|
What Is the Issue:
With over 50,000 employees and a physical presence around
the globe, the United Nations does not have a coherent set
of operational green office principles in place.
What Human Rights and Environmental Principles Promoted
by the UN Are at Stake:
Global
Compact
Millennium
Declaration
UNDP
Green Office Principles
Other human rights and environmental treaties and conventions
promoting sustainable development such as the Rio
Declaration
What Needs to Be Done:
The UN should:
- Initiate and/or continue the use of green office principles
throughout its office system, and;
- Publicize and promote the dissemination of new, improved
green office standards within and outside the UN as they
are developed.
Who Can Do It:
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
UN USG For Management Catherine Bertini
UNEP
Global Compact Office
Individual agency/organization heads
If You Want to Know More:
With over 50,000 employees around the world, the United
Nations system must minimize its environmental impact wherever
it operates, whether it is under normal conditions at headquarters
and in field offices or in emergency situations during humanitarian
crises.
This means, for example, that UN offices around the world
should continue to implement the environmental code of conduct
that has been developed by UNDP in its 1995 "Green Office
Initiative."
In an office context, which applies to UN Headquarters and
many field offices, a green office is a smarter and better
office. It is ecological (using nontoxic, recycled, environmentally
friendly products and supplies); efficient (using as little
energy and other resources as possible, and putting out
the smallest amount of waste as possible) and healthy (with
as little visual, noise and physical pollution as possible).
A green office uses energy-efficient lighting and office
equipment and relies on natural light as much as possible.
It recycles everything from paper to printer cartridges
and encourages e-mail and telecommuting. Ideally, it is
built from the ground up, inside and out, using nontoxic,
durable, recyclable/reusable flooring, carpets, wall coverings,
paints, and furnishings.
As a result, a green office saves money, is a more pleasant
place in which to work, and goes easier on the environment.”
A green office can be a workplace of any type or size, from
a corporate headquarters to a small field office.
UN Observer.org recommendations
The UN should:
- initiate/continue the use of
green office principles throughout its office system, and;
- publicize and promote the dissemination
of new, improved environmental standards within and outside
the UN as they are developed.
Back to the top |
|
|
