Belgium SDG Forum - How sustainable is the UN itself?

In the context of the SDG Forum, the first multi-stakeholder forum on the SDGs in the Benelux, which took place in Brussels on 5 October, Veronika Hunt Safrankova, Head of the UNEP Brussels Office, participated in the workshop "Is the UN itself sustainable?” organised by the Belgian UN Associations VVN and APNU.

Speaking alongside Birgit Stevens, Director, UN and Francophonie at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Pr. em. Han Verschure Department of Architecture (KU Leuven) Professor in Human Settlements, Ms Safrankova presented the sustainability of the UN's internal organisation. She spoke in particular about environmental sustainaibility and the Greening the Blue initiative of UNEP to engage and support the UN System in the transition towards greater environmental sustainability in the management via the Sustainable United Nations (SUN) facility.

She also shared her personal experience of her Office's commitment to promote more sustainable practices internally, and how the UNEP Brussels team regularly organises field activities to put action behind words. She gave the examples of tree plantings, waste collection on the Belgian coast, providing one-off support to victims after the floods that hit eastern Belgium. Ms Safrankova shared some lessons learnt from the covid crisis regarding administrative habits, and discussed sustainability practices within international meetings and conferences, whereby she argued for the continuation of some distance meeting practices, while also pointing out their limitations. 

The workshop concluded with a discussion with Belgian UN staff and UN stakeholders, and reflections on youth engagement in support of the UN environmental agenda.