Multilateral Fund

CHIEF OFFICER MESSAGE 

"The Multilateral Fund has been helping to recover the Earth’s ozone layer and has made significant strides in climate change mitigation. Offsetting the carbon footprint of our operations and travels for 2022 is a symbolic gesture aligned to our core mission."

Tina Birmpili, Chief Officer 

MISSION 

We provide financial and technical assistance to developing countries to tackle two of the most pressing challenges: the depletion of the ozone layer and climate change. 

ALIGNMENT WITH THE STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM, 2020–2030 

The Fund was one of the first United Nations entities to implement paperless meetings in 2008, resulting in a significant reduction in the environmental impact of all organized events. Since then, it has been making continuous efforts to minimize the environmental footprint of meetings organized by the Secretariat. 

Starting in 2022, the Fund has been diligently reporting on all activities that produce emissions within its financial and/or managerial control. Furthermore, it has extended this practice to travel, where it reports and offsets emissions for all meeting participants, whether funded or unfunded. 

The Fund's headquarters is hosted in building facilities that have achieved LEED Gold certification, which encompasses sustainable energy efficiency, air quality, water management and consumption, the responsible use of materials, and the reuse of surplus materials. 

EMISSIONS REDUCTION

The Fund appointed an EMS focal point in 2022 and began reporting in 2023. Currently, there is insufficient data to quantify the reduction that has already occurred since 2010.

EMS AND REDUCTION EFFORTS

The Fund has established a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that outlines the policies and procedures for recording and reporting emissions. This document serves as the cornerstone upon which the development of the Fund's Environmental Management System (EMS) will continue in 2024. 

ENVIRONMENTAL & SOCIAL SAFEGUARDS AND STANDARDS IN POLICIES, PROJECTS AND PROGRAMMES

Our projects are aligned with UNEP’s policy framework on Environmental and Social Sustainability.  

ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING FOR PERSONNEL

We are proud to announce that we are 100% compliant with the Greening the Blue tutorial training. 

ENVIRONMENTAL INVENTORY APPROACH

We calculate emissions for unfunded meeting participants through estimates based on the distance between the national capital and meeting location.  

OFFSETTING 

253 tonnes CO2 eq. This is the offset in full to be carbon neutral for 2022.  

WASTE MANAGEMENT

We maintain an ongoing effort to minimize paper and plastic waste in all of our meetings. Our meetings are conducted in a paperless manner, and we provide recycling bins in our meeting facilities. Additionally, we actively avoid the use of single-use plastic in all meeting areas and on our office premises. 

WATER AND WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

Wastewater management is handled by our building management which has been awarded the LEED Gold certification, which includes specific water management regulations.

NEXT STEPS 

We have a strong commitment of bringing forward the preparation of our EMS in 2024.