The following is the methodology used for Greening the Blue Report 2023.
The methodologies for the yearly collection of data for the Greening the Blue Report is the result of close UN inter-entity coordination. The UNEP Sustainable UN team works with a network of officially appointed Sustainability Focal Points in each reporting entity. The Focal Points are responsible for coordinating the data collection process and data quality assurance throughout their respective entity and keeping methodologies and measures up to date and harmonized with UN system-wide guidance. To this end, Focal Points and their colleagues in various country offices are trained and updated every year on the data collection methodology for the Report. Once the data collection is finalized, the UNEP Sustainable UN team collates, calculates, and reviews results for the Greening the Blue Report.
The inventory covers emissions under the financial and/or operational control of the UN. Following the GHG Protocol, the inventory covers all Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Additionally, it covers Scope 3 business travel emissions due to the major role of travel in UN operations.
The inventory includes the six GHGs originally covered by the Kyoto Protocol: CO2, CH4, N2O, HFCs, PFCs and SF6, and all refrigerants with a global warming potential (GWP) (Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 1997). Total GHG emissions are reported as an aggregate using the common comparable unit of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2eq) - the mass of each GHG multiplied by its GWP compared to that of CO2.
Collection, estimation and reporting of the GHG emissions are undertaken through the following tools:
For the Air Pollution section of the Greening the Blue Report, data was derived by extracting information on refrigerant use and fuel use provided through the GHG inventory.
For the Renewable Electricity section of the Report, the percentage of electricity from renewable sources was calculated by dividing the electricity that came from renewable sources with the total electricity consumption. The total electricity consumption for each building is calculated as the kilowatt-hour (kWh) equivalent of all purchased electricity as well as electricity produced on-site through stationary combustion in generators and through renewable energy installations such as solar panels. The electricity from renewable sources is calculated as the kWh equivalent of all renewable electricity generated on-site (through renewable energy installations such as solar panels and through the combustion of renewable fuels), plus all purchased electricity from renewable sources. The renewables share of the purchased electricity is calculated by using data that entities provide on their energy mix. If this data is not provided, average values for the electricity grid of the country in which the building is located are used.
In April 2009, the Environmental Management Group adopted the ICAO Carbon Emissions Calculator (ICEC) as the official tool for United Nations entities to quantify their air travel CO2 footprint, in support of their environmental commitments. Since then, organizations have reported their GHG inventories through the Greening the Blue Report using the ICAO carbon emissions calculator (ICEC).
The use of a common, transparent, impartial, and internationally approved methodology across the UN system facilitates the aggregation of air travel emissions data from different organizations and guarantees integrity and consistency of reported inventories.
The ICEC is limited to calculating the direct emissions released into the atmosphere by
the aircraft engines during a flight. There is a substantial understanding of the components of aviation climate forcing, particularly. However, important uncertainties remain in quantifying some of the aviation non-climate terms and in the underlying physical processes. As a consequence, there is not yet an international scientific consensus on whether and how to quantify these non-emissions. The ICAO Impacts and Science Group, established under the ICAO Council Committee on Environmental Protection, is tasked to provide the latest consensus scientific understanding of non-CO2 climate impacts of aviation.
In 2022, a mathematical error was identified in the tool used for the estimation of emissions from international air travel in the UN Environmental Inventories with reporting years 2018, 2019, and 2020. This error, that applies to a limited portion of the airport pairs covered by the ICAO calculator and concerns the calculator versions (5.0.4 - 0.6), with specifically 2018 as a reporting year, resulted in an overestimation of emissions from air travel in the range of 10 to 15 per cent on average. The difference for each reporting organization would depend on the travel itineraries used as input data. This issue was addressed and rectified within the 5.0.7 version of the calculator released in 2023.
For additional information on the ICEC, please visit this webpage or contact [email protected]
Text provided by ICAO.
The scope of the UN waste inventory is set to waste from facilities and operations. The approach requires the collection of data on waste quantities by:
The approach follows the recommendations of the Framework for the Development of Environment Statistics (FDES 2013) developed by the Statistics Division at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (United Nations 2017) and is in line with Global Reporting Initiative indicators.
In addition, qualitative information on activities such as the implementation of policy and waste management plans is collected to enable the sharing of best practices between UN entities.
The UN-wide figures and the information on waste averages and methods of disposal provided in the Report are based only on UN sites that were able to provide complete waste data.
The scope of the UN water inventory is set to water from facilities and operations. The approach requires the collection of data on water as follows:
The approach is in line with Global Reporting Initiative indicators and looks at affected water sources.
In addition, qualitative information on activities, such as the implementation of policies and water management plans, is collected to enable the sharing of best practices between UN entities.
Data on wastewater management is, to this date, not yet included in the UN system environmental inventory.
Data for the year 2022 for indicators on environmental management systems (EMS), environmental reporting and environmental and social standards of UN entities were collected via a survey to UN entities. The questions were slightly refined in the 2023 survey based on input from entity Focal Points. The scope of the questions and criteria remain aligned with the indicators for EMS in the Sustainability Strategy I (CEB 2019, pp. 12-13) and the Greening the Blue EMS criteria (see below) based on EMS requirements in the international standard ISO 14001:2015. The UN entities that responded to the survey performed quality assurance of their submissions before the final scoring on EMS according to the below criteria was made. Some exceptions in the reporting on EMS via the survey were made to entities (two) that adopted their environmental policy during early 2023. Their response to the survey question on environmental policy was accepted as a “Yes.”
On environmental and social standards and safeguards, some clarifications were made from entities that led to changes in response for two entities, whose responses were changed to a “Yes.”
Exceeds: The entity is ISO 14001 certified or has performed a self-declaration of an EMS in compliance with ISO 14001 for the year 2021. The scope of the EMS must cover a minimum of 50 per cent of the entity’s personnel.
Meets: The entity, in addition to the requirements in ‘Approaches’, had addressed and incorporated the following activities in their EMS: environmental aspects and impacts are identified and integrated into action plans; the entity has a mandatory staff training on environmental sustainability; environmental risk management is mapped and addressed; operational controls and procedures are in place; monitoring and measuring is conducted; periodic internal audits on EMS are held; and, the entity holds an annual management review meeting and takes corrective actions that are integrated into action plans. The scope of the EMS must cover a minimum of 50 per cent of the entity’s personnel.
Approaches EMS: The entity had an environmental policy that had been adopted and/or reviewed in the past five years, objectives and targets in place on environmental performance which all had been approved by their senior management. The scope of the EMS must cover at least headquarters or one or more outposted offices.
Does not meet: The entity did not yet have an environmental policy and/or environmental targets and objectives in place which had been approved by their senior management/or the scope of the EMS had not yet been defined.
For more detailed information on these requirements, please email [email protected]
All data published in the Greening the Blue Report 2023 is obtained from the 2022 Annual Statistical Report on United Nations Procurement.
The ASR is compiled annually by the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) on behalf of the UN system. The ASR reported on the sustainable procurement efforts of UN entities for the first time in 2008. The data is obtained through a voluntary questionnaire that is shared with all UN entities, 29 in 2022, reporting to the ASR (UNOPS 2023).
Data for indicators on environmental training and awareness of UN personnel and performance management systems of senior management were collected via a survey to UN system entities. The survey remained largely unchanged since its initial release in 2021. The survey was shared with interested entity Focal Points for input and clarifications were made in the questions as needed. The scope of the indicator for environmental training and awareness covers all personnel which includes staff, consultants and independent contractors. Additionally, answers on training of staff factor into the EMS scoring as noted above.
The criteria to determine an entity’s reporting completeness as reflected on Annex 6 UN Entities’ Reporting Completeness 2022 Data, in each area of the Greening the Blue Report 2023 is as follows.
Complete/filled cell on table: Entity reported on greenhouse gas emissions for all personnel with the defined boundaries for the reporting year.
Partial/Half-filled cell on table: Entity reported on greenhouse gas emissions for a percentage of total personnel for the reporting year or reported on emissions from the previous year.
Did not report/Empty cell on table: Entity did not report on greenhouse gas emissions.
Complete/filled cell on table: Entity reported quantitative data for some or all its waste for the reporting year.
Partial/Half-filled cell on table: Entity reported qualitative data for the reporting year or reported quantitative data from previous years.
Did not report/Empty cell on table: Entity did not report waste data.
Complete/filled cell on table: Entity reported quantitative data for some or all its water for the reporting year.
Partial/Half-filled cell on table: Entity reported qualitative data for the reporting year or reported quantitative data from previous years.
Did not report/Empty cell on table: Entity did not report water data.
Environmental Governance and Human Resources are grouped because data on these two areas were submitted jointly via a survey. Forty-five entities submitted to the survey this year.
Entities had to comple
Entities had to complete the entire survey to submit any data, which is why partial is not a category for these areas. On the table, a filled cell means complete and an empty cell means did not report.