In December 2018, the Secretary-General of the United Nations asked the system to raise the level of its internal ambitions and intensify its efforts to combat climate change from within. At the climate summit he had called for, which was held in September 2019, the Secretary-General highlighted that the United Nations was “walking the talk” on environmental sustainability and climate change.

This request raised the profile of mandate from senior officials of the Environment Management Group to develop an internal sustainability vision and strategy for the United Nations beyond 2020 in order to confirm the Organization’s leadership aspirations in the area of internal environmental and social sustainability and to show that the United Nations aligns its own performance with the principles that it has pioneered internationally.

The Venue and Event Management Unit (VEM) of ICAO is proud to announce that the 41^st Session of the ICAO Assembly is compliant to the BNQ 9700-253 norm and has been awarded the Level 3 Sustainable Development - Responsible Event Management classification. This nationally and internationally recognized benchmark defines responsible event management and establishes technical rules based on the 16 principles of the Sustainable Development Act of Quebec.

These include: transportation within Montréal, accommodation type, the carbon-footprint of the conference venue, food and food-waste, paper and plastic consumption, and waste-related emissions. For the 41^st Triennial Assembly the VEM unit tried to reduce as much waste per participant over the ten-day conference as possible!

“A green meeting is one designed, organized and implemented in a way that minimizes negative environmental impacts and leaves a positive legacy for the host community.” (United Nations Environment Programme, 2009 (p. 9). Green Meeting Guide)