Greening The Blue Report 2023

Greening the Blue Report is a UNEP initiative to engage and support the UN system in the transition towards greater environmental sustainability in the management of its facilities and operations. 

It provides information on the United Nations (UN) system’s environmental footprint and efforts to reduce it and intends to determine if the UN system’s facilities and operations are “on the right track” with their environmental objectives. The Report also serves both to inform the public on how the UN system is doing in its environmental sustainability efforts and, hopefully, as a source of inspiration for other organizations. 

The 2023 edition of the Report covers data for 2022. It focuses on the environmental impacts of over 308,000 personnel in Headquarters, in thousands of field offices and in operations on the ground. The Greening the Blue Community, which annually provides the data for the Report, consists of 57 entities from across the UN system and beyond. 

Commenting on the results from the report, António Guterres, UN Secretary-General noted:

The world must work together to address the triple planetary crisis of runaway climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. We at the United Nations must do our part with advocacy and action. I encourage all UN entities to set an example by greening the blue.

 António Guterres, UN Secretary-General

In alignment with the Strategy for Sustainability Management in the United Nations 2020-2030, Phase I: Environmental Sustainability in the Area of Management, the Report provides data on environmental impact areas such as greenhouse gas emissions, climate neutrality, waste, air pollution, water and wastewater, and biodiversity as well as management functions: environmental governance, procurement, and human resources, as well as management functions: environmental governance, procurement, and human resources.