United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ)

www.un.org
HQ: New York, USA
Focal Point: Ms. Zhenzhen Huang
Email: [email protected]

Internal Sustainability Team: 1 full time and 1 part time staff members in the Office of USG, Department of Management Strategy, Policy and Compliance, responsible for coordinating the development of the Secretariat’s policy and compliance framework for environmental sustainability.

In 2019, the inventory includes estimates for the international presence of entities headquartered in New York as well as operations financed by UN Headquarters fund centers but located outside of New York.
The entity may not report waste data for all its personnel. Please refer to the entity's personnel chart below for more information.
All entity personnel are included in the entity's greenhouse gas emission inventory.

SECRETARY-GENERAL'S MESSAGE 

“Climate change is undeniable. Climate action is unstoppable. And climate solutions provide opportunities that are unmatchable”

António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General

MISSION STATEMENT 

The Secretariat in New York, along with other Secretariat offices away from headquarters, services the other principal organs of the United Nations and supports the administration of their programmes and policies.

The duties carried out by the Secretariat are as varied as the problems dealt with by the United Nations. These range from administering peacekeeping operations to mediating international disputes, from surveying economic and social trends and problems to preparing studies on human rights and sustainable development.

Secretariat staff also inform the world’s media about the work of the UN and organize international conferences on issues of worldwide concern.

Within its distinctive areas of responsibility and in coordination with the UN System, Governments, private sector and civil society, the Secretariat supports the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, of which environmental management is an important dimension.

EMISSION REDUCTION 

The United Nations Headquarters (UNHQ) is on track to achieving the targets in the United Nations Climate Action Plan (UNSCAP) related to reduction of carbon emissions (25% of absolute reductions by 2025) and commercial air travel emissions (per capita reductions of 10% by 2025). UNHQ is working on increasing its renewable energy consumption. The baseline year of measurement is 2019. 

EMS AND REDUCTION EFFORTS

The establishment of Environmental Management Systems (EMS) at all locations is a key element of the Secretary-General’s action plan to integrate sustainable development practices into Secretariat operations (A/72/82). The Secretariat in New York is facilitating the implementation of the action plan.  Field missions have established EMSs in implementation of the Environment Strategy for Peace Operations, and progress on EMS is being made at Headquarters and at Secretariat offices away from headquarters. 
 
In New York, the planning of the local EMS is near completion, with the adoption of its priority environmental aspects based on the results of an Initial Environmental Review: 

  1. Energy use 

  1. Waste generation and management, including e-waste  

  2. Air travel 

  3. Hosting of large conferences/events 

  1. Environmental competence, training and awareness 

A plan of action on waste management was approved by the NY Steering Group on ESM and was implemented while plans of action for other priority areas are under development. UNHQ in New York continues to reduce energy consumption through lighting retrofit initiatives and gradual reduction of its real estate portfolio. A project to retrofit the lighting in the Secretariat Building was completed in March 2022, rewiring approximately 13,800 non-dimmable fixtures to allow for installation of LED bulbs and reducing the electricity consumption of the fixtures by 60%. The lease termination of UNDC1 at the end of March 2023 also contributed to reducing UNHQ’s environmental footprint. 

Through its EMS, UNHQ is committed to make systematic and continuous improvements in GHG reductions and overall environmental performance. 

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, UNHQ’s progress on the EMS is rated as: Approaches. 

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

For the 2022 reporting year, UNHQ’s status of implementing environmental and social safeguards and standards in their policies, projects and programmes is: Not Applicable.

ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING FOR PERSONNEL

The Greening the Blue Tutorial is made available on Inspira for staff and personnel as a voluntary training.

For the 2022 reporting year, UNHQ’s status on providing training on environmental sustainability is Yes, but it is voluntary.

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT PLANS

The inventory report includes building related emissions of UN Secretariat offices located at the UNHQ complex and its leased buildings, including New York based operations of DOS, DPPA and DPO. The travel emissions were calculated based on air travel funded by UNHQ entities (Umoja business area S100). It excludes Secretariat entities that are not in Umoja business area S100 and non-Secretariat agencies (IFAD, UNESCO, FAO, IAEA, ISA, UNIDO, UNITAR, UNU, CTBTO, and UNCCD). 
 
In a continuous effort to improve measurements, the inventory includes estimates for the international presence of entities headquartered in New York as well as operations financed under Umoja business area S100 but located outside of New York.

OFFSETTING 

As in recent years, the UN Secretariat offsets the reported GHG emissions of its global operations for 2022 through the purchase of Adaptation Fund Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs) issued for Clean Development Mechanism projects under the Kyoto Protocol. 

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Waste management is a priority of UNHQ Environmental Management System. A plan of action was developed following an exhaustive Initial Environmental Review, including upstream and downstream waste audits. It is being implemented to reduce waste and increase composting, recycling and re-use. 
 
A waste management contract established in 2022 has significantly increased the collection of compostable waste, and recycling of other waste streams with 88% of total waste being diverted to a recyclable product. 100% of its paper, wood, bulk metal and textile/carpeting waste, and around 80% of its mixed recyclable waste is recycled. 30% of the non-recyclable mixed waste and 100% of the garden waste is composted. The waste that is not recycled nor composted is converted into energy in a facility that exceeds emission regulations. 
 
Past and current highlights: 

  • Material and waste efficiencies were achieved during the Secretariat renovation through the use of recycled materials and the recycling of over 90% of construction materials. Furniture was also repurposed where feasible. 

  • Photocopy paper is 100% recycled and furniture has recycled and/or recyclable content. 

  • Energy-efficient multifunctional networked devices, digital printing technologies, event management applications and Enterprise Resource Planning platforms continue to drastically reduce paper consumption, generating cost savings while also improving meeting efficiencies. 

  • UNHQ is a single-use plastic free facility since June 2019 with the removal of all single use plastic from the catering operation and other services provided to staff and visitors.  Event organizers and external caterers are also asked to avoid single use plastic.    

  • The waste separation infrastructure continues to improve with centralized waste stations now the norm on remodeled floors. 

  • A re-use programme for discarded materials and furniture was established that benefit schools and community organizations. 

  • Campaigns are on-going to encourage staff to reduce consumption of disposable products, including single use plastics and paper towels. 

WATER AND WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

Water usage has been reported since 2016. UNHQ has instituted good water management practices in the buildings it owns: 

  • Water meters installed to identify water usage by various site operations 

  • Water efficient irrigation methods for landscaping used 

  • Water system regularly checked for leaks 

  • User-friendly method in place for staff to report leaks and fix them immediately 

  • Boiler cycles and blowdown closely monitored 

  • Cooling systems optimized to prevent excess water usage 

NEXT STEPS

In the coming year, the UN Secretariat will focus on the following areas: 

  • Explore criteria for green events; 

  • Roll out the Secretariat EMS guide; 

  • Explore opportunities to incorporate environmental sustainability in official travel planning. 

In addition, the UN Secretariat will continue to promote the Greening the Blue Tutorial among staff.