WUF 3 GREENING INITIATIVE

With the third session of the World Urban Forum drawing thousands of people from around the world to Vancouver, the event couldn't help but have impacts on the city's social and economic development, as well as on the local environment through increased demand for resources such as water and energy, and the generation of waste and pollution.

In order to reduce the ecological footprint of WUF3, and to contribute to positive social and economic development in the Vancouver region, the GLOBE Foundation was strongly committed to organizing WUF3 in accordance with a green meeting strategy, which was coined the WUF3 Greening Initiative.

Objectives of the Greening Initiative

The WUF3 Greening Initiative was a framework of management practices and procedures that guided the planning of the Forum and ensured that decisions related to the event were made according to sound principles of environmental, social and economic sustainability. The objectives of this initiative were to:

Encourage all involved with the event to implement and demonstrate best practices in waste minimization and management, pollution reduction and energy conservation.
To work with event suppliers to ensure that the environmental impacts associated with the services and products they provide are minimized, and opportunities for promoting positive social and economic development are maximized.
To actively engage WUF3 participants through promotions and communications in contributing to event sustainability.

To achieve these objectives, the WUF3 Greening Initiative was structured to ensure that our internal operations, marketing and purchasing were conducted in accordance with best practices in sustainable development. Two core components of the WUF3 Greening Initiative included the WUF3 Climate Legacy and the greening of WUF3 Procurement.

WUF3 Climate Legacy

The WUF3 Climate Legacy sought to make WUF3 a carbon neutral event by offsetting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through the purchase of verified emission reduction credits that result from investments into projects that reduce an equivalent amount of emissions elsewhere. Examples of such projects include afforestation initiatives and wind power development in Canada, as well as biomass and solar energy initiatives overseas.

The WUF3 Climate Legacy provided an opportunity for both organizers and participants to employ their purchasing power in promoting leadership in climate change action through the purchase of verified emission reduction credits. Please visit the Greening Your Travel section of our website to find out how you can contribute to the success of the WUF3 Climate Legacy!

Green Procurement

Green procurement is defined by the Government of Canada as, �the procurement of products and services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment when compared with competing products or services that serve the same purpose.� In other words, green procurement means making environmentally, socially and economically conscious choices when purchasing products or services.

A green procurement framework was established by the GLOBE Foundation for WUF3 and was employed throughout the acquisition of products and services relating to the event. In turn, this helped develop markets for environmentally responsible products, and is contributing to positive social and economic development.