CLIMATE NEUTRAL UN Moving towards climate-neutrality
At the October 2007 meeting of the CEB, the execu- tive heads of the UN agencies, funds and programmes made a commitment to move their respective organi- zations towards climate neutrality in headquarters and UN centres for their facility operations and travel (see Annex II for the text of the statement).
In particular, they agreed to estimate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions consistent with accepted international standards, to undertake efforts to reduce GHG emissions to the extent possible; and to analyze the cost implica- tions and explore budgetary modalities – including con- sulting with governing bodies as needed – of purchasing carbon offsets to eventually reach climate neutrality. The initial milestone for this work was set for December 2009.
The UN system set out its approach in the UN Climate Neutral Strategy. In this document, the UN defined its “climate neutrality” as the entire set of polices that it uses to estimate its known GHG emissions, measures to reduce them, and to purchase carbon offsets to “neutralize” those emissions that remain, aiming at the highest standards possible. It identifies the following elements that should be included: a commitment to reducing GHG emissions as part of an integrated and comprehensive environmental management approach; the preparation of consistent, comparable and trans- parent inventory data, according to agreed method- ologies, which subsequently undergo periodic inde- pendent verification; the development and implementation of a package of measures to reduce GHG emissions; a decision to offset the remaining emissions through a reasoned choice of offsets that satisfy a list of agreed criteria, ensuring their high quality; regular transparent reporting combined with the public communication of each organization’s emis- sions inventory, together with any targets or goals for emissions reductions; the development and implementation of a know- ledge-management system serving the entire UN, to document initiatives, data, lessons learned and best practice; to post guidelines and methodologies; to post model strategies and work plans; to provide e-training courses; to host Q&A; to provide technical assistance; and to host e-discussions.
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The focal points typically worked on the internal data collection with offices and departments which had ac- cess to relevant information. Facility managers, travel agents, and technical and administrative staff were therefore heavily involved in collecting and aggregat- ing information for the GHG inventory.
The UN Climate Neutral Strategy highlighted advantag- es of harmonization. A common approach across the UN system brings greater impact, lowers transactions costs, facilitates practical action on the ground through the
The full UN system has been covered by this exercise, through forty-nine reporting entities. The reporting en- tity is typically a distinct UN agency, fund, programme, regional commission or institute, but in some cases the reporting office has been based on administrative re- sponsibility or the specificity of its mandate and activi- ties. In this report, the term “UN organization” is used interchangeably with reporting entity.
development of common tools, ensures comparability of data across organizations, and pooling of results for better-informed decisions and knowledge-sharing.
The UN Environment Management Group (EMG) was tasked with coordinating the UN system’s efforts to move towards climate neutrality, and has been work- ing through a network of climate neutral focal points from each organization.
In addition, the Sustainable United Nations facility (SUN) was established in UNEP’s Paris-based Division for Technology, Industry and Economics to provide ad- ditional support on becoming climate neutral, particu- larly on emissions reductions.
The EMG secretariat and SUN have been working with the UN system to develop common methodologies, tools, guidelines and briefing information, and provide training and technical support. Annex III contains a list of resources prepared and planned to support the UN sys- tem’s move towards climate neutrality. Most of these are in the public domain and aim to encourage institutions and individuals to reduce their own climate footprint.
The data collection procedure in each organization was managed and coordinated by the designated climate neutral focal point within each organiza- tion. Focal points received training on the use of the calculator tools and the inventory process through workshops, teleconferences and several web-based training sessions. In addition, the EMG secretariat established a GHG Helpdesk consisting of a team of experts which provided assistance to climate neutral focal points via phone and e-mail on technical and or- ganizational issues.
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