United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

NOTE: UNDP has improved its reporting methodology over the years, hence data on this entity page may differ from what was reported previously in the Greening the Blue Reports. UNDP has established 2018 as its corporate baseline year.

ADMINISTRATOR’S QUOTE

“UNDP is committed to being green, sustainable, and just. I am therefore launching a new Greening Moonshot to reduce UNDP’s Greenhouse Gas emissions by 25 percent by 2025 and 50 percent by 2030, because we cannot advise over 140 countries on raising their ambitions to reach the Sustainable Development Goals without doing so ourselves”

Achim Steiner, UNDP Administrator

MISSION

UNDP’s mandate is to end poverty, build democratic governance, rule of law, and inclusive institutions. UNDP advocates for change, and connects countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life.

FIELD OFFICES

146 offices across all regions (incl. HQ, NY). See more on UNDP’s website.

EMISSIONS REDUCTION

UNDP leads on climate action by example. Through both reductions and offsetting the remainder, global UNDP operations are climate neutral since 2015.

In order to speed up emission reduction efforts, UNDP matched its commitment to supporting countries on raising climate ambition through their national climate pledges (i.e. the “Climate Promise”), with its own pledge for greater ambition. In August 2019, Administrator Achim Steiner launched the Greening Moonshot, committing the Organization to:

Reduce GHG emissions from UNDP operations 25% by 2025 and 50% by 2030.
Implement the best waste management in all UNDP premises.
Minimize the use of resources.

Building on years of advancing environmental management throughout UNDP operations, in 2019 the Moonshot Facility was set up to replicate and scale proven solutions as well as support green innovation to help meet the above-mentioned Moonshot Targets. This corporate facility, in coordination with other internal funds and funding, incentivizes contribution to the targets on a competitive basis.

In its first three years, UNDP’s Moonshot Initiative has funded over 70 projects, mainly focusing on increasing energy efficiency in facility operations, installing on-site renewable energy solutions and transitioning fleets to electric vehicles.

Also at individual level, UNDP personnel around the world are developing and implementing innovative solutions to achieve the ambitious Moonshot Targets, at times under very challenging circumstances. Corporately, by moving to cloud-computing and compact energy solutions to replace local data centers, UNDP has reduced its ICT carbon footprint substantially and expanded virtual collaboration infrastructure. UNDP is fully leveraging the experience from the COVID-19 pandemic to build forward better by utilizing virtual means of communication to reduce its travel footprint.

EMS AND REDUCTION EFFORTS

Each year, as part of the Greening the Blue Report on Environmental Governance, each participating UN entity’s progress on the development of an Environmental Management System (EMS) is evaluated according to the UN system’s EMS criteria (these criteria are available on the Methodology webpage). Upon this evaluation the entity is then rated Exceeds, Meets, Approaches, or No response. For the 2022 reporting year, UNDP’s progress on the EMS is rated as: Meets.

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

For the 2022 reporting year, UNDP’s status of implementing environmental and social safeguards and standards in their policies, projects and programmes is: Yes.

ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING FOR PERSONNEL

Greening The Blue tutorial included in the mandatory training courses.

For the 2022 reporting year, UNDP’s status on providing training on environmental sustainability is Yes, and it is mandatory for all personnel.

ENVIRONMENTAL INVENTORY APPROACH

UNDP’s inventory covers energy consumption in all UNDP-managed premises, refrigerant emissions from cooling equipment^[1], fuel consumption of UNDP vehicle fleets and official travel.

^[1] Recently updated its methodology, read more here: Managing the carbon footprint related to leakage of refrigerants by UNDP Greening Moonshot - Exposure

OFFSETTING

UNDP offsets its unavoidable emissions through UNFCCC, by procuring Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) from the Adaptation Fund which supports developing countries in building resilience and adapting to climate change.

WASTE MANAGEMENT

UNDP collects data on waste and waste management practices through its Environmental Management Tool. Under the Moonshot commitments, UNDP works actively to implement best practice waste management throughout its offices.

NEXT STEPS

At the current rate of progress, UNDP is well on track towards reducing fits operational carbon footprint by 50% by 2030 and achieving its Moonshot Targets. For more information visit the UNDP website and read our latest success stories on Exposure!

ADDITIONAL LINKS

Greening Moonshot – UNDP’s commitment to walking the talk - 28 Oct 2021

UNDP making the Greening The Blue tutorial mandatory for all UNDP personnel! https://youtu.be/IIdJkfpoMBQ

RECENT NEWS & STORIES

FAO and UNDP Pave the way Towards Sustainable Facilities and Solar Energy Installations in Decentralised Offices - 30 June 2022