One
Year Old and One Hundred Strong - Copenhagen
becomes the 100th participant of the UNEP
Climate Neutral Network
Nairobi, 19 February
2009 - The City of Copenhagen today became
the 100th participant of the Climate Neutral
Network (CN Net), an initiative led by the
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
to promote global action towards low-carbon
economies and societies.
Launched a year ago
with an initial four countries, four cities
and five companies, the CN Net today brings
together a wide range of participants, including
countries big and small, some of the world's
best-known cities, major international companies,
UN agencies and leading NGOs.
These first 100 participants
- the CN Net Centurion - were honoured at
the 25th session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global
Ministerial Environment Programme meeting
this week in Nairobi, Kenya.
UN Under-Secretary-General
and UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner
said: "The Climate Neutral Network
was born in response to the growing need
to federate the many bold and inspiring
initiatives being taken the world over to
address the global climate change challenge
and embrace the opportunity to 'de-carbonize'
our economies and societies."
"One year on, the
unfolding financial and environmental crises
make the CN Net more relevant than ever
before as a showcase of both the promise
and viability of the low-carbon development
model which goes hand-in-hand with the emerging
Green Economy initiatives around the globe.
I salute the first 100 participants - the
CN Net Centurion - on their commitment and
hope that CN Net numbers will continue to
grow to form many more centurions, or indeed
legions, in the years to come."
"Climate Capital
of the World" joins the CN Net
The City of Copenhagen,
which will host the crucial UN Climate Change
Conference in less than 300 days, is world-renowned
for its green politics and eco-friendly
life style.
Under the vision of
becoming a "climate capital of the
world", Copenhagen has already cut
its CO2 emissions by one-fifth since 11000
and has pledged another 20 per cent cut
by 2015. The city also plans to take a "giant
leap forward" as part of its Climate
Action Plan expected to be endorsed in summer
2009.
Klaus Bondam, Copenhagen's
Mayor for Technics and the Environment,
said: "As the mayor of a city that
has our common struggle against climate
change at heart, I am pleased to see that
so many cities around the world have committed
themselves to strong CO2 reduction goals
and joined the Climate Neutral Network.
Fifty per cent of the world's population
live in cities, and cities worldwide are
responsible for 75 per cent of the global
CO2 emissions. Hence, if nations truly want
to combat climate change, cities and urban
populations are their most important allies
in the struggle."
Copenhagen will also
play host to a 100 percent carbon-neutral
music and arts festival in September. CO2PENHAGEN
Festival will be run entirely on renewable
energy, including two gym bike teams pedalling
away to generate power for DJ extravaganza
and "piezoelectricity" from dancing
crowds stomping their feet on plateaus connected
to LED-lighting around the dance floor.
The more they dance, the brighter the lights
shine.
"The dance floor
visualizes the human energy and proves that
you can generate energy while having fun,"
explain the Festival organizers.
Daejeon, South Korea's
fifth largest city, is another CN Net Centurion.
The city will host a children and youth
climate meeting this August ahead of the
Copenhagen conference organized by UNEP.
Under the overall vision
of a "Low Carbon, Green City",
Daejeon's climate change response plan focuses
on the ten priority tasks, including producing
energy from waste and promoting renewables
and energy conservation. In the area of
transport, the city is promoting cycling,
public transport and low-carbon vehicles.
The city has also pioneered a "carbon
points" scheme, whereby businesses
and organizations that reduce emissions
get carbon credits from the city authorities.
Opening a regional chapter
in CN Net participation
The Norwegian County
of Aust-Agder became the first region to
join the Climate Neutral Network. The County
is a significant business region and the
second largest export region in Norway.
Norway, which is one of the four founder
countries of the CN Net, has the second
largest number of participants after New
Zealand.
The Aust-Agder County
Council took a unanimous decision to become
climate neutral in 2009, and has put in
place an ambitious action plan, including
procuring all electricity from renewable
energy sources and achieving 100 per cent
climate neutral heating in all new buildings.
The County is also spearheading
a regional initiative to develop a public-private
partnership with a growing network of private
companies in southern Norway, encouraging
them to move towards climate neutrality.
The Mayor of the County
of Aust-Agder, Mrs Laila Øygarden,
said: "The County of Aust-Agder acknowledges
the political responsibility to combat climate
change, and has committed to climate neutrality
from 2009. We are delighted to join the
Climate Neutral Network, and hope to inspire
and be inspired through sharing valuable
knowledge and experience, towards a climate
friendly future."
Growing corporate participation
Several of the world's
largest corporations have joined the ranks
of the CN Net, representing diverse sectors
from banking to logistics to information
and communication technologies (ICT).
Microsoft is the latest
CN Net participant in the ITC sector, an
industry which accounts for 2 percent of
global greenhouse gas emissions. The corporation
believes that there are significant opportunities
to considerably increase the energy efficiency
of computing, and even more significant
opportunities to use ICT solutions to reduce
the 98 percent of greenhouse gas emissions
from other sectors through the services
it provides.
For example, Windows
Vista was developed as Microsoft's most
energy efficient operating system to date,
which, according to the Natural Resources
Defense Council, could help eliminate 3
million tonnes of carbon emissions annually
in the United States alone.
"Microsoft recognizes
that climate change is a serious challenge
that requires a comprehensive and global
response from all sectors of society. We
are committed to reducing the impact of
our own operations and products and to providing
software and technology innovations that
help people and organizations around the
world improve the environment, particularly
the pressing issue of climate change,"
says Steve Lippman, Director, Environmental
Engagement Strategy, Microsoft Corporation
With 80,456 employees
in 72 countries, Deutsche Bank is the largest
global financial institution to come on
board the CN Net, with a pledge to neutralize
its carbon footprint by 2012. The Bank considers
achieving carbon neutrality as an essential
building block of its overall climate change
strategy and has recently established a
high-level Climate Change Advisory Board
to implement the strategy.
Hanns Michael Hoelz,
Group Sustainability Officer of Deutsche
Bank, explains that the Bank plans to reduce
its carbon emissions through improving energy
efficiency of its buildings and technology
infrastructure, greater use of renewable
energy as well as offsetting any remaining
CO2 emissions. At the Bank's head office
in Frankfurt, for instance, which is currently
being converted into one of the most environmentally-friendly
office towers in Europe, carbon emissions
will be cut by more than 50 per cent.
With some 500,000 employees
in more than 220 countries and territories,
Deutsche Post World Net - which is the parent
company of DHL - is one of the biggest employers
in the world and the first CN Net participant
representing the global logistics industry.
In 2008 Deutsche Post
World Net launched its climate protection
programme - GoGreen - to respond to climate
change and, in doing so, became the first
major company in the goods transportation
industry to set quantifiable climate protection
targets. The group's target is to improve
CO2 efficiency across all of its operations
- including subcontracted transportation
services - by 30 percent by 2020.
"With our GoGreen
programme we are focusing on doing our part
to address climate change however, we are
part of a global effort. This network will
be a very useful platform for us to learn
and share experiences, knowledge, innovation
and lessons with others toward a low carbon
economy," said Steffen Frankenberg,
Vice President, GoGreen Programme, Deutsche
Post World Net.
Finally, News Limited
- which is part of News Corporation - has
become the first media organisation globally
to join the CN Net, with its 2007 commitment
to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20
per cent within three years through a company-wide
energy reduction plan "One Degree".
News Limited chairman
and chief executive, John Hartigan, said
One Degree continues to be a priority for
News Limited which is on target to become
carbon neutral by the end of 2010.
"The economic difficulties
being faced across the world simply amplify
the need to reduce energy consumption. We
are continuing to pursue aggressive energy
reduction plans across every part of our
operations. Over 85 per cent of our carbon
footprint has been audited and around 100
projects are being evaluated or implemented
across the business," Mr Hartigan said.
UN agencies move towards
climate neutrality
Under the leadership
of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the United
Nations pledged to work towards climate
neutrality in 2007. As part of this commitment,
UNEP itself went climate neutral on 1 January
2008 and became the first UN agency to join
the CN Net.
The UNEP-administered
Secretariat of the Basel Convention on the
Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous
Wastes and their Disposal has also taken
significant steps to move towards climate
neutrality in 2008, becoming the first institution
among UN agencies to have purchased offsets
to balance its carbon emissions.
Katharina Kummer Peiry,
Executive Secretary of the Basel Convention,
explained: "According to available
data, 87 per cent of the total greenhouse
gas emissions of UNEP in 2007 were caused
by travel of staff and delegates to official
meetings. This convinced me of the need
to act swiftly if climate neutrality is
to become a reality."
The Secretariat of the
Basel Convention is currently developing
its inventory of greenhouse gas emissions
for 2008 and intends to further develop
its plan towards climate neutrality by extending
its climate-neutral policy to travel and
procurement. The Secretariat is also significantly
reducing its printing outputs and favouring
online solutions for distribution activities.
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson and Head
of Media
Xenya Cherny Scanlon, Information Officer,
Climate Neutral Network
