
are under the direct financial control of
the organization, such as the heating and
cooling of buildings and the travel of staff
members. The International Civil Aviation
Organization's Carbon Emissions Calculator
was used for computing the air travel portion
of the greenhouse gas inventory.
Successful efforts in
'Greening the Blue'
The report describes
recent highlights of the organisation's
'greening' efforts and details the myriad
ways in which UN organisations, staff associations
and individual employees worldwide are continuing
efforts to reduce their CO2 emissions.
UNEP which has been
climate neutral since 2008, became the first
UN organization to publish an Emission Reduction
Strategy last year, including a target to
reduce emissions by 3% per annum in 2010-12
(from 2009 levels). Implementing the efficiency
measures could save UNEP an estimated US$800,000
per year
UNEP published the 2010
report - Sustainable Travel in the UN -
which provides advice to organizations on
how to reduce emissions from travel, building
on existing UNEP guidelines on sustainable
buildings, sustainable procurement and green
meetings.
Peacekeeping operations
account for over half of the UN's total
greenhouse gas emissions. In 2010, greening
programmes included training sessions for
peacekeeping staff, a sustainability assessment
of peacekeeping camps in South Sudan and
a new contract for field missions to procure
solar panels.
At the United Nations
office in Geneva, staff members promoted
the use of tap water over bottled water,
led efforts to make cafeterias more sustainable
and helped improve access to green transport.
In New York, staff members worked together
to promote more efficient light bulbs, while
in Beijing, UN employees implemented plans
to reduce energy consumption in each office.
The World Bank initiated
programmes to reduce resource consumption
in its US offices. From 2008-09, the organisation
saw a decrease of 7% in greenhouse gas emissions,
8% in waste to landfill and 15% in paper
consumption.
A new website - Greening
the Blue - was launched by the Secretary
General in June 2010 to highlight work that
is underway to make the UN more sustainable.
In September last year, greeningtheblue.org
won the 'best website' award at the International
Visual Communications Association's Clarion
Awards.
Towards a zero carbon
future
Despite the successes
to date in enacting the UN's Climate Neutral
Strategy, there is still work to be done
before the strategy is fully implemented.
"Looking forward,
I am determined to see sustainability embedded
throughout our operations - in how we procure
and use energy and other resources, in our
modes of transport, our buildings and our
waste disposal," writes Mr. Ban in
the report.
Among the immediate
priorities outlined in the report is the
development and adaptation of Emission Reduction
Strategies for all UN organisations, in
order to help map progress towards greater
sustainability.
These include greenhouse
gas inventories and efforts to reduce emissions,
as well as other aspects of sustainbility,
such as greater use of recycled materials
and implementing greener procurement procedures.
Many UN organisations
are also calculating the financial implications
of emission reduction measures. Short-term
investment may be required in most cases,
but the payback time is likely to be short.
One UN agency estimated that up-front investment
for video-conferencing equipment would total
US$3.3 million, but that the resulting 10%
reduction in air travel would lead to year-one
cost savings of US4.6 million and a reduction
of 1225 tonnes of CO2
Notes to Editors
The UN Climate Neutral Strategy was approved
by the UN Chief Executives Board for Coordination
(CEB) in October 2007.
The first UN greenhouse gas inventory, Moving
Towards a Climate Neutral UN, was published
in December 2009.
The work of implementing
the UN Climate Neutral Strategy is coordinated
by the United Nations Environment Programme.
Data is collected by the Issue Management
Group (IMG) on Sustainability Management
which includes representatives from most
UN organizations. The IMG reports to the
UN Environment Management Group (EMG) and
is supported by the Sustainable United Nations
facility.
The inventory for 2009
emissions includes data for 52 UN organizations.
Of these, 46 have reported data directly
or indirectly for 2009, two for the first
time. Six organizations reported their greenhouse
gas emissions for 2008 but failed to do
so for 2009. For these organizations the
2008 emissions results have been used.
To read the summary and full report of Moving
Towards a Climate Neutral UN, visit www.greeningtheblue.org
