January 2010: The commitments undertaken by the UN Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) to reduce its carbon emissions have been cited as examples of climate-friendly action within the UN system in a report on the UN’s carbon emissions. The report, titled “Moving Towards a Climate Neutral UN: the UN system’s footprint and efforts to reduce it,” presents the first greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory for the UN system, together with an overview of the initial steps that have been taken to manage these emissions.

The report highlights, inter alia, UNITAR’s commitment to reduce and offset the GHG emissions associated with its operations such as by: halving, by 2010, the emissions per unit of training delivered; and compensating for all remaining emissions through offsetting. In December 2008, UNITAR adopted its 2008-2009 Climate Neutral Policy and Strategy in response to the call by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the decision of the UN Chief Executives Board (CEB) to move the UN System towards climate-neutral operations over the next years. UNITAR Executive Director Carlos Lopes highlighted the use of technology-supported learning, such as e-learning and video-conferencing, as an important dimension of achieving UNITAR’s climate-neutral strategy.[UNITAR Press Release][UN Climate-Neutral Report]