The 2019 Greening the Blue report -released on 20th September, 2019 provides a snapshot of the UN System’s environmental impacts throughout 2018 and the activities underway to reduce them. This year’s report includes 2018 data on greenhouse gas emissions, waste, water and environmental management from over 60 entities across the UN System, representing approximately 290,000 personnel. It shows that in 2018 the UN System emitted 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq)– or 7 tCO2eq per capita. This is a decrease since 2010 when the per capita emissions per UN personnel were 8.2 CO2 equivalent. The report also shows that a total of 55 UN entities were climate neutral for 2018. This represents 95 per cent of the System's reported greenhouse gas emissions, which is a significant increase from the 39 per cent of the previous year.
According to Greening the Blue, in 2018, 46% of the UN’s greenhouse gas impact was from its facilities (headquarter offices, field offices, warehouses etc.), 42% from air travel, and 12% from other modes of travel.
To learn more about the UN system individual entities’ efforts to curb GHG emission snd other environmental impacts click here.
