Berne
(Switzerland), 5 May 2008 - The United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Universal
Postal Union (UPU) have agreed to work together
to slash the CO2 emissions caused by members
of the postal sector.
Under the agreement
signed in Berne last week by Achim Steiner,
Executive Director of UNEP, and Edouard
Dayan, Director General of the UPU, UNEP
will help the UPU calculate the volumes
of greenhouse gases generated by the postal
sector, using a clearly-defined methodology.
The UPU's International
Bureau is shortly to launch a survey of
the organization's 191 member countries,
to collect data on the sector as a whole,
including buildings and vehicles, the mileage
these vehicles cover, and the volumes of
fuel consumed. Once this information has
been gathered, UNEP will help the UPU develop
a method to quantify the greenhouse gas
emissions generated by the postal sector.
The UPU and UNEP will then offer postal
operators a range of solutions to cut these
emissions, and will monitor the impact of
these measures from year to year.
The initiative is in
line with the United Nations' commitment
to make climate change one of its top priorities,
and the heads of UN agencies, programmes
and funds agreed at the October 2007 meeting
of the Chief Executives Board of the United
Nations System to work towards climate neutrality.
As part of this partnership with UNEP, the
UPU is looking to move towards becoming
a climate-neutral organization.
"Any initiative
that puts environmental protection at the
heart of postal businesses' development
strategy will have my support, and the scale
of our contribution should reflect that
of the sector," declared Edouard Dayan.
According to Achim Steiner:
"By joining our forces we are bringing
the issue of sustainability to one of the
major global networks, the postal service,
which has a massive responsibility to connect
the world but which also has a significant
footprint".
The UPU is a member
of the UN's Environment Management Group,
and has formed a global network of correspondents
within the postal operators of its member
countries to help raise awareness, within
the worldwide postal sector, of the importance
of adopting green policies and sharing best
practices. Sustainable development of the
postal sector also lies at the heart of
the organization's world postal strategy
adopted by its 2004 Bucharest Congress,
and will remain an objective in the next
postal strategy, to be presented at the
24th UPU Congress in Geneva from 23 July
to 12 August 2008.
The issue of the environment
will be discussed extensively at the Congress,
and Mr. Steiner will take part in the General
Debate on 25 July 2008, which will be attended
by heads of international organizations,
representatives of the governments and operators
of the UPU member countries, and other decision-makers
from across the sector.
Many Posts today recognize
the impact their activities have on the
environment, and have adopted environmental
policies accordingly; some have acquired
non-polluting vehicles and use eco-friendly
materials, actively participate in recycling
programmes, or have adopted green purchasing
policies.
But much more still needs to be done. According
to even the most modest estimates, the world
postal sector comprises over five million
staff (twice that number if we consider
the wider sector) and 660,000 postal establishments,
and uses some 250,000 motorcycles, over
600,000 cars, vans and trucks, and hundreds
of aircraft to deliver mail to the four
corners of the world... Not to mention the
tonnes of paper used daily in postal communications.
The sector therefore has a significant role
to play in cutting greenhouse gas emissions.
About the Universal
Postal Union
The UPU, based in Berne
(Switzerland), is the primary forum for
cooperation between Posts. In addition to
maintaining a genuinely universal network
that provides modern products and services,
it establishes the rules for international
mail exchanges among its 191 members and
makes recommendations to stimulate mail
volume growth and to improve the quality
of service for customers. Each year, more
than five million employees process and
deliver 433.6 billion domestic letter-post
items, some 5.5 billion international items
and over 6 billion ordinary parcels. The
UPU this year celebrates 60 years as a specialized
agency of the United Nations.
About the United Nations
Environment Programme
The United Nations
Environment Programme was founded in 1972.
Its mission is to provide leadership and
encourage partnerships in caring for the
environment by enabling nations and peoples
to improve their quality of life without
compromising that of future generations.
As the principal United Nations body in
the field of the environment, UNEP sets
the global environment agenda, promotes
implementation of the environmental dimension
of sustainable development in the United
Nations system, and serves as an authoritative
advocate of the global environment.
Nick Nuttall, Spokesperson/Head of Media,
UNEP
Laurent Widmer
Universal Postal Union
Berne, Switzerland
