UNESCO's Environmental Commitment and Policy
UNESCO's environmental sustainability management
UNESCO is strongly committed to environmental protection and climate action. A broad range of UNESCO programmes specifically support Member States to implement the Paris Agreement and reach the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through education, the sciences, culture and communication and information.
UNESCO also puts strong emphasis on making its own facilities, operations and programme activities environmentally friendly and on integrating environmental considerations into policies and guidelines, in line with the UN System Strategy for Sustainability Management (2020-2030). This is why UNESCO is setting up an Environmental Management System (EMS) in line with the ISO 14001 standard, addressing the organization’s long-term environmental performance.
Key objectives of UNESCO’s Environmental Sustainability and Management Policy:
- Fully account for the externalities imposed by UNESCO’s own operations and facilities.
- Minimize any possible negative impact on the environment through targeted measures and continuous improvement, and contribute positively to protecting the environment and communities in which the Organization operates.
- Achieve climate neutrality by systematically measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement, and offsetting all emissions that cannot be reduced.
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Resources
This report gives a full assessment of UNESCO's environmental footprint in 2021 - including greenhouse gas emissions from facility use, travel and transport as well as water and waste management, paper use and procurement - and showcases efforts by the organization's Offices worldwide to improve environmental performance.
This Policy provides the framework and overarching principles to guide the mainstreaming of environmental sustainability considerations into UNESCO’s activities worldwide and is a strong commitment from senior management.
In this guide, UNESCO's staff as well as other concerned individuals find concrete tips on how to reduce their environmental footprint in their daily work and actively contribute to greening UNESCO. The guide contains nine parts - from commuting, to office life, to events and missions, to greening our homes, with good practices from and specific recommendations for both Headquarters and Field Offices. It is supported by comprehensive figures and facts and provides clear, action-driven solutions.
Phase I of this Strategy sets common objectives, indicators and targets for all UN System organizations regarding Environmental Sustainability in the area of Management.
Contact information
Any person or entity that is aware of or concerned by possible harm to the environment caused by UNESCO’s facilities, operations, programmes or projects, may contact environment(at)unesco.org