United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

EXECUTIVE-DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

“UNICEF’s commitment to helping every child realize their right to a healthy environment must be reflected in HOW we work. This means embracing ‘Environmental Sustainability’ as one of our organization’s core values and strategically implementing it across our operations. We can do this by expanding our use of renewable energy, minimizing waste and incorporating effective sustainability measures in our procurement and supply chains. We should travel only when necessary, using the most efficient modes of transport. And most importantly, let’s make sure that our programmes for children are ‘climate resilient’ so that we can continue to deliver sustainable results.”

Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive-Director

MISSION

UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children's rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to reach their full potential.

UNICEF is guided by the Convention on the Rights of the Child and strives to establish children's rights as enduring ethical principles and international standards of behaviour towards children.

Full mission statement: https://www.unicef.org/about-us/mission-statement

FIELD OFFICES

https://www.unicef.org/where-we-work

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

Recognizing the threat to children’s rights posed by climate change and environmental degradation, UNICEF is working to reduce the environmental impact of its global operations and make environmental sustainability a key consideration in everything it does. The organization has aligned its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction targets with those of the United Nations and will continue to reduce its emissions and resource usage through 2030 and beyond, while promoting environmentally conscious staff behaviours and addressing environmental sustainability in its programming, planning, partnerships and procurement. 

UNICEF is equally committed to improving the accessibility of its premises through applying universal design principles to ensure that all staff and visitors, including people with disabilities have adequate levels of comfort and mobility within inclusive UNICEF premises.

UNICEF established Procedure on Eco-Efficiency & Inclusive Access in UNICEF Premises and Operations.  The procedure provides clear guidance to offices on improving the eco-efficiency and accessibility of our premises - a big step for UNICEF on its commitment to "walk the talk". The procedure applies to UNICEF Headquarters, Regional, Country, Zone/Sub-national offices.

Operational eco-efficiency and sustainability have become part of UNICEF’s strategic objectives, and reporting on accessibility and eco-efficiency has been officially added to the Terms of Reference of operations teams.

In line with the procedure, as of 2022, 111 Green Teams have been established in each UNICEF office including operations staff and any other staff member committed to contributing to the environmental cause and the implementation of the action plan.

UNICEF has also established the Environmental and Social Standards policy/framework - UNICEF’s line of sight and demonstration of our commitments to understand, manage and communicate our impacts on issues such as climate change, natural resources management, human rights, elimination of child labour and gender inclusion.  

The organisation recently launched the UNICEF Sustainability and Climate Change Action Plan (2023 – 2030) which provides a comprehensive blueprint to achieve our ambitious vision by 2030. This action plan is founded on the principle that sustainability and climate action should be integrated into UNICEF’s and its partners’ mandates. A key objective is to reduce the emissions and environmental footprint within UNICEF, support its global network of partners to do the same, and advocate for the fulfilment of ambitious international sustainability and climate change agreements. 

EMISSIONS REDUCTION

UNICEF Emission reduction report for Greening the Blue

EMS AND REDUCTION EFFORTS

UNICEF uses the annual outcomes of the Environmental Footprint and Accessibility Assessment Tool (EFAAT) to prioritize and support implementation of a wide range of eco-efficiency targeted projects in-line with emissions reduction target and Procedure on Eco-Efficiency & Inclusive Access in UNICEF Premises and Operations. Specific efforts include establishing the Greening and Accessibility Funds (a 3% travel surcharge to support project implementation), upscaling the solarization of offices through the establishment of Solar Leasing LTAs and rolling out Smart Energy Monitors across UNICEF offices. Rolling out green building certifications for all new constructions including UNICEF owned buildings. 

For the 2022 reporting year, UNICEF's progress on the EMS is rated as: Approaches.

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

UNICEF’s framework for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) standards is aligned with the objectives of the SDG and articulated around the identification, assessment, and management of sustainability related risks and opportunities.

Environmental and Social Standards (ESS) close parenthesis are the UNICEF standards for: Labour and Working Conditions, Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention, Community Health, Safety, and Security, Displacement and Involuntary Resettlement, Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Natural Resource Management, Indigenous People, Cultural Heritage, Climate Change and Disaster Risks.

For the 2022 reporting year, UNICEF’s status on implementing environmental and social safeguards and standards in their policies, projects and programmes is: In progress. Note, this status was updated after the data collection deadline for Greening the Blue Report 2023.

ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING FOR PERSONNEL

While UNICEF is wokring on a mandatory training for staff, there are environmental training and awareness raising resources such as the Pledge To Act Sustainably at UNICEF, Greening the Blue Tutorial and the Eco-efficiency and Accessibility Management Training Module on the Agora Learning Platform.

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

INVENTORY MANAGEMENT PLAN

UNICEF uses a web-based Environmental Footprint and Accessibility Assessment Tool (EFAAT) to collect, aggregate, monitor, and analyze resource consumption, carbon emissions, accessibility levels, qualitative office data, and operating costs from all 365 UNICEF Headquarters, regional, country, and zone offices. The tool uses the industry standard GHG Protocol for measuring carbon footprints and has been tailored to track other resource consumption metrics as well as office accessibility levels.  

The EFAAT has 13 types of questionnaires. 

1. Basic Office information
2. Green Team
3. Energy use
4. Energy questions
5. Water
6. Paper
7. Waste
8. Accessibility & Inclusiveness
9. Vehicles
10.  Air travel questionnaire
11. Air travel
12. Train travel
13. Project expenditures

OFFSETTING

UNICEF wishes to render the entire organization climate neutral through reducing to the maximum extent possible the GHG emissions associated with the facility operations and travel and offsetting the remaining balance, which it determined, in accordance with the principles of the UN Greenhouse Gas Inventory, to amount to:

• 49,448 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂eq) in the year 2022.

At the time of the agreement between UNFCCC and UNICEF the cost of an AF CER with ITAF was USD 2.12.

UNICEF has been carbon neutral since 2015.

At UNICEF, we prioritize the careful collection of data and accurate reporting to help us monitor our resource use and the carbon footprint from our facility operations. We place a strong emphasis on reducing our greenhouse gas emissions to the fullest extent possible by implementing greening projects. Embracing renewable energy solutions, like solar projects to power our facilities and decommission diesel generators, procuring electric and hybrid vehicles where possible, conserving water and adopting more responsible waste management measures.

However, we recognize that some emissions may be inevitable for UNICEF to fulfill its mandate. To address this, UNICEF offsets these emissions by purchasing Certified Emissions Reductions from UNFCCC, contributing to verified and impactful projects that effectively remove or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Through these comprehensive efforts, we strive to minimize our environmental impact and set an example for sustainable practices. At UNICEF, we believe in the power of collective action and are committed to creating a more sustainable future for all especially the children we serve around the world.

To learn more about UNICEF's offsetting, watch this video: https://youtu.be/3ifoGqdnYLs

WASTE MANAGEMENT

Although each country has its own regulation that make the implementation of a standard systematic method to measure waste quite challenging, UNICEF offices report on waste disposal type and volume every year.

Through an organization wide behavior change communications campaign, UNICEF eliminated the use of plastic water bottles in 2018 at its facilities and at all internal meeting and events and will continue working towards single-use plastic free offices.

The campaign film can be seen here.

Other waste related campaign:

Say Yes to Less Paper Towels

WATER AND WASTEWATER MANAGEMENT

UNICEF currently doesn’t have a systematic method of measuring, reporting and managing water and wastewater.

OTHER ENVIRONMENTAL MEASURES

As of July 2022, UNICEF’s Inclusive and Sustainable Operations team (ISO) had provided technical and financial support to over 100 offices across all regions that have taken actions to reduce their environmental footprint (159 projects) including 58 facilities that have been solarized. 62 projects have improved office accessibility for people of all abilities.

Environmental Impact Reduction (EIR) projects included Building Thermal improvements, LED lights, sensors, energy efficient air conditioning, solar PV systems, and low-flow water fixtures, while Accessibility Improvement (AI) projects included wheelchair accessible elevators, chairlifts, ramps, and bathroom accessibility upgrades.

Some examples:

1.     UNICEF Guinea Bissau Solar Project

2.     UNICEF BURKINA FASO - Solar Project in sub-office Fada Ngorma

3.     UNICEF South Sudan Launches Solar Power Plant

NEXT STEPS

Solar LTAs

In 2022 UNICEF rolled out the installation of Smart Energy Meters following a phase approach across UNICEF offices. The Internet of Things devices will enable remote monitoring of electricity consumption and automatically feed energy data into the Environmental Footprint & Accessibility Assessment Tool (EFAAT). The use of Smart Energy Meters will streamline and digitalize the process of collecting energy data and calculating UNICEF’s carbon footprint. It also intends to reduce data collection errors due to manual encoding, increase reliability of data reporting, cost avoidance related to staff time and achieve operational agility.

UNICEF has established Solar Long-Term Arrangements including the leasing options upscale renewable energy use in UNICEF office to achieve the organisation’s target of 80% by 2030. 

UNICEF recently launched the UNICEF Sustainability and Climate Change Action Plan (2023 – 2030) which provides a comprehensive blueprint to achieve our ambitious vision by 2030. This action plan is founded on the principle that sustainability and climate action should be integrated into UNICEF’s and its partners’ mandates. 

New office buildings are expected to achieve Green Building Certifications such as the EDGE Certification.

UNICEF recently included Environmental Sustainability in its Core Values framework. In 2022 and 2023 staff will be engaged to reflect what this new core value means to the organization and what are the individual commitments and actions that are expected around the new value.

Plans are ongoing for roll-out regional energy, water and generator assessments.

ADDITIONAL LINKS

Cyber-walkthrough  

The “Cyber-Walkthrough” facilitates virtual accessibility and eco-efficiency tours and assessments for offices, especially zone offices. It allows field office colleagues to:  

• Walk through the office while connected virtually to an ISO team focal point 
• Receive live feedback and support to identify potential project opportunities that improve ecoefficiency & accessibility 

While allowing NYHQ to: 

• Provide live assistance for going through the accessibility & eco-efficiency checklists 
• Support colleagues in identifying opportunities to improve accessibility & eco-efficiency 
• Assess current conditions and gain familiarity with field offices 

Behavior Change Campaigns:

In June 2019 we launched a behaviour change campaign to have staff to use the air conditioning and heating systems more responsibly and efficiently, to reduce electricity costs and ultimately to reduce the environmental footprint of country offices.

Link to videos:

Efficient use of air conditioners

Efficient use of heating systems

In April 2020 to celebrate Earth day and given the working from home measure in response to the COVID-19 lockdown, the Eco-Tips for Working from Home Eco-Crimes was launched.

1.     Earth Day 2020: launch of Eco-Tips for Working from Home

2.     Eco-tips for Working from Home Eco-crimes (Ep. 1)

3.     Eco-tips for Working from Home Eco-crimes (Ep.2)

In April 2020, the A Greener UNICEF. Make it happen campaign was launched: a 6 week demo between Earth Day (22 April) and World Environment Day (5 June) in which staff progressively adopted different aspects of sustainable living by bring the values embodied in the SDGs into their own lives by demonstrating how it works at an everyday level. More than 1,090 UNICEF staff from 146 different offices around the world have signed up so far, from HQ offices, National Committees, Regional and Country Offices.

Due to COVID-19 many Green Teams became inactive. In June 2022, the second version of the campaign was launched aiming for the reactivation and strengthening on UNICEF Green Teams globally.

The campaign video can be seen here.

The Sustainability Core Value

RECENT NEWS & STORIES

The Pledge to Act Sustainably at UNICEF - 3 March 2022