ACTIONS
- Protect and safeguard cultural and natural heritage
- Learning and educational opportunities
- Cultural participation/social inclusion
- Sustainable tourism
- Support research
- Employment (recruiting, training, safety)
- Energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions
- Waste management and reduction
- Transport (forms of, energy use)
- Commercial activities including copyright and IP
- Governance and management
- Security, disaster preparedness, risk reduction
- External partnerships and collaborations
- Toolkit/framework/roadmap
- Case studies
- Online carbon calculator
UN Climate Change Climate Neutral Now
Intended Audience
“Sub-national governments, companies, organizations, individuals.”
- UN Climate Change
“The Climate Neutral Now Initiative is one of several initiatives launched by the UNFCCC secretariat to increase climate action by engaging non-Party stakeholders (sub-national governments, companies, organizations, individuals). It was launched in 2015 based on a mandate to promote the voluntary use of carbon market mechanisms recognized under the Convention.
It has evolved to become a much wider tool for awareness-raising, capacity building, partnership development, promoting and facilitating the estimation of carbon footprints, the reduction of those footprints, and voluntary compensation (offsetting).
The Climate Neutral Now Initiative encourages and supports organizations and other interested stakeholders to act now in order to achieve a climate neutral world by 2050 as enshrined in the Paris Agreement. The initiative is NOT a certification scheme for its participants. It is a tool to promote additional voluntary action on climate, and to provide recognition for it. Claims of carbon neutrality, net zero or similar are out of the scope of Climate Neutral Now, even when participation in the initiative can help stakeholders advance in their path to achieve those certifications through suitable standards and processes.
An organization can become a participant by signing the Climate Neutral Now Pledge, following the three steps (Measure, Reduce, Contribute) and reporting on its actions and achievements annually.”
Avaiable in
- English
SDGs LINKAGES
The resource supports a number of SDG targets, in terms of:
Staff skills (4.4), Education for Sustainable Development (4.7) and climate education and institutional capacity to act on climate change (13.3).
Making efficient use of resources regarding water supports SDG 6.4. Promoting the adoption of renewable energy supports 7.2, and increasing energy efficiency supports 7.3. Developing sustainable infrastructure supports 9.1, and upgrading existing infrastructure to be sustainable supports 9.4. Promoting sustainable travel supports 11.2. Reducing the environmental impact of organizations, notably in terms of air pollution, supports 11.6. Using natural resources sustainably supports 12.2; reducing food waste 12.3; preventing emission or leakage of greenhouse gases 12.4; reducing waste through prevention, reuse and recycling 12.5 and 14.1 (reducing marine pollution); adopting sustainable practices and sustainability reporting 12.6; promoting green procurement 12.7. Managing the impacts of tourism supports SDG 8.9.
Sustainability reporting supports both 12.6 and 16.6 (effective, accountable and transparent institutions). Adopting policies for sustainability supports 16.B. Ensuring policy coherence for sustainable development supports 17.14.
Participating in Climate Neutral Now supports SDG targets around multistakeholder and public-private-civil society partnerships (SDGs 17.16, 17.17).
Click on the SDG Target to discover Our Collections Matter indicators
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number of young people and adults in skills-development activities and programmes drawing on collections, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.
- Increase in number of young people and adults in such programmes.
- Number and proportion of staff who have received training in the last year, to better support their contribution to the SDGs.
- Programs and processes in place to ensure the availability of a skilled workforce.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Numbers of people in each type of programme drawing on collections from different demographic groups.
- Increases in numbers of people in each type of programme from different demographic groups.
- Proportion of people involved in such programmes in relation to overall audience size.
- Evidence that learners have acquired knowledge and skills to promote sustainable development.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Reductions in water use, increase in water recycling, preventing water shortages in vicinity.
- Information on, programmes relating to, and partnerships relating to water use drawing on collections and collections-based institutions in place, to support efficient use of water.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of energy that comes from renewable sources.
- Date to achieve net zero, and milestones towards that date.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Reduction in energy use.
- Upgrade of old equipment to more efficient equipment.
- Uptake of renewable sources of energy.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Numbers of jobs created or supported that relate to sustainable tourism drawing on local products (e.g. craft producers).
- Develop and implement plans to reduce and remove negative impacts of tourism.
- Numbers of activities and/or products drawing on local culture.
- Value to artisans and source communities of activities and products drawing on local culture.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Development of research-useful collections to support reliable, sustainable and resilient use by researchers and others.
- Number and proportion of collections facilities and stores that support economic development and human well-being.
- Number and proportion of collections facilities and stores that provide affordable and equitable access for all.
- Investment in collections facilities.
- Inclusion of collections information in regional and transborder initiatives, notably via digital access for discoverability.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number and proportion of collections facilities that make efficient use of resources, with an ongoing drive for efficiencies and reductions in energy use and waste of all forms.
- Number and proportion of collections facilities that use clean and environmentally sound technologies, including climate-friendly energy sources and materials, with an ongoing commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste of all forms.
- Number and proportion of collections facilities that adopt and/or prioritise collections-related processes and practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and waste of all forms.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Plans in place to reduce negative impacts on air quality, and volume and forms of waste.
- Plans in place to eliminate waste of all forms as soon as possible.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Reduction of material footprint in terms of reductions in consumption of biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores and non-metal ores.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Quantities, and reduction in quantities, of food waste, both in terms of waste going for treatment, and waste going to landfill or being otherwise discarded into the environment.
- Policies and plans in place to reduce and eliminate food waste as soon as possible.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Quantities, and reduction in quantities, of chemicals of all kinds, including chemicals used in maintenance of collections facilities, and chemicals used in care and preparation of collections, and all wastes throughout their life cycle, reducing release to air, water and soil.
- Plans in place to eliminate the use and release of hazardous chemicals and harmful wastes of all kinds into the natural environment as soon as possible.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Quantity and reductions in quantity of waste of all kinds, including avoidance/prevention of waste production, reuse, and recycling. Quantity of material recycled in comparison with quantity sent to landfill. Increases in recycling rate in comparison with landfill.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Clear visions, strategies and plans in place for all aspects of sustainability – environmental, social and economic (people, planet, prosperity)- across all areas of activity.
- Visions, strategies and plans relating to sustainability to be publicly available and incorporated into planning documents.
- Commitments to be in line with local, regional, national and/or international targets and ambitions.
- Incorporation of sustainability into reporting for funders and other stakeholders, including the public. Reporting to include commitments and progress towards targets.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Incorporation of sustainability considerations into procurement, in terms of advertisement and invitation to tender, contracts, and selection criteria for suppliers.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development (including climate change education) are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment.
- Extent to which global citizenship education and education for sustainable development (including climate change education) are mainstreamed in formal, informal and non-formal education programmes and activities drawing on and related to collections.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Plans in place to enhance positive contributions to addressing climate change through use of collections. Plans in place to ensure collections, collections institutions and broader society can adapt effectively to climate change.
- Plans in place for effective education and awareness raising on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
- Plans in place to reduce negative contributions of collections-related functions, e.g. measuring greenhouse emissions with plans and targets in place to reduce them.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number of collections-related programmes, for example research and education, that aim to reduce marine pollution.
- Quantity, and reduction, of waste of all sorts, with plans in place to eliminate waste of all sorts as soon as possible.
- Quantity, and reduction, of plastic waste, with plans in place to eliminate the production and release of plastic waste as soon as possible.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of the population [audience/users/non-users] satisfied with their last experience of public services.
- Access to information, and accountability policies and mechanisms, in place.
- Effective institutional arrangements, both for own working and for working in partnership with other sectors, in place.
- Plans and arrangements in place for extraordinary circumstances such as natural and human-caused disasters.
- Effective arrangements in place to fulfil legal and social obligations and responsibilities.
- Effective arrangements in place for transparent communication and reporting of institutional performance.
- Effective arrangements in place for transparent decision-making and accountability.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of population [audience/users/non-users] reporting having personally felt discriminated against or harassed in the previous 12 months on the basis of a ground of discrimination prohibited under international human rights law.
- Number and proportion of policies that incorporate sustainable development considerations, in the full sense of recognizing all three of social, economic and environmental considerations.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Proportion of policies that incorporate sustainable development considerations, linking to SDGs and targets.
- Incorporation of policy considerations from outside the collections sector into policies of collections-based institutions, to facilitate partnerships and effectiveness.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Number and/or increase in number, and diversity of global and international multi-stakeholder partnerships that share collection-related knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources to address the SDGs, or that otherwise involve collections-based organisations and institutions.
- Number and/or increase in number, and diversity of global and international multi-stakeholder partnerships involving developing countries that share collection-related knowledge, expertise, technology and financial resources to address the SDGs.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Amount of United States dollars committed to public-private and civil society partnerships.
- Number and/or increase in number, and diversity of local, national and regional multi-stakeholder (public, public-private and civil society) partnerships that address the SDGs drawing on collections, or that otherwise involve collections-based organisations and institutions.
-
Our Collections Matter indicators:
- Plans in place to ensure safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, in terms of accessing collections-based institutions.
- Plans in place to use collections-based institutions to provide education and awareness of public transport systems and their development.
- Special attention to those in vulnerable situations, including women, children, disabled and older people, taken in plans regarding public tansport.