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Article 1
A climate neutral UN
        The goal of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement is to limit global warming. This goal requires that we achieve a climate neutral world by the second half of this century. Climate neutrality means living in a way that produces no net greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

        In 2007, the UN System began working towards becoming climate neutral. Under the leadership of
then Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, at a 2007 meeting of the UN System Chief Executives Board for
Coordination (CEB), the Executive Heads of UN agencies, funds and programs committed to move their
respective organizations towards climate neutrality, and developed the UN Climate Neutral Strategy, which highlights the advantages of harmonization.

        At the 2007 CEB meeting, the Executive Heads of UN agencies, funds and programs committed to:
⚫ Estimate the greenhouse gas emissions of UN system organizations consistent with accepted
international standards；
⚫ Undertake efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions；
⚫ Analyze the cost implications and explore budgetary modalities of purchasing carbon offsets to
eventually reach climate neutrality.
        Since that 2007 meeting, the UN System has been taking environmental sustainability into account in the operation of its facilities. The United Nations Environment Program now annually collects and analyzes information provided by UN System entities on their environmental impacts and publishes this data in its Greening the Blue report. The Greening the Blue Report for 2020 covers emissions for 2019； therefore, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on travel and facilities’ emissions are not yet visible in the reported data and will not be until 2021.
        The 2020 Report found the United Nations System generated around 2 million tones of CO2eq last year.(CO2eq includes carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases). Forty-five per cent of all emissions came from staff air travel. Another 12 per cent came from other forms of transport and 43 per cent were generated by UN offices, largely through heating, air conditioning and electricity use.

The report also stated that in 2019, the UN System continued its downward trend on emissions
generation. With 97% of reported 2019 emissions offset, the UN System is well on track to achieve its goal of 100% climate neutrality of its 2020 footprint. Environmental Governance has also progressed with five additional UN entities advancing in their implementation of environmental management systems.

In 2019, under the leadership of Secretary-General António Guterres, the UN’s Chief Executives Board for Coordination endorsed the first Strategy for Sustainability Management in the UN system, which covers the years 2020-2030. In the 2020 Greening the Blue Report, the Secretary-General stated that:

“The emergence of COVID-19 is a stark reminder of how we are all a part of nature and the environment. Just as humanity does not exist in isolation, neither does the United Nations system. Everything we do affects the world around us. We are all part of the global climate crisis, and our efforts to achieve environmental sustainability are essential to tackling it. We must work harder and faster to bequeath a livable planet for this and future generations.”
Source: United Nations

Article 2
        If you're aiming to cut back on meat and you want to build muscle strength, you're not alone. Now, a new study published in Nature Food, finds that if people swap red and processed meat for plant protein a few times a week, it's good for their health – and can also reduce their diet-related carbon footprint. The study found cutting red meat consumption by half leads to significant changes. For instance, eating it twice a week instead of four times a week will shrink your carbon footprint by 25% and may also boost longevity.
       "We found that there was an increase in life expectancy of approximately nine months," linked to the 50% reduction, says study author Olivia Auclair of McGill University. The study adds to the evidence that small changes in diet can be consequential, and that a diet that's good for our health is also good for the environment.
        But sudden changes can be jarring. People can get all the protein and nutrients they need from a
plant-based diet as long as they do a little planning, says Dr. Christopher Gardner, a food scientist at
Stanford University. His research is featured in the new Netflix documentary You Are What You Eat: A Twin Experiment. He points to a variety of sources, from lentils, chickpeas and other beans, to nuts and seeds,whole grains and vegetables, "If someone is consuming a reasonable variety, meeting protein needs from plant sources to sustain muscle is no problem," Gardner says.
       There's an environmental argument for shifting diet as well, Gardner says. Livestock require lots of
land and water. Richard Waite and his colleagues at the World Resources Institute, estimate that beef
production requires 20 times more land and emits 20 times more greenhouse gas emissions, per gram of protein, compared to beans.
       As we've reported, by one estimate, if people in the U.S. swapped beef for beans, this one switch alone could get the U.S. about halfway to its greenhouse gas reduction goals.
       Many people are unaware of the links between diet and climate, but among those who are, there's a
willingness to make changes. And, when it comes to which changes are beneficial, "we really want to make these as simple as possible so that people can actually make a change in their diet," Auclair says.

       When it comes to health span and longevity, Auclair and her collaborators at McGill University used
survey data to evaluate the eating habits of Canadians, and modeled what would happen if people made the dietary swaps. They used models to estimate changes in life expectancy, based on Canadian mortality data and the relative risks of diseases associated with animal-based and plant-based foods, which were assessed in the Global Burden of Disease study.
        The findings fit with other research. Last month, researchers at Tufts University published a study that found people who consumed plenty of plant protein in mid-life had significantly higher odds of healthy aging – more evidence that what's good for our health is also good for the planet.
Source: npr
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