Awareness

For the Communication to succeed, staff engagement to implement the actions is key. This also goes hand in hand with adopting sustainable ways of working and behaviour, with which many are already familiar. The Commission recognises and encourages its staff to be innovative and embrace changes in ways of working with the ambition of setting a good example in implementing new innovative green solutions.

Greening the Commission and achieving corporate climate neutrality by 2030 is intended to set a good example and raise awareness of the need for ambitious climate action at all levels. The Commission’s green actions are also fully part of the Human Resources strategy as a key priority to increase further the attractiveness of the Commission as an employer.

Staff participation - setting a good example

Leadership and commitment

During 2024 the Commission's senior management took once again an active role demonstrating leadership and commitment to the environmental management system and environmental issues in general. Examples of Commission support for Europe-wide and Commission initiatives are presented below.

EU Green Week 2024 (29-30/05): Towards a water resilient Europe

The 2024 EU Green Week was part of a wider communication campaign dedicated to the topic of water resilience. The objective is to stimulate an EU-wide conversation around the EU’s water, present and future, with an emphasis on fostering awareness and promoting positive, collaborative solutions. Virginijus Sinkevičius, Commissioner for Environment, Oceans and Fisheries noted ahead of the event: "We need it, we take it for granted – but right now, Europe’s water needs our attention. The EU faces challenges with water quality and quantity, and things will only get worse with climate change. It’s a limited resource and we keep on increasing our demand. If we don't address these issues today, we’re creating bigger problems for the future. So, Green Week will help start a broad, society-wide conversation about water, making people more aware of the challenges, and of the immense advantages there are in building up our water resilience with concrete solutions".

EU Mobility Week (16-22/09): Shared Public Space

In 2024, the EUROPEAN MOBILITY WEEK's theme was "Shared Public Space" and how it brings many benefits to society. A place where people, transport modes and activities all have their own space, with more social equity, more road safety, less noise and air pollution, and a better quality of life.

Commissioner for Climate Action and responsible for Transport, Wopke Hoekstra, said:

“Europe’s urban population is rising, and with it our need to move around in a safe and sustainable way. The European Mobility Week, starting today across over 2 500 cities in 42 countries, is an opportunity to engage with people and businesses, city planners and politicians to help improve the way we all benefit from the public spaces in our cities.

Events across Europe will promote safer school streets, better and more welcoming public places, adequate parking for alternative modes of transports and much more. Let’s continue to lead by example and – for all of us who can - chose those transport modes that can not only improve urban air quality, but also contribute to making our cities more enjoyable to live in". The Commission participated as usual with events during the week.

Sustainable Events Awards rewards innovative, green Commission events

Following the success of the previous four editions, the award ceremony of the 5th corporate competition on sustainable conferences and events was held, in the presence of Commissioner Hahn for Budget and Administration and the Directors General of DG Human Resources and Security (DG HR), Stephen Quest and DG Interpretation (DG SCIC), Genoveva Ruiz Calavera with special awards presented to the first two Commission Representations to achieve EMAS registration: the Vienna and Valletta Representations.

In his opening speech, Commissioner Hahn said: “I am quite happy and proud to witness the fifth edition of this competition! And I am convinced that the path is now set: our services will continue to organise events that are not only environmentally sustainable but also financially sustainable, that use resources efficiently and, very importantly, events that keep us close to people and make us engage better and wider. I congratulate all participants of this competition for their commitment to making our events more sustainable. I am impressed by the great creativity colleagues showed in their entries. Well done to all!”

Communication to staff

Corporate seasonal communication campaigns

The EMAS spring campaign 2024: ACT NOW Challenge

For the first time, the Commission created, in collaboration with AWorld (creator of the UN ACT NOW App) and the EU Climate Pact, an 'ACT NOW - Greening the Commission Spring Challenge', especially targeting Commission staff to help them keep track of daily green actions, understand their environmental impact, and further reflect on future even greener steps. We invited staff to join our challenge: and we successfully achieved more than 5 000 'green actions' together from Earth Day (22/04) until Environment Day (5/06). The EMAS spring campaign rich program also included: a webinar on Greening the Commission success stories, such as the new missions dashboard tool, the guidelines for sustainable events, and an online game on renewable energy communities developed by the JRC. There were opportunities to participate in brand new Climate Fresk workshops, including the first one ever in Luxembourg.

There were also guided tours of high energy efficiency buildings in Brussels, the REaCYCLING clothing sale and charity action, sustainable and healthy diets webinar by LIFE EU-funded projects, sustainable cooking workshops, collection of old electrical appliances in collaboration with Recupel (coordinated by JRC) and plenty of local activities, e.g. planting seeds in new flowerbeds.

End-of-year greening campaign marks milestones and mobilises staff

Colleagues were invited to join three thematic webinars, organised by DG HR’s EMAS coordination team, to learn about where the institution stands two and a half years after the adoption of the Greening the Commission action plan. Beyond the webinars, colleagues had the chance to actively participate in a varied selection of green actions. In Brussels, for example, the six Executive Agencies united for the third consecutive year to present Executive Agencies' Green Week 2024 held across all three EA buildings for the first time. In DG BUDG, an art exhibition titled From Trash to Treasure: The Art of Recycling by artist Nathan Chikoto featured upcycled artworks made from discarded materials. Colleagues were also invited to participate in a guided tour to explore the Parcours du Berlaymont project, a practical embodiment of the New European Bauhaus principles of sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusivity within the Berlaymont.

The week also included 'Climate Fresk' workshops and sustainable eating demonstrations organised by the sustainable eating community. Additionally, DGT colleagues organised a sustainable decoration workshop and a clothes swap, while DG SCIC coordinated a collection of old clothes, textiles and sporting gear in 10 buildings across Brussels, giving these items a second life. Lastly, there was an online greening quiz competition, and the ‘Return IT, Reuse IT, Recycle IT’ action by DIGIT, which provides an opportunity for staff to return their no-longer-used electronic devices.

Green Week by the 6 Executive Agencies!

In Brussels, the six Executive Agencies united for the third consecutive year to present Executive Agencies' Green Week 2024, held across all three EA buildings for the first time. The week-long celebration featured over 10 info-sessions and workshops on topics ranging from the environmental benefits of tap water to digital frugality and sustainable eating practices. Activities included the Climate Fresk game to deepen understanding of climate change, walks in nature, sound baths and initiatives like the ‘Against Fast Fashion’ recycled clothes fair, toy exchanges and meat/fish-free days at the North Light building.

Moreover, to promote sustainable choices they set up two meat/fish-free days in the SB34 (North Light building) on Monday 2 and Tuesday 3 December. With just 500 colleagues (in presence) abstaining from meat and fish one day per week for five years, the estimated impact includes greenhouse gases reduced equivalent to driving 160 000 km. The flagship initiative is the well-received "Toys, toys, toys" action, where second-hand toys are donated by colleagues in the 6 Executive Agencies and offered once again as sustainable second-hand gifts for children and make a meaningful impact!

Dialogue with internal stakeholders

The Commission has a corporate register of internal questions and suggestions submitted via the EMAS in EC functional mailbox and Staff Fora (MyIntracomm: Commission's intranet, Viva Engage and Climate Fresk workshops), which recorded 984 entries (compared to approx. 300 entries during 2021-2019) all of which received responses.

This tremendous increase over the last years demonstrates the effectiveness of the EMAS internal communication campaigns and the transparent and open staff dialogue.

Moreover, in 2024, the biannual Staff environmental awareness and behaviour survey (from November 2023) was analysed. The survey addressed 7 000 participants with 21% response rate and more than 900 suggestions; and revealed an all-times high of the staff environmental awareness of Commission staff reaching 89% (+4% in relation to 2021), as well as actual staff's eco-conscious behaviour reaching 75% taking regular green actions at work (+3% in relation to 2021).

Concerning appropriate communication tools, the involvement of Commission's senior management as "Greening Ambassadors" has been considered as the most efficient. For the first time, questions addressing the progress of the "greening" action plan have been added, noting positive progress on Greener buildings and Grener Travel topics and need for further efforts on staff engagement (50%), communication to external stakeholders (43%) and sustainable food choices (37%).

In addition, another GREEN Transition Multipliers' Community Workshop took place on 22/02/2024, bringing together representatives from more than 20 Commission's internal "greening" networks reflecting upon the upcoming Greening Progress Review during 2024/2025. Ongoing bottom-up projects include: the Sustainable Eating Community, the Greening project management in research and higher education, a carpooling platform, Climate Fresk workshops, a Mindset Change Working-Group and the Earth Society environmental association (comprised of ex-Blue Blue Trainees).

Communication among EMAS correspondents and site coordinators

Overall, 36 of 47 EMAS teams demonstrated a performance above average (with a score of 6 or more out of 10), representing 85% of the total Commission population (the same as in 2023). This is mainly the result of (i) the environmental awareness support by the local volunteer groups, currently active in 6 of 9 sites and in 20 DGs/services (in relation to 20 in 2023), (ii) the large number of local EMAS action plans in all nine sites and 20 DGs/services (the same as in 2023), (iii) the setting up of local environmental actions in all nine sites and 30 DGs/services (in relation to 28 in 2023), (iv) EMAS team contacts with senior management currently in all nine sites and 28 DGs/services (compared to 31 in 2023).

This resulted once again in a slightly higher average performances of 7.1 out of 10 for the EMAS teams in all DGs/services/sites (in relation to 6.9 out of 10 in 2023) and the outstanding high average of 9.7 out of 10 for the 6 Executive Agencies (REA, ERCEA, EISMEA, EACEA, HaDEA and CINEA) (in relation to 8.3 out of 10 in 2023), as a result of their strong and consolidated collaboration, e.g. common Green Week of the 6 Executive Agencies.

Additional campaigns

The corporate energy saving campaign, as a contribution to European solidarity in times of energy scarcity, in alliance with the EU member states commitment to a voluntary 15% reduction in gas consumption across the bloc over the until March 2024. This included:

• Buildings Energy Saving Together (BEST) actions help further reduce the Commission’s energy consumption and maintenance during a period of low office presence (during the summer and at the end of the year), through the closing of several buildings. Electricity, ventilation, and air conditioning are switched off in the closed buildings and colleagues are able to work from one of the designated building hubs.

  

• The greening your summer action

  

• Communication to staff on the EMAS highlights (via the Greening Online Quiz Game)
• The “Keep it Green this Christmas” campaign.

  

Other corporate communication included

• Six articles published in the Commission’s on-line news portal “Commission en Direct”; Six articles published on the new "People First" section on Commission’s intranet (My IntraComm); Several announcements on the Commission’s intranet under “Practical Information” and “Events"; 10 Staff Matters e-Newsletters, with 100 000 page views.
• Revisions to the overall structure and further improvement of the internal EMAS webpages with nearly 13 000 known webpage visits.
• 15 Viva Engage posts with nearly 20 000 post views.
• The Inter-institutional Green Public Procurement (GPP) helpdesk two events on sustainable construction and renovation and sustainable catering facilities.

• VeloMai 2024:the popular month-long celebration of cycling, was held between 1 and 31 May with the participation of 21 EU institutions, agencies and bodies, along with nine Delegations. Under the motto ‘Cycling towards a greener Europe’, colleagues pedalled more than 430 000 kilometres in total, the equivalent of more than 10 times around the Earth!

  

Communication actions initiated by the EMAS Correspondents

EMAS Correspondents organised local environmental actions in the 30 DGs/services (in relation to 28 in 2023) and in all six Executive Agencies. Typical examples included:

(a) Waste reduction actions: including waste collection and recycling events, collection of textiles, household appliances, technical devices and bottle caps, collecting toys and all kinds of items for charity, book exchanges, clothes swaps, second-hand toys' exchanges, plogging activities, installing waste sorting stations, anti-food waste trainings, internal campaigns to avoid paper cups (bring your cup and distribution of porcelain cups).

(b) Sustainable mobility initiatives (targeted communication and training actions on sustainable commuting during EU mobility week and VéloMai corporate events)

(d) Internal communication and training actions to raise staff environmental awareness and promote staff engagement related to various topics, such as: EMAS related corporate trainings, events, campaigns, and greening policies (e.g. reduction of emissions from professional travel, digital waste, energy savings, biodiversity -creation of local herd and pollinators gardens- and adopting a greener lifestyle (e.g. sustainable food choices).

Other actions across EC-sites coordinated by the EMAS site coordinators

Case study

Innovative communication actions in Petten, open in this tab

Training

Corporate level EMAS training organised during 2023 included:

EMAS training for all staff

The virtually delivered on-line EMAS basics for all course continued with great success in 2024, reaching out to an all-times high of 1 205 participants (in 10 sessions, compared to 729 in 2023, 935 in 2022 in relation to 517 in 2021) from all EC-sites. The training addressed for the first time the environmental impact of teleworking and how to be "greener" at home.

Environmental Management System (EMS) Training

There have been: (i) four (4) online introductory training sessions for new EMAS Correspondents (ECORs) and EMAS site coordination teams with a total of 39 participants (22/03, 14/05, 10/09 and 24/09), ii) One 3-days online EMAS Regulation training course (eight hours each, between 10-12/06) with a total of 21 participants and 2 online “Preparing for EMAS Internal or External Audits” training courses (four hours each, on 10/04 and 11/09) with a total of 32 participants, iii) three (3) online training sessions on EMAS internal audits and external verification audits with a total of 17 participants and (iv) one info-session on the compilation of the Sound Environmental Management section in Management Plans 2024 with 40 participants. In total, 149 members of the EMAS teams (compared to 147 in 2023 and 91 in 2022) have attended an introductory and/or specialised EMAS training.

Number of different trainings on offer by EMAS site coordinators (for local staff with high environmental impact potential)

Number of training beneficiaries (among local staff with high environmental impact potential)

Staff benefitting from training (%) offered by EMAS site coordinators

External communication

Greening the Commission and achieving corporate climate neutrality by 2030 is intended to set a good example and raise awareness of the need for ambitious climate action at all levels. The Commission’s green actions are also fully part of the Human Resources strategy as a key priority to increase further the attractiveness of the Commission as an employer.

External communication

Environmental statement and websites

This is the main reference document for responding to most questions. It contains information for all the EMAS sites and is subject to external verification. It is published on DG ENV’s EMAS website under EMAS in EU Institutions sub-section. Moreover, it is also accessible via the "Greening the European Commission" webpage under the New HR Strategy webpages on Europa, including the communication documents and factsheets.

Press announcements and parliamentary questions

The highlights of the Commission’s environmental performance, as well the Interinstitutional EMAS Days 2024, have all been promoted through the EMAS in EU Institutions section of the official EMAS website and EMAS e-Newsletter on Europa that is managed by DG ENV.

The EMAS coordination team (HR.D.7) responded to one Parliamentary question in 2024, related to the Commission's buildings refurbishment processes in line with the rules applicable to EU Member States.

Communication with external stakeholders

HR.D.7 responded to all 114 external queries recorded during 2024 via the EMAS in EC functional mailbox and the GIME Teams Channel (compared to approx. 70 during 2023- 2021 and approx. 30-40 during the previous years). The significant increase in the Commission’s EMAS team outreach is due its more visible role as coordinator of the interinstitutional EMAS communication workgroup, in the framework of the Group Interinstitutional de Management Environnemental (GIME) and its highly appreciated supporting role to the Greening Network of Decentralised Agencies.

Interinstitutional online EMAS Days 2024

Between 5 and 8 November, an international audience of more than 900 participants were engaged in fruitful exchanges, representing more than 30 EU Institutions and international organisations such as the UN, including all EMAS-registered EU Institutions and agencies. A solid proof that the EMAS Days are a platform of environmental excellence, in support of our common climate neutrality and net zero targets.

The 8 sessions covered a wide spectrum of topics, from: Environmental impact of the new ways of working – Greener buildings and workspaces, Sustainable conferences and events in the EU institutions, Sustainable finances: tools for mitigating climate-related risks, Transitioning traditional food offers in canteens to a plant-based, organic and local offer, New strategies and supporting tools towards sustainable mobility, Adapting for tomorrow: EU strategies and some tools and examples in climate adaptation, Species conservation and fostering biodiversity in an urban setting to Lessons learnt from the Covid and energy crises.

In addition, the following external communication activities took place in 2024:

• Chairing the Interinstitutional Group on Environmental Management (GIME) (2 meetings)
• Supporting the interinstitutional reflection group on greening and missions in the frame of CCA (Collège des chefs d’administration)
• Collaborating with the UN Sustainability Group – UN Greening the Blue
• Participating in the virtual Inter-agency Greening Network and providing technical support
• Setting up a "greener" EU Open Day 2024 in collaboration with DG COMM and hosting for the first time a "Greening the Commission" EMAS stand, successfully animated by interactive games and eco-prizes for the winners.

Information for suppliers and subcontractors

In 2024, the Commission continued to (i) disseminate information about its environmental management system (EMAS) and its climate neutrality objective to its main suppliers and subcontractors; (ii) as well as promote and implement the main principles of Green Public Procurement (GPP) in its own tenders/contracts via the support of the Inter-institutional Green Public Procurement Helpdesk coordinated by the European Parliament.

Greening Government Initiative (GGI) and Net Zero Government Initiative (NZGI)

The Commission followed the activities initiated by the USA and Canada governments to create a global community of administrations to share information on greening. The Commission committed to joining the NZGI for which government administrations require a long-term carbon reduction target and must publish the roadmap showing how they will achieve it.

Additional noteworthy external actions by the EMAS site coordinators

Ispra site management organised the annual "EMAS Round Table" with the objective of:

• enhancing the dialogue with key local, regional and national stakeholders over JRC Ispra's environmental performance and to follow-up over stakeholder's expectations;
• promoting JRC Ispra's ambitions to promote a more sustainable environment and lead by example;
• demonstrating the transparency that is required under the EMAS umbrella;
• granting to all stakeholders that there are no impediments towards JRC Ispra's EMAS registration.

Due to several circumstances, including Covid-19 pandemic, there was no event between 2021 and 2023. A new edition, the seventh, was held in 2024 and saw the participation of over 50 national, regional and local authorities relevant for environmental aspects, including representatives of Lombardy Region, Province of Varese, Municipalities, the Italian EMAS Competent Body, i.e. the Ecolabel-Ecoaudit Committee, the regional environmental protection agency ARPA, University of Insubria, Legambiente, Confindustria, Carabinieri, Green School. The focus of the meeting was the promotion of biodiversity. According to this theme, during the meeting the memorandum of understanding between JRC and the Biosphere Reserve Ticino Val Grande Verbano to enhance the collaboration between the parties.