EMISSIONS REDUCTIONS Lessons learned
There are many opportunities for the UN to reduce its climate footprint. Action often produces direct savings, in particular through reduced energy consumption in buildings, lower travel costs, and greater efficiency in work delivery. However, business-as-usual attitudes, delays in changing administrative practice and com- peting priorities slow down implementation.
The first years of implementing the UN Climate Neutral Strategy have helped to identify both a large potential for emission reductions and areas where more atten- tion is required to reduce emissions and improve effi- ciency. The level of success will depend on many fac- tors. The dedication of committed staff and the ability of UN to reform key guidelines and policies will be cru- cial factors in the drive to support a wider systematic shift towards climate neutrality.
UN’s Climate Neutral Strategy supports the moderniza- tion and reform of the UN. Emissions reduction requires key operational areas such as procurement, travel, building management, office operations, ICT planning, meetings and staff training to be reviewed from an ef- ficiency perspective, across the UN system. In many cases, action to cut emissions will also reduce resource consumption (energy, water and paper), improve plan- ning (travel, building maintenance and budgeting), and improve efficiency in work delivery (increased use of e- tools, allowing quicker response and better tracking of issues). The climate neutral effort is consequently an op- portunity to move the organization towards integrated sustainable management. Several UN organizations are already coordinating their climate-neutral work with a
wider strategic approach to sustainable and efficient management. For example, it has been proposed that all new common UN facilities in the eight “Delivering as One UN” countries should be designed as green build- ings and that the UN organizations using these build- ings should be required to adopt a sustainable manage- ment system in their daily work.
There is still a great deal to be done. While all UN organi- zations have initiated activities in the past two years, and several UN organizations have made significant prog- ress, there is still plenty to do. The following are priorities: All UN organizations have started their activities in their main offices, in some cases also involving field offices. However, most organizations have yet to de- velop a systematic approach to addressing emissions reductions consistently throughout the organization. To this end, specific emissions-reduction plans will be established for all organizations by the end of 2010. Emissions-reduction measures cannot always be im- plemented on in a short time-frame. It takes time to identify emissions-reduction interventions, and carry out planning, budgeting and execution. This will re- main as ongoing activity in most organizations. The regular maintenance that is part of standard op- erating procedures in all buildings will need to be planned and conducted taking into account impacts on the climate footprint and long-term sustainability. Work to review and revise common UN policies and regulations to facilitate emission reductions has been initiated through various UN networks and bodies in 2008–09. However, these processes are lengthy and will require additional time to be completed.
•
• •
•
29
Next steps
The momentum that has been built under the UN Climate Neutral Strategy will be maintained, with an increasing focus on implementing emissions reduc- tions. Over the years 2010–11, efforts will be made to strengthen the surrounding framework for a greener and more sustainable UN, as envisaged by the Sec- retary-General. The UN’s efforts on climate neutrality are neither a one-off effort, nor a two- to three-year project. Sustained effort and systematic management approaches will be needed to allow organizations to leverage climate neutrality and sustainability to save
resources and improve the organization’s perfor- mance. Most UN organizations have found that the effort to prepare GHG inventories, and reduce emis- sions, has also helped to identify opportunities for improvements in areas not directly affected by the climate neutral agenda. To allow organizations to ad- dress these issues collectively, the next two years will also see more attention focus on the prospect of es- tablishing sustainable management systems in the UN as supporting management frameworks for achieving a greener, more efficient UN.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117 |
Page 118 |
Page 119 |
Page 120 |
Page 121 |
Page 122 |
Page 123 |
Page 124 |
Page 125 |
Page 126 |
Page 127 |
Page 128 |
Page 129 |
Page 130 |
Page 131 |
Page 132 |
Page 133 |
Page 134 |
Page 135 |
Page 136 |
Page 137 |
Page 138 |
Page 139 |
Page 140