GSSD Expo 2012: A Green Event
With the GSSD Expo 2012 overarching theme being “Energy and Climate Change”, UNIDO and its co-organizers have taken a number of steps to reduce the ecological footprint of the event. These numerous initiatives demonstrate the United Nations’ commitment to work in an environmentally-friendly manner.
To this end, UNIDO, in cooperation with UNOSSC, has implemented five main initiatives towards greening the GSSD Expo 2012.
1. Green Partnership: UNIDO consulted with the venue management at Hofburg, the local council and service providers (in particular caterers) to ensure that their contribution to the GSSD Expo 2012 is as environmentally-friendly as possible.
2. Introduction of the ‘Green Passport’: Expo participants have received a ‘Green Passport’ on registration. The passport contained tips on how delegates can take easy steps to reduce the ecological footprint of their attendance to the Expo. In addition, the passport provided practical information about public transport in Vienna as well as local green initiatives to visit. To view the Green Passport, click here (PDF, 1.3 MB).
3. Discounted public transportation: To promote the use of public transport at the expo all Expo participants were provided discounted public transportation for the duration of the Expo.
4. Paperless Expo: The GSSD Expo Team in UNIDO has taken all steps to reduce the use of paper in the organization as well as over the course of the Expo. Throughout the Expo, USB memory sticks were distributed to all delegates, containing all documents and presentations of the Expo. In addition, all GSSD Expo documentation will soon be posted on a web portal. Computer terminals were provided at the venue to facilitate ease access to these documents.
5. The UN Office for South-South Cooperation made an important contribution to this effort by leveraging the South-South Global Assets and Technology Exchange (SS-GATE) to offset the carbon footprint of UN staff participation in the GSSD Expo 2012.
For their achievements towards reducing the ecological footprint of the event, the GSSD Expo 2012 has been rewarded with the Austrian Eco-Label for Green Events.
The Austrian Eco-label is a quality certification mark for event-organizing enterprises that sets environmental standards, while also taking into account criteria from the other pillars of sustainability (social and economic) to inform the public about the environmental impacts of products and services and in the process encouraging them to take responsibility in all fields of sustainability. The Eco-label Guideline for “Green Meetings” sets environmental standards for both the event planner and the individual aspects of a meeting.
For more information, please visit:
http://www.umweltzeichen.at/cms/home233/idart_1352-content.html
