Greening the Blue Report 2021: The UN System’s Environmental Footprint and Efforts to Reduce It

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dc.contributor.authorUnited Nations Environment Programme
dc.contributor.organizationEconomy Division
dc.date.accessioned2021-11-04T21:29:14Z
dc.date.available2021-11-04T21:29:14Z
dc.date.issued2021
dc.descriptionThe Greening the Blue Report 2021 provides a snapshot of the UN system’s environmental impacts throughout 2020 and its activities to reduce them. The 2021 edition of the Report covers data for 2020 on environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions, waste, water, environmental management and, for the first time, procurement and human resources management functions. The Report includes data on 56 entities from across the UN system, representing approximately 315,000 personnel in Headquarters, in thousands of field offices and operations on the ground. It shows that in 2020, the UN system generated ~1.5 million tonnes CO2eq greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with per capita emissions of 5 tonnes CO2eq. In 2020, the emissions sources were 32 per cent from air travel, 12 per cent from other travel (rail, road, sea, etc.) and 55 per cent from facilities. In 2020, 19 per cent of UN electricity worldwide came from the use of renewable energies either purchased from the country grid or self-generated. The UN system was able to offset 99 per cent of GHG emissions. While offsetting is an important factor in managing unavoidable emissions, the priority for the UN system remains emissions reductions and elimination. This edition of the Report reveals the impacts of COVID-19 on the UN system’s environmental footprint. With significant worldwide travel restrictions and many UN personnel working from home, the UN system generated approximately 25 per cent fewer GHG emissions than in 2019. Several best practices show how these efforts are operated at ground level and what concrete results they have obtained.en
dc.formatpdf
dc.identifier.isbn978-92-807-3892-6
dc.identifier.otherDTI/2390/GE
dc.identifier.urihttps://wedocs.unep.org/handle/20.500.11822/37330
dc.languageEnglish
dc.page.number45 pages
dc.rights.accessLevelPublic
dc.subjectgreenhouse gas
dc.subjectCOVID-19
dc.subjectenvironmental protection
dc.subjectwaste management
dc.subjectclimate
dc.subjectair pollution
dc.subjectwater
dc.subjectwastewater
dc.subjectwater management
dc.subjectbiological diversity
dc.subjectenvironmental management
dc.subjecthuman resource
dc.subjectpublic procurement
dc.subjectpurchasing
dc.subject.sdgSDG 3 - Good Health and Well-Being
dc.subject.sdgSDG 6 - Clean Water and Sanitation
dc.subject.sdgSDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities
dc.subject.sdgSDG 13 - Climate Action
dc.subject.sdgSDG 14 - Life below Water
dc.subject.sdgSDG 15 - Life on Land
dc.titleGreening the Blue Report 2021: The UN System’s Environmental Footprint and Efforts to Reduce Iten
dc.typeTechnical report

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