Geneva, Switzerland
Focal Points: Anna Bolengo and Giovanna Chiodi Moire
Email: [email protected] and [email protected]
Internal Sustainability Team: 6 part-time staff
EXECUTIVE SECRETARY’S MESSAGE
"The current global environmental crisis – climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution - requires all of us to urgently shift our ways of doing things towards more sustainable production and consumptions patterns.
Since 2012, the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions has been climate neutral for all of its meetings and operations. We are committed to continuing our reduction efforts and enhancing our sustainability performance in other areas, such as reducing waste being produced by promoting paperless and plastic-free conferences and offices, and through a systematic approach."
Rolph Payet, Executive Secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions
Mission
The Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions (BRS) are multilateral environmental agreements united by a common objective: protecting human health and the environment from hazardous chemicals and wastes. Together, they establish a framework to ensure the environmentally sound management of hazardous chemicals and wastes through a life cycle approach. As of 25 November 2025, the Basel Convention has 191 Parties, the Rotterdam Convention 168 Parties , and the Stockholm Conventions186 Parties.
BRS Secretariat Vision, Mission and Strategic Direction
BRS is part of the UNEP's Environmental Management System. As such BRS is also committed to integrating environmental sustainability into all aspects of its operations. This commitment is guided by five core principles:
(a) reducing impacts related to climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss;
(b) ensuring efficient and responsible resource use;
(c) monitoring, measuring, and transparently reporting environmental performance;
(d) continuously improving sustainability practices; and
(e) leading by example while raising awareness across the UN system.
ALIGNMENT WITH THE STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM, 2020 - 2030
BRS is also committed to advancing environmental sustainability across its global operations by aligning with the UN Strategy for Sustainability Management 2020–2030. BRS is:
- Offsetting unavoidable emissions.
- Promoting resource efficiency through energy conservation and reduction of waste and single-use materials.
- Strengthening monitoring and reporting by improving the accuracy and transparency of environmental performance data.
- Fostering innovation and leadership by adopting best practices, promoting staff awareness, and building sustainability capacity in the office.
Emission Reduction
In 2024, BRS generated 467 t CO₂ eq. from its operations and facilities. While this represents an approximate 49% reduction in emissions compared to the 2010 baseline, it also reflects a 28% increase relative to 2018, which is a comparable year in terms of organization of Conferences of the Parties meetings. Part of this increase can be attributed to an enhanced calculation methodology that now includes transport to airports by meeting participants.
In the coming years, the Secretariat will work to collect more disaggregated travel data for staff and meeting participants in order to better understand emission trends and explore actions to further reduce the Secretariat’s environmental footprint.
EMS and Reduction Efforts
The Secretariat of the BRS conventions has made progress in implementing its tailored action plans across the areas of events, facilities, supply chain and information and communication technologies, with the aim of mitigating the significant environmental impacts of its operations identified by the UNEP’s risk register tool.
The Secretariat of the BRS conventions has also reported to the Greening the Blue for the second year through the EnviroData app, which was developed by UNEP to address data collection gaps.
For the 2024 reporting year, BRS’s progress on the EMS is rated as: Meets the EMS Status
Waste Management
The Secretariat continues to implement measures to prevent and minimize waste generation, particularly plastic waste produced during the meetings of the Conferences of the Parties. The 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2025 COPs have all been plastic less events.
At the International Environmental House, where the Secretariat is located, each entity estimates its own waste generation by dividing the total waste produced in the building by the number of staff, consultants and interns during a given year. Between 2017 and 2024, the Secretariat’s waste generation decreased by 84%, which can be also attributed to the adoption of flexible working arrangements after COVID-19. The decrease in waste generation from 2023 to 2024, which are comparable years considering the adoption of the flexible working arrangements was of 23%.
The percentage of waste reused, recycled, composted or recovered for energy declined from 73% to 26%, while the share of waste disposed of through closed incinerator increased from 17% to 74%. The explanation to these trends needs further consideration.
Water and Wastewater Management
Water consumption is measured and reported by the landlord of the International Environmental House I, where the Secretariat is located, based on data from the water bill. Each entity in the building estimates its own water consumption by allocating the total water use according to the surface area it occupies. Between 2017 to 2024, the Secretariat’s water consumption decreased by 47%. The decrease in water consumption from 2023 to 2024, which are comparable years considering the adoption of the flexible working arrangements was of 39%.
Environmental Training for Personnel
The Greening the Blue Tutorial is mandatory to all BRS staff and interns. As of 11 November 2025, the completion rate reached 100%.
Information on good practices and opportunities for training on specific sustainability topics is regularly shared with the BRS staff by the environmental sustainability focal points. In addition, annual meetings are organized to review progress, raise awareness on the implementation of the EMS action plans, and plan activities for the year ahead.
Offsetting
In 2024, the Secretariat of BRS conventions achieved climate neutrality by offsetting 100% of its net unavoidable greenhouse gas emissions. This milestone marks more than a decade of sustained efforts by the Secretariat to maintain climate neutrality.
The offsets were purchased in the form of Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) through the UN Voluntary Cancellation Platform.
Please consult our sustainability webpage for detailed information on our efforts to reduce our environmental footprint
Please also consult our webpage dedicated to Greening BRS events