Download Environmental Matters

FINNISH FOREI GN SERVI CE
Environmental Matters
MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
OF FINLAND
F O RE I G N
SE RV I C E
Vision
The Foreign Service will take environmental perspectives into account in all
viewpoints in the coming years.
•
EN V I RO N M EN TA L
M AT T ERS
Mission
• As part of our corporate social responsibility, our objective is to minimise the
environmental impacts of our operations
by paying attention to sustainable development and energy efficiency.
• We will reduce our carbon footprint
through ongoing measures.
• We will take account of environmental
perspectives in all procurement.
• We will improve our energy and spatial
efficiency.
• We will openly communicate our environmental actions and impacts to staff,
stakeholder groups and citizens.
The Foreign Service is an organisation that operates in an international environment.
We work at the Ministry in Finland and at diplomatic missions abroad.
F O RE I G N
SE RV I C E
Strategy
•
EN V I RO N M EN TA L
M AT T ERS
Environmental
management and
programme
Through responsible environmental activities, we increase
people’s awareness of soluSocial
Sustainable
tions for sustainable developresponsibility
development
Everyday
Communiment, environmental technoprocedures
cation
logy, energy efficiency and the
management of social responsibility in Finland. While the maProcurenagement of environmental
Properties
ment
matters mitigates climate
Energy efLife cycle
ficiency
thinking
change and promotes the biodiversity of natural environTravel
ment, it also saves energy and
money.
In pursuing the goals, we are
Climate change
International
mitigation
aspects
steered and supported by key
regulations and instructions, such as:
– the Finnish Government resolution on promoting sustainable choices, 8 April 2009
– the central Government premises strategy, 16 November 2005
– regulations and instruction concerning environmental matters issued by the European Union
As far as environmental matters are concerned, we strive for continuous improvement
through the concrete targets and indicators in the environmental programme, which is
based on the strategy.
F O RE I G N
SERV I C E
•
Environmental management and programme
Everyday
procedures
Sustainable
development
EN V I RO N M EN TA L
M AT T ERS
Daily procedures and attitudes
• We will reduce the consumption of materials
and electricity. We will use electronic means
and formats of communication and storage
instead of paper.
• We will keep lights and equipment on
according to actual need.
• We will take environmental viewpoints into
account when serving food and drinks.
Procurement
• We will sort our waste and reduce the
amount of mixed waste.
Life cycle
thinking
Photo: Alamy/All Over Press
Procurement
• We will pay attention to production materials, life cycle and recyclability.
• In all competitive bidding, we will take environmental matters into consideration as one
criterion for comparison and evaluation.
• In procurement of vehicles, we will take
account of fuel consumption, emission values
and driving power.
F O RE I G N
SE RV I C E
•
EN V I RO N M EN TA L
M AT T ERS
Travel
Energy
efficiency
International
aspects
• We try to choose alternatives and routes with the
lowest environmental load.
• We will cut down on travel.
• We will increase opportunities to arrange meetings
as videoconferencing and other remote meetings.
Properties
Travel
• We will encourage our staff to walk, ride a bike and
use public transport.
Properties
• We will not heat or cool our premises unnecessarily.
Climate change
mitigation
• We will use solar and wind energy, ground heat and
other renewable forms of energy.
Photo: Alamy/All Over Press
• We will procure electricity produced with renewable
energy for our properties, if it is available.
• We will select materials that are in line with sustainable development and environmentally friendly.
• We will take location and movement into account
when procuring properties and office premises.
F O RE I G N
SERV I C E
•
EN V I RO N M EN TA L
M AT T ERS
Environmental management and programme
Communication
Corporate social
responsibility
Communication
• We will communicate environmental matters in a
dynamic and interactive manner.
• We will support the achievement of the set objectives
and goals through communication that is timely,
accurate and supportive.
Photo: Foreign Ministry/Martti Lintunen
An example of our success in environmental matters:
At the beginning of 2010, the Finnish Embassy in Washington was granted
an LEED certificate as the first embassy in the United States.
Photo: ForeignMinistry
We want to be
a good example and inspire others
to work for the environment!
Publisher: Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland/Unit for Office Services HAL-50
Layout: Mika Launis
Background illustration in the cover: Alamy/All Over Press
Small illustrations in the cover: Foreign Ministry
ISBN electronic 978-952-281-191-2 • PDF 978-952-281-192-9 • PRINT 978-952-281-193-6