United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV)
HQ: Vienna, Austria
Number of staff: 950
Number of locations: 1
Key figures*
Total emissions: 6,216 tonnes CO2 equivalent
Emissions per staff member: 6.5 tonnes CO2 equivalent
Emissions from air travel: 3,925 tonnes CO2 equivalent
Air travel as a proportion of total emissions: 63%
Air travel per staff member: 4.1 tonnes CO2
Building-related emissions: 41 kg CO2 equivalent per square metre
*Including data for UNODC
“The Vienna International Centre – more exactly the Vienna Ecological Centre – is often referred to as UNO City. We are, indeed, a little city, and can all do more to keep it clean by following the "3 Rs": reduce, reuse, recycle.”
Antonio Costa, Executive Director, United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) & United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
Executive Director's Message
“The Vienna International Centre – more exactly the Vienna Ecological Centre – is often referred to as UNO City. We are, indeed, a little city, and can all do more to keep it clean by following the "3 Rs": reduce, reuse, recycle. Major renovation work has removed asbestos from the buildings and installed new energy-efficient windows. New energy-efficient lights (longer lasting, more light with less energy, PCB-free) have been fitted in every office. Lights turn off automatically every evening and weekend, and computers, copiers, and printers enter sleep mode when not in use. Every day VIC staff use 400ff000 sheets of paper, so printers and photocopiers have been set for double-sided mode. At conferences, we hand out documents on CD-ROMs and memory sticks.”
Antonio Costa
Mission
UNOV manages services for the United Nations organizations located at the Vienna International Centre. UNODC assists Member States in their struggle against illicit drugs, crime and terrorism, transnational crime, to counter the world drug problem and to take concerted action against international terrorism through field-based technical cooperation projects, research and analytical work, normative work to assist States in the ratification and implementation of international treaties, domestic legislation.
Experience so far
The Secretary-General wants all UN duty stations to be carbon-neutral by 2009. This is a challenging task, but we are trying, for example by reducing travel. Tele-communicating enables staff to work from home. Tele-conferencing allows us to keep in touch with field offices and institutional partners, without flying around the world at great expense and polluting the atmosphere. Waste separation is enabling recycling of metals, plastic, paper and glass. Procurement has been directed to use environmentally friendly products and companies. Staff are being encouraged to bike to work, and to use public transport. Other initiatives are planned, with new ideas being generated by a growing group of planet friendly staff. UNOV/UNODC has the ambition to implement heat-pump systems, like the ones used to amazing effect by other facilities.
It should be noted that the major initiatives such as windows and lights replacement are paying for themselves through very substantial savings.
Reduction effort
1. All window panes have been replaced, reducing heating/cooling requirements
2. Lights have been replaced in all offices, halving consumption
3. Implementing the “cool UN” as demonstrated by the SG has further reduced consumption
Offsetting
The Secretariat has initiated the greenhouse gas inventory to prepare for offsetting processes in the years to come. UNOV/UNODC will join this process as it crystallizes through administrative guidelines and instructions. In the meantime UNOV/UNODC is working out procedures not only to decrease its footprint but also to find innovative ways to offset its greenhouse gas production, for example by starting a tree-planting campaign funded through parking surcharges for staff members driving to work.
Next steps
UNOV is committed to climate-neutral operations and is pushing forward energetically with its partners in the VIC and the local community (host city, host country and missions).
An implementation plan based on the strategy document has been accepted by the Executive Committee, new initiatives will be launched during the fall of 2009 with the goal of further reducing emissions, to offset remaining emissions through activities such as tree planting. Heat pumps and wind- powered generation are under investigation.
