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United Nations environmental management on the field

By Lara LARSEN & staff

Over the past 2 years, significant changes have taken place inside and outside the United
Nations. The Secretary-General’s reform agenda outlined last year includes the management
reform and the peace and security architecture reform that will be implemented on 1 January
2019. Together with Member States, we are actively engaged in shaping what the future UN will
look like.
At the heart of the management reform is a compact between Member States and the Secretariat
about transparency and accountability. One of the key areas in which we need to make sure we
are delivering on this is our environmental performance.
This requires us to look at all aspects of how we support peace operations – from the way we
plan, to the skills we hire and
develop in our personnel, the
way we manage our operations
and collect and report data, to
the kind of equipment and
technology that we use, and the
way we engage with host
governments. All of these add up
to a major cultural shift that will
take time and dedication to
implement.
While we have made some
progress, there is still a long way
to go. With missions operating
in highly complex and
challenging post-conflict
locations, we are focusing on
A 3D printer recycles plastic waste by creating objects such as spare parts
identifying risks and taking
immediate action to address them. But, this can only be achieved through partnerships with
governments and civil society. UN members have states unanimously reinforced their
commitment to sound environmental management with the adoption of the Action 4
Peacekeeping declaration.
A Group of Friends for “leading on environmental management in the field” was
established earlier this year co-chaired by Italy and Bangladesh, comprising 27 members.
We are also grateful to the Government of Italy for providing financial resources for much-
needed additional human resource capacity, as well as hosting our Logistics Base in Brindisi,
from which technical assistance on environmental management is provided to missions. The
Base celebrated World Environment Day together this year with the Carabinieri Forestali di
Brindisi, with a message on addressing plastic pollution in a local park.
We have established a partnership with the UN Environment Programme to provide technical
assistance to missions in improving their environmental performance, including through on-the-
ground support.

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