• If possible, choose a hotel that operates in an environmentally responsible manner (e.g. sustainable energy management and reuse of towels and linens).
• Upon request, Tourismus & Congress, the tourism agency of Bonn and the region, will inform participants on green features and eco certifications of hotels within its portfolio.

• To complement available hotel capacity, Tourismus & Congress also facilitate contact with Bonn residents who have volunteered to offer free homestay opportunities to COP participants. This contributes to sustainability by making use of capacity that already exists.

To achieve the overall goal of a climate neutral conference (which has become standard practice for COPs), the amount of GHG emissions generated in connection with the sessions will be reduced to the extent possible. Yet, certain emissions (such as those associated with travel, which is responsible for the lion’s share of the overall footprint) remain unavoidable and will therefore be offset.

In close coordination with UN Climate Change, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety and its scientific advisor, the Oeko-Institut, will calculate GHG emissions associated with the conference (for both the Bula and Bonn Zones) in accordance with robust international standards and offset them by purchasing certified emission reduction credits (CERs) preferably from Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects registered in small island developing States (in recognition of the fact that the COP 23 Presidency will be held by Fiji).

Other criteria for the selection of CERs include a high sustainability impact in the host country; no HFC-23, N2O, super-critical coal or large hydropower projects; preference for credits from the Kyoto Protocol’s second commitment period.

Climate Neutral Now

• You can make your travel (and the rest of your life!) climate neutral and be recognized for it. It is easy:
  • UNFCCC’s Climate Neutral Now initiative offers all conference participants the possibility to offset the unavoidable GHG emissions generated by their personal activities not related to COP 23, such as those related to their travel to and from Bonn and to their daily life, using CERs generated by the CDM (which fosters environmentally friendly projects in developing countries and contributes to the sustainable development of the project area).
  • Visit our platform to browse through the projects that sell their credits. You can filter them by region, country, co-benefits or price – for example. Your purchase will fund an array of projects ranging from wind power projects to efficient bus transit systems, or projects that replace harmful cook stoves with healthy, clean-burning ones. It will be up to you to choose what to invest in to compensate your emissions.
  • Emissions generated by air travel can be calculated using ICAO's official calculator. To calculate your personal life’s emissions, you can use the simple calculator available here.
• Participants who compensate their emissions through the platform will receive a personalized certificate from the UN Climate Change Secretariat to attest to their climate action, as well as – at the time of registration – a Climate Neutral Now lanyard.
• Participants who didn’t have the time before COP 23 are invited to visit the fancy Climate Neutral Now booth in the Bonn Zone, where its friendly staff will help with their climate footprint estimations, reduction options and climate compensation with UNFCCC certified emission reduction credits. It’s easy to make a difference for the future!
• Those who wish to can communicate their Twitter handle to UNFCCC staff at the booth and have their picture taken for a thank you message on social media.
• Participants are invited to pass by even if only for information or warm greetings.
• Go Climate Neutral Now!

• In line with the objectives of the paper-reduction initiative, participants are encouraged to rely on digital versions of official documents which can be downloaded from the UNFCCC website.
• To further facilitate access, QR codes for selected official documents will be displayed on poster boards close to the Documentation Services Desk and elsewhere.
• The Daily Programme for the conference will continue to be made available in electronic form only. A PDF version will be posted each morning on the corresponding website.
• To reduce the amount of GHG emissions generated in connection with the conference, and with a view to further reducing paper usage and wastage at the conference, participants are asked to refrain from distributing any printed material, such as publications and information related to side events and exhibits, other meetings or future conferences. Please note that the secretariat strongly encourages the electronic dissemination of information.

• Parties and observers can display visual electronic materials (videos, slideshows, images etc.) to promote their climate action on two screens at the Climate Change Resources Corner. Posters to promote official side events and exhibits may be displayed exclusively on the poster boards at the side events and exhibits area at the Bonn Zone.
• The selection criteria of official side events and exhibits routinely include the commitment of side event organizers and exhibitors to disseminate all documentation in electronic form only. Side event organizers and exhibitors are requested to upload electronic files on the UNFCCC website, post QR codes on their exhibit booths and in side event rooms and promote their websites and mobile applications, if any. The secretariat will take note of the amount of printed materials disseminated at each side event and take this into consideration as a selection criterion for side event applications for future sessions.
• Side event schedules will be announced through the UNFCCC website and the free UNFCCC mobile application “Negotiator”. Information on other events may also be posted on the UNFCCC website.
• It is planned to broadcast all official side events live through Google Hangouts on Air and YouTube. Links to the recordings of the broadcasts will be made available on the UNFCCC website.
• In this context, please note that daily updates on the negotiations, such as the Earth Negotiations Bulletin, ECO and Third World Network, will be disseminated in electronic form only. To facilitate access, as per past practice the secretariat will include web links to these updates in the Daily Programme. The publishing organizations may wish to display a copy with QR codes at their exhibit stands.
• The Climate Change Studio provides an additional option for delegates to disseminate information, namely in the form of interviews that will be broadcast and archived on the UNFCCC website.
• Poken is a user-friendly platform for collecting digital, i.e. paperless, information and networking. Participants can receive a personal Poken device at no charge at the Poken distribution counter located in the Bonn Zone, in the exhibition area (Area F). Once a user registers the device (sets up an account), s/he can easily collect (load onto the device) digital information at official exhibits, recent UNFCCC publications and the daily reports of observer organizations. Poken device registration also allows participants to exchange digital business cards by bringing their devices in contact. Collected information can be loaded onto personal computers. As participants have no use for the device after the conference, they are cordially requested to return the device at the Poken distribution counter on their last day of attendance and to thereby make the conference more sustainable.

• Following the successful certification of the sustainability management systems of COP 21 and COP 22 under the ISO 20121 standard for sustainability management systems, the environmental performance of COP 23 will be certified by an external environmental verifier under EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme), an environmental management system of the European Union.
• EMAS provides the overall framework for the sustainable organization of the sessions, covering aspects such as energy and resource efficiency, legal compliance and stakeholder engagement.

• As EMAS covers the requirements of the ISO 14001 standard for environmental management systems, the COP will also be certified under that standard.
• To evaluate the environmental performance of the conference, key performance indicators such as energy, water, waste and GHG emissions will be measured and reported.
• The publication of the COP 23 Environmental Declaration, including an evaluation of target achievement and detailed information on the carbon footprint of the conference, constitutes an integral part of EMAS certification.
• Click here for a short video clip on the EMAS certification of COP 23 (please use Mozilla Firefox for viewing).
• The one-pager and long version of the EMAS briefing for COP 23 service providers as well as the EMAS one-pager for UNFCCC staff are also available in the section with related information in the top right-hand corner.
• In case of any questions please visit a UN Information Desk at either conference zone.

• As per past practice, the target average temperature for all indoor areas of the official venue will be 21 degrees Celsius. It should be noted that, due to the dimensions of the conference and the nature of the different buildings and structures, it may not be possible to avoid certain variations between different buildings/ rooms and in the course of any given day.

• Participants are requested to turn off room lights and ventilation as well as ICT equipment when not in use, enabling energy-saving features.
• An awareness-raising workshop for Bonn hotels to further improve their energy efficiency was held in September 2017 with support from the Energy Agency of North Rhine-Westphalia, followed by the option of targeted individual advice.

• In determining the catering menus, every effort was made to strike a balance between aspects related to the environmental (e.g. the provision of “climate-friendly” food) and the economic dimension of sustainability (i.e. catering prices appropriate for all COP participants), while ensuring adequate availability and diversity of food.
• Conscious of the obligation for organizational aspects of UN climate change conferences to support the objectives of the Convention, and to reduce the carbon footprint of the COP, it was decided to focus on food that has a low carbon footprint and is certified organic, as well as on fair trade (hot) drinks. Consequently, most food will be vegetarian (at least 60%) with optional addition of meat (100% organic certified) or fish/ seafood (100% certified by the Marine Stewardship Council or a similar label – and no red salmon). Overall, at least 50% of all food products will be from organic farming. In addition, at least 20% will come from regional production.
• In this context, regional is defined as within 160 km of Bonn; for reference, at COP 21 the share of vegetarian food was approximately 30%, and at COP 15 the share of regional products was 40% and that of organic food and drinks 75%.

• Information on the impact of consumer choices on the climate is available below and displayed on-site. In addition, Greening Ambassadors are available to answer any questions about the catering concept.
• This CO2 calculator kindly provided by the City of Frankfurt allows users to compare the carbon footprint of various ingredients and exemplary menus in a playful way.
• Water dispensers available throughout the conference venue may be used with reusable bottles that will be distributed to all registered participants free of charge at the Information Desks of both conference zones.

• If you should lose your personal bottle you may wish to buy a bottled drink on site or at a nearby supermarket and refill that bottle with the water available through dispensers.
• The dispensers in the World Conference Center Bonn and the UN Campus will be fed from large water bottles from a commercial provider, while the fountains set up at the temporary structures of both conference zones will be connected to the water grid of the city of Bonn. The Bonn water provider, Stadtwerke Bonn GmbH, has attested that the tap water meets the official quality standards and is subject to periodic controls.

The following infographics are also available in the section with external links in the top right-hand corner:

Reducing GHG emissions through reducing food waste and changing eating habits

More information is available here.

The cooperation with the Center for a Livable Future (CLF) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School for Public Health is thankfully acknowledged. The cooperation with the Center for a Livable Future (CLF) at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health is thankfully acknowledged. Since 1996 the CLF has been addressing some of the most pressing issues in the food system while advancing public health and protecting the environment. As an interdisciplinary academic centre, the CLF is a leader in public health research, education, policy and advocacy that is dedicated to building a healthier, more equitable and more resilient food system.

Global food waste and loss

"Climate-friendly" food at COP 23

The carbon footprint of food

Reusable bottles and mugs at COP 23

Individual transportation arrangements, such as rental of cars or vans, are strongly discouraged. Individual local transportation contributes to higher GHG emissions, air pollution, resource use, land use for roads and parking, and traffic congestion with the resulting aggregate loss of productive time and increased stress levels of all affected. During peak hours, individual traffic hardly brings any reduction of commuting times – on the contrary it may lead to additional delays.

Instead, transportation by bus, tram, metro and regional trains is strongly recommended. Public transportation will be free of charge in Bonn, Cologne and in between, including the Ahr valley, as well as by regional trains to/from Koblenz (but not buses within Koblenz) for all participants from Parties, observer organizations and media registered for the Bula Zone or Bonn Zone. The tickets are valid from 4 to 18 November 2017 and will be distributed at the Information Desks at both conference zones.

The closest bus stop, “Deutsche Welle”, is 100m away from the main entrance to the Bula Zone, the metro stop “Heussallee” 400 m and the brand-new train station “UN Campus” 800 m.

The “Clean Shuttles”, a fleet of frequent, dedicated electric buses, connect the new train station with the Bula Zone and the Bonn Zone from 6 to 17 November, from 7 a.m. to 10.30 p.m. In addition, smaller electric shuttles continually run between the two zones through the Rheinaue park.

Moreover, 600 bicycles will be available for free rental and use within the city - click here for details.

Join a COP 23 on-site sustainability tour!

Participants are invited to join an on-site sustainability tour at the Bonn Zone guided by a COP 23 volunteer, covering issues such as waste avoidance and separation, catering, Climate Neutral Now, Poken and the availability of rental bicycles and electric shuttles.

Meeting point for the walking tours is at the Bonn Zone Information Desk at 11 am each day (except Friday, 17 November, when there will be no tour).

The aim of the tours is to inform participants on selected sustainability aspects of the conference. It is not a media tour hence the information shared by the guide must not be quoted. Press requests should be submitted through the usual channels at the UNFCCC secretariat and the German Environment Ministry.

The number of participants is limited and admittance on a first come, first served basis.

• Participants are encouraged to print and photocopy only what is absolutely necessary prior to and during the sessions. Once on site in Bonn, request only essential documents from the Documentation Services Desk. All paper used for printing and photocopying at the COP will be 100% recycled and certified by the Blue Angel eco label, and the same is encouraged for any necessary printing prior to the sessions. The use of colour paper should be kept to a minimum.

• Print and photocopy on both sides and keep the font size to a legible minimum.
• Collect and reuse paper that has print on one side only.
• Consider eliminating the use of paper business cards. Many smartphone apps support sharing digital business cards that are automatically updated in case of changes or scanning and storing personal information received from others.

Partnership with UN Volunteers

• Temporary staffing needs will be covered through a partnership with UN Volunteers to mobilize more than 650 volunteers from Bonn and surrounding regions – allowing representation of the diverse and international context of the City of Bonn, including senior citizens, people with disabilities, refugees and students and striving for gender equality. Volunteers will be trained on climate change issues and their linkages to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and encouraged to become climate champions in their communities. Volunteerism on this scale has the potential to create a legion of citizens committed to the importance of environmental causes.

Saving GHG emissions through commuting by bike

• Following past practice, the MoE, the City of Bonn and UN organizations in Bonn joined the 2017 annual City Cycling campaign by the Climate Alliance, enabling interested staff members and residents to actively help save GHG emissions (and at the same time symbolically support the sustainability efforts planned for the COP as well as the objectives of the Convention.
• By cycling more than 15,100 km on 21 days, nearly 2,150 kg CO2eq were saved.

Call for partnerships

• Following a call by the UN Climate Change Secretariat for non-Party stakeholders from the private sector and other parts of civil society to join forces in supporting the organization of a sustainable conference, several other partnerships were concluded.

• In order to reduce the carbon footprint associated with the shipping of goods in relation to the conference, as per past practice all shipments processed through the official COP warehouse will be subject to a maximum allowance of a cumulative total weight of 150 kg per Party and observer organization. Parties or observer organizations setting up "areas" within delegation spaces on a commercial basis will be permitted an extra allowance of 50 kg per "area".
• In this context, an "area" is defined as a clearly defined and delimited space, incorporated as such in the secretariat’s space allocation scheme and regardless of its size, where Parties and observer organizations showcase their achievements, products and services pertaining to climate change.
• Please keep the original packaging of your shipments in good condition for reuse when sending back leftover materials at the end of the conference.
• As an innovation, COP 23 will be the first UNFCCC session where the emissions related to the shipping of goods associated with the conference will be estimated and offset as part of the overall carbon footprint.

Apart from the underlying principle of sustainable sourcing and procurement, the commitment of service providers to adhere to sustainable, ethical and fair practices is strengthened by requesting them to consent to the COP 23 supplier code of conduct (based on the UN supplier code of conduct and taking into account the City of Bonn’s Sustainable Bonn project).

Other related policy documents specifically developed for the COP include the sustainability guidelines for exhibitors, pavilion organizers and pavilion stand builders.

• Every effort should be made to avoid the generation of waste in the first place. All unavoidable waste will be strictly separated at source, to enable the highest possible quality of recycling. Participants are asked to actively participate in the waste management initiative and support waste avoidance and waste separation as much as possible.
• Posters explaining how to properly sort waste have been put up throughout the conference venue. Pictograms provide orientation on which bin should be used:

• The yellow recycling bin should be used, among other things, for all product packaging other than glass and paper – so-called lightweight packaging made of plastic, aluminum, tinplate or composites (for example, beverage cartons). Examples include disposable cups, milk and juice containers, straws and yoghurt pots.

• The blue paper/ cardboard bin is for collecting paper, cardboard, cartons (taken apart), newspapers and envelopes.

• The grey residual waste bin is appropriate for a wide range of other materials, such as leftover food, chewing gum, plasters, sanitary products, used nappies and swizzle sticks.

Reusable bottles and mugs at COP 23

• Greening Ambassadors will be available on-site to answer any questions about the waste concept.
• Measures in place to avoid the generation of waste mean that no other waste fractions are necessary in public areas. Naturally, at the backstage areas (conference set-up and dismantling, catering etc.), additional types of waste are generated and strictly separated at source.
• Please leave any leftover food on the table after finishing your meal at the canteen. Catering staff will separate unavoidable food waste which will be turned into biofuel and biogas.
• In cooperation with the German association Foodsharing e. V., it is currently planned that leftover food in good condition will be picked up and distributed to people in need after the reception on the first day of the COP as well as at the end of the conference.
• By filling reusable bottles distributed to all registered participants at water dispensers available throughout the conference venue, use of paper or plastic cups and disposable water bottles can be eliminated.
• Upon request, disposable cups (mainly made of renewable materials) can be made available for hot drinks purchased for consumption away from the point of sale. You are kindly requested to consider whether a disposable cup is really necessary, since having your drink in a reusable cup at the restaurant or coffee point might also be an option.

• We kindly ask you to donate the deposit of any bottles purchased at the Bonn Zone by leaving empty bottles in one of the designated containers. The proceeds from this action will be donated to the New World Program, a partnership between The Coca Cola Foundation and the Global Water Challenge.
• You are highly encouraged to keep your UNFCCC lanyard for use at your next UNFCCC meeting.
• If you have goods delivered to the conference venue, please keep the original packaging of your shipments in good condition for reuse when sending back leftover materials at the end of the conference.

Toilets will be fitted with flush-stop buttons to help save water.

Featured articles:

Joint press release on the EMAS certification of COP 23

Making COP 23 a fully climate-neutral conference

How COP 23 will run on clean energy

How COP 23 organizers are tackling waste (UN Climate Change News)

A taste of sustainability – Food and catering at COP 23

Video on the sustainability of COP 23 (Deutsche Welle)

Video on the sustainability of COP 23 (German Environment Ministry)

How COP 23 organizers are tackling waste (Fiji Times)

Climate summit showcasing low carbon path

COP 23 aims for climate neutrality

Making COP 23 a carbon neutral conference

Una COP 23 con neutralidad climática ("A carbon neutral COP 23")

Déchets: La COP 23 veut donner l’exemple et balaye devant sa porte (“Waste: COP 23 wants to lead by example and sweeps in front of its door”)

EMAS and COP 23

Video summary on sustainability efforts and EMAS certification of COP 23

Erste umweltfreundliche Weltklimakonferenz Bonn (COP 23) mit EMAS ("First environmentally friendly UN Climate Change Conference in Bonn (COP 23) with EMAS")

COP 23: So klimafreundlich ist die Klimakonferenz (“COP 23: This is how climate-friendly the climate conference is”)

Klimagipfel in Bonn - Wie nachhaltig ist die Konferenz selbst? (“Climate summit in Bonn – How sustainable is the conference itself?”)

Emissionsarmer Kaffee und Elektroshuttles: Wie umweltfreundlich ist die Klimakonferenz? (“Low-emissions coffee and electric shuttles: How environmentally friendly is the climate conference?”)

Weltklimakonferenz - Vorbildlich umweltfreundlich (“World climate conference – Exemplarily friendly to the environment”)

Weltklimakonferenz soll vollständig klimaneutral werden (“World climate conference to be completely climate neutral”)

Ohne Freiwillige geht es bei der Klimakonferenz nicht ("The climate conference won't function without volunteers")

So nachhaltig ist das Essen auf der COP 23 ("That's how sustainable the food is at COP 23")

Klimakonferenz will EMAS-Zertifikat für Nachhaltigkeit ("Climate conference aims for EMAS certificate for sustainability")

More articles (in various languages):

COP 23: Is the Bonn summit worth the trouble?

Bonn, the global climate village: Bigger, greener... better?

Climate-neutral COP 23 aims for sustainability

La COP 23 quiere ser carbono-neutral (Spanish)

Alimentos orgânicos e pratos vegetarianos compõem cardápio da COP 23 (Portuguese)

از حرف تا عمل در کنفرانس تغییرات اقلیمی در بن (Persian)

La COP 23 sabe a sostenibilidad (Patagoniambiental) (Spanish)

La COP 23 sabe a sostenibilidad (Tu Espacio) (Spanish)

Making COP 23 a fully climate-neutral conference (Spanish)

Making COP 23 a fully climate-neutral conference (French)

Making COP 23 a fully climate-neutral conference (German)

Making COP 23 a fully climate-neutral conference (Italian)

How COP 23 will run on clean energy (Spanish)

How COP 23 will run on clean energy (French)

How COP 23 will run on clean energy (German)

How COP 23 organizers are tackling waste (Spanish)

How COP 23 organizers are tackling waste (French)

A taste of sustainability – Food and catering at COP 23 (Spanish)

A taste of sustainability – Food and catering at COP 23 (French)