The UN takes further steps towards sustainability and is on course to be climate neutral by 2020

The BRS Secretariat is a proud member of the UN’s Greening the Blue (GtB) initiative and has been climate neutral for 6 years in a row. As the newly-published this year’s GtB Annual Report shows, the BRS Secretariat measures and monitors its overall consumption of water, waste, and greenhouse gas emissions and puts in place mitigation measures to ensure that its footprint is ever lower.

Executive Secretary, Rolph Payet commented that “since 2011 the Secretariat has put in place practical measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. For example, in 2017 we reduced our global air travel footprint by 15% on average compared to previous COP years (2015, 2013, 2011) and overall, since 2011, the Secretariat has reduced its carbon footprint by 21%, most notably due to promoting teleconferencing and back-to-back meetings”.

The Secretariat has been carbon-neutral since 2013. Reducing the Secretariat’s water consumption and generation of waste, including plastic waste, is also a priority. During the 2019 Triple COPs, special measures were taken to reduce the use of single-use plastics making the two-week long meetings not only paperless, but plastic-free.

For more on how the BRS Secretariat promotes sustainability across its operations, see: https://www.brsmeas.org/Secretariat/ManagementReports/Sustainability/tabid/2756/language/en-US/Default.aspx or contact Ana-Maria Witt at ana.witt@brsmeas.org.

For the new Greening the Blue Report, including the latest data on the BRS Secretariat and other UN organisations, see:
https://www.greeningtheblue.org/what-the-un-is-doing/secretariat-basel-rotterdam-stockholm-conventions-brs.