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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