7 November 2016: In 2007, the UN adopted a target of becoming climate neutral by 2020, and its ‘Greening the Blue’ report provides an annual overview of progress. The 2016 edition, released on the eve of the 22nd Conference of the Parties (COP 22) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), shows that 32 UN agencies have achieved carbon neutrality. UN entities can offset their emissions through a system of carbon credits.

UN agencies and programmes released an average of seven tonnes of CO2 equivalent for each staff member in 2015, on par with the per capita emissions of Slovakia, according to the report. CO2 was emitted from the running of UN facilities (46%) as well as from staff air travel (40%) and other forms of transport (14%). In total, UN agencies and programmes released two million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2015.

UN agencies and programmes released an average of seven tonnes of CO2 equivalent for each staff member in 2015, on par with the per capita emissions of Slovakia.

The report provides a breakdown of performance by each UN entity. In 2015, UN entities that achieved the lowest per capita emissions were UN Volunteers (UNV) in Bonn, Germany, UN-Habitat in Nairobi, Kenya and the UN Offices at Nairobi (UNON), with two tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2) emitted per staff member. The highest-emitting UN entities in 2015 were UN Headquarters in New York, US and the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva, Switzerland at 18 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per staff member.

The UN is gradually expanding the scope of reporting on its own workplace sustainability with the 2016 edition of the report including information on waste management and taking into account the activities of 66 UN entities and more than 280,000 personnel. The 2017 edition will also report on freshwater use and staff training in sustainability. [UN Press Release] [UNEP Press Release] [Greening the Blue Report 2016]