NEW YORK, APRIL 21 – On the eve of Earth Day, the Italian Mission to the UN recalled Italy’s commitment, as co-chair of the Group of Friends leading on environmental management in the field, to advance the environmental strategy and boost the shift to renewables in UN peace operations. 

“We believe that Blue Helmets’ sustainability can reduce carbon footprint, 
create local markets and step up sustainable development”, said the Mission in a statement on Twitter.

The Group of Friends (LEAF) was established in 2018 under the leadership of Italy and Bangladesh, with the aim of promoting the implementation of the Environmental Strategy launched by the UN Department of Field Support in 2017, and to raise awareness of Member States and the United Nations’ system on the need to bolster cooperation to ensure an efficient and sustainable environmental management by peacekeeping operations, thus also contributing to the effective delivery of their respective mandates.

Italy is the first contributor of peacekeepers among Western Countries and among the top ten contributors to the peacekeeping budget. It also hosts an important UN hub in Brindisi. About 1,000 Italian men and women serve with UNIFIL in Southern Lebanon, where only a few months ago, one of the peacekeepers more that 50 positions made history as the first to rely fully on solar panels for its energy needs.

With nearly 70 megawatt-hour (MWh) solar power generated annually, this UNIFIL base now saves nearly 36,000 litres of diesel fuel every year, thereby cutting some 93 tons of CO2 emissions. This solar energy system is expected to have a 25-year life span, UNIFIL announced on its web site. The base, which is home to about 25 peacekeepers, lies adjacent to an important stretch of the Blue Line. (@OnuItalia)