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MOVING TOWARDS A CLIMATE NEUTRAL UN
tricity use for computers and servers (operation and cooling), and due to scope for reducing travel through increased use of e-communication tools.
Regarding the direct climate footprint of computers and servers, most UN organizations are upgrading computers, in so far as new hardware includes energy- saving features as a standard, and where desktops are often replaced with considerably more energy efficient laptops. Server rooms, which are on average respon- sible for about 10 per cent of the total energy con- sumption in offices, are in some cases, such as the UN Secretariat in New York, downsized so that more virtual servers run on fewer physical machines, which has a proportional impact on the energy consumption and costs for both energy and hardware.
While use of e-mail, phone- and video-conferencing has been commonplace throughout UN for many years, 29 UN organizations are now developing access to more modern e-communication tools such as on-line con- ferencing, personalized PC-based video links, internet phone conferencing and on-line class rooms. Several or- ganizations require staff to consider conducting meetings and missions through e-communication, before travel is approved. In many organizations all new computers are supplied with headsets and webcams to enable voice- over-IP and personal video conferencing applications.
There is a clear trend for UN organizations to take ad- vantage of the many opportunities for more efficient ICT support, both to reduce the direct climate footprint of ICT equipment and support reduced emissions from other activities, in particular meetings, travel and com- munication.
UNECE has also implemented a pilot project, entitled ‘Facilitating Electronic Public Participation and Mitigat- ing Climate Change: Proposed Feasibility Study of Tele- conferencing and Webcasting in Selected Aarhus Con- vention Meetings’. This will reduce travel to meetings, thereby contributing to a reduction of carbon emis- sions caused by UNECE activities. At the same time, an increase in web-based meeting techniques also offers greater potential for public participation in such meet- ings, if appropriate.
The UN ICT Network has established a working group to review the potential for improving access by all UN staff to high quality e-communication tools.
Flexible/remote working arrangements 2003 saw the launch of the UN Flex policy, enabling or- ganizations to arrange work schedules for staff in a way that allows work to be done more flexibly in terms of
both time and place. Sixteen UN organizations now use this policy. Although it is primarily a means of enhanc- ing the work-life balance of staff, the UN Flex Policy also has positive effects on GHG emissions. It reduces com- muting and the need for travel, allows bundling of mis- sions and reduces the need for office space. A method- ology for assessing the potential for applying UN Flex to reduce GHG emissions in individual UN offices is due for release in early 2010.
Green meetings One of the UN’s main activities is to bring together stake- holders in meetings for negotiations, training, planning and assessments. The direct and indirect climate foot- print of meetings can be large, depending on the loca- tion of the meeting, time of year, number of participants, accommodation, catering and preparation of meeting materials. Typically, the largest source of GHG emissions from meetings is travel by participants. Other sources in- clude use of heating, cooling and electricity at the meet- ing venue and hotels, and (indirectly) printing of meet- ing documents, catering, and local transport.
The UN Green Meetings Guide was released in early 2009, providing advice and checklists on how to mini- mize the environmental impact of meetings. Twelve UN organizations have already started to organize at least some of their meetings as green meetings. Prominent examples include the World Food Summit organized in Rome by FAO in 2008, UNFCCC’s COP 14 in Poznan and UNEP’s Global Environment Forum in Monaco the same year, and the Governing Council in Nairobi in 2009. In these meetings measures were implemented such as on- demand printing, pooling of transport for meeting del- egates, avoidance of excessive cooling of meeting rooms, web-casting of sessions, video presentation by some del- egates from their home countries, provision of organic food and use of recyclable cups. The travel-related cli- mate footprint of participants paid for by the organiza- tion was compensated for through purchase of offsets.
For UNFCCC COP15 in Copenhagen virtual presence teleconferencing rooms connected to similar rooms around the world have been set-up, to allow delega- tions and other participants to organize virtual face- to-face meetings with colleagues and experts abroad without requiring them to come to Copenhagen.
Simply because of the very large number of meetings organized by the UN every year, paying more attention to minimizing the climate footprint and other nega- tive environmental impact from meetings would have a large cumulative impact. This is expected to remain one of the focus areas for emissions-reductions at the UN in the coming years.
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