Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
HIGH COMMISSIONNER'S MESSAGE
"With every passing week, we witness the devastating impact of the triple planetary crisis of the climate emergency, biodiversity loss and pervasive pollution. My Office will continue to engage in global climate negotiations. We will advocate for higher ambition, including steeper downward emission reduction trajectories, stops to public fossil fuel subsidies and investments and call for an evidence-based Global Stocktake that can inform the concrete, realistic and human rights-based action we need.’’
Volker Türk, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
MISSION
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (United Nations Human Rights) is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote and protect the enjoyment and full realization, by all people, of all human rights. The Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and international human rights laws and treaties established those rights. As the leading UN entity charged with promoting and protecting human rights for all, United Nations Human Rights is working to advance the effective implementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, including in the context of sustainable environmental management.
Find out more about OHCHR’s mandate
FIELD OFFICES
The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) headquarters is located in Geneva with an office maintained in New York.
UN Human Rights operates through two main categories of field presences, namely, offices and collaborative arrangements. The first category consists of country and regional offices. The second category consists of human rights components of peace or political missions, human rights advisers (HRAs) and programmes in UN Resident Coordinator’s Offices (RCOs) and UN Country Teams (UNCTs). As of 31 December, OHCHR was operating in 104 field presences globally, consisting of 12 regional offices, 19 country offices, 53 HRAs, 11 human rights components in UN peace operations and 9 other types of field presences.
Find out more about OHCHR’s field presences
ALIGNMENT WITH THE STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY MANAGEMENT IN THE UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM, 2020–2030
The United Nations Human Rights Office established an internal Working Group on Sustainable Environmental Management (SEM Group) in July 2020 which works to integrate sustainability efforts into the organization as a whole and to establish an Environmental Management System (EMS) in coming years.
The office continues to collect data for the calculation of GHG emissions in accordance with Greening the Blue guidelines and reporting criteria and has already implemented a number of sustainable initiatives relating to travel, ICT, facilities and staff awareness.
Going forward, the office will seek to expand its internal sustainability efforts through increased data collection to improve the accuracy of our carbon footprint and further alignment with the UN 2020-2030 Strategy for sustainability management.
The office is also exploring issues related to integration of sustainability and rights in procurement and had been actively engaged in the development of Phase II of the UN Sustainability Strategy.
EMISSIONS REDUCTION
In response to the UN Climate Neutral initiative, United Nations Human Rights has calculated its carbon footprint since 2010 (2009 data) in accordance with Greening the Blue standards. The footprint originally covered only operations at the headquarters in Geneva. Since 2018, the full organizational footprint has been reported, initially using proxies. From 2021, increased efforts were undertaken to engage country and regional offices in data collection for carbon footprint reporting. As a result, the number of locations providing data increased from 13 in 2021 to 37 in 2023.
The OHCHR footprint varies year on year due to changes in reporting standards, mandates, office size and priorities. Nevertheless, as calculated per capita (t CO2e/staff), the United Nations Human Rights (OHCHR) footprint has been significantly reduced in recent years, and the 10% reduction target for 2020 (against the 2010 emission baseline) was met.
EMS & REDUCTION EFFORTS
OHCHR is a member of the Environment Management Group (EMG) and the Working Group for Sustainable Environmental Management (previously the IMG). The office has participated in the Greening the Blue initiative since 2010, in line with the SG’s climate neutral strategy to report, reduce, and offset. To this end, the office created an Emission Reduction Plan (ERP) in 2011 signed off by the then High Commissioner and implemented a wide range of related sustainability action points from 2012-2019.
In July 2020, a new internal Working Group on Sustainable Environmental Management (WGSEM) was set up which works to integrate sustainability efforts into the organization as a whole. An Organizational Effectiveness Action Plan for Sustainability was established for 2021-2023, which includes the intention to establish an Environmental Management System (EMS) in coming years.
In the meantime, OHCHR has made a range of efforts to support the integration of sustainability in operations including the establishment of a green fund for local initiatives, and the approval of a carbon levy on travel which is intended to be implemented from 2024 to support the establishment of an Environmental Management system (EMS).
For the 2022 reporting year, OHCHR's progress on the EMS is rated as: Does not meet.
ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING FOR PERSONNEL
To enhance staff capacity and knowledge on sustainable environmental management and human rights, OHCHR developed and launched an online course on SEM and human rights. All staff are encouraged to undertake this training, and it is also included in the OHCHR Welcome Material for new staff.
The Greening the Blue tutorial has also been made available, and regular awareness initiatives, briefings and information material are disseminated to staff.
For the 2022 reporting year, OHCHR's status on providing training on environmental sustainability is: Yes, but it is voluntary.
OFFSETTING
The United Nations Human Rights office is a part of the United Nations Secretariat and is therefore covered by the Secretariat’s offsetting initiative since 2019. OHCHR is therefore listed as carbon neutral in Greening the Blue reports.
NEXT STEPS
Under the Sustainable Environmental Management Group (SEM Group), the United Nations Human Rights office will continue to focus on implementing the Organizational Effectiveness Action Plan for sustainability as well as promoting sustainability both internally and externally through staff awareness initiatives and continued work to advance the effective implementation of the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment, including in the context of sustainable environmental management.
This includes the intention to establish an Environmental Management System (EMS) in accordance with the Strategy for Sustainability Management in the United Nations System 2020–2030.
ADDITIONAL LINKS
Find out more about OHCHR and climate change
Read the OHCHR annual report for 2022