Adopt a climate-smart UN system-wide travel policy
  1. Prioritise low-carbon-emitting travel routes: The default travel route option should be the least carbon-emitting route and means of transport (for example, travel exclusively by bus or train within certain regions, such as in Europe) and, if plane travel is necessary, the most direct route, regardless of the financial cost. Partnerships should be established with large bus and train companies and better deals negotiated. 
  2. Promote flexible work arrangements: If longer travel is necessary by bus or train, allow for remote work (e.g. while taking a train/bus) and recovery time afterwards
  3. Replace travel with remote meetings and trainings: Justification should be provided for all travel explaining why a remote meeting or training is not possible. Invest in effective remote conferencing technology in every UN duty station and cost-share such facilities across UN entities. Where technology is not yet available at the country level, allow for global meetings to be joined through regional hubs.
  4. Agree on a UN-wide threshold for ‘required travel’: For air travel, only strictly necessary travel should be undertaken and meetings should be bundled wherever possible. 
  5. Adapt daily subsistence allowance (DSA) policies to shift incentives: In order to disincentivise travel by UN employees and UN meeting participants motivated by financial gain, a mandatory policy should be adopted to cover as many costs as possible with service providers (e.g. hotel rooms, meals, transport, etc.), leaving only a minimal or negligible per diem, or no per diem at all. Alternatively, adopt a cost recovery system.Encourage economy class travel over business/first class: UN personnel should be incentivised to downgrade from business class to (less carbon intensive) economy class, for example, by providing compensatory time off or through other incentives that take into account staff wellbeing.
  6. Encourage the use of climate-smart IT systems: In the case that a physical meeting is necessary, encourage the use of the ICAO software that identifies the meeting location(s) that will generate the least possible emissions.