Secretary Blinken congratulates the winners of the 2024 Greening Diplomacy Initiative (GDI) Award and the GDI-OBO Resilience Innovation Fund. This 12 months’s winners have gone above and past and showcase revolutionary and impactful initiatives in assist of White Home, Congressional, and Division mandates, together with Government Orders 14008 and 14057 and the Federal Sustainability Plan.
For over a decade, GDI has catalyzed local weather options inside the U.S. Division of State’s administration and operations to assist preserve pure and monetary sources, construct local weather resilience, and showcase U.S. innovation. Yearly, GDI honors groups and initiatives that exemplify sustainable rules and practices in operations and public engagement.
Winners of the annual GDI Awards, together with the Bureau of Abroad Buildings Operations (OBO) sponsored Resilience Innovation Fund, had been introduced on the Division of State’s Earth Day occasion. Performing Chief Sustainability Officer Caroline D’Angelo, OBO Director William Moser, and the Workplace of Administration Technique and Options Director Danny Stoian participated within the awards ceremony highlighting the Division of State’s sustainability and local weather motion achievements.
The GDI Award for Excellence in Staff Sustainability Efficiency acknowledges achievements of teams or groups inside posts, places of work, and bureaus. The winners are chosen by an intra-agency committee made up of representatives from the coverage, practical, and regional bureaus, in addition to senior management and former GDI winners. The Individuals’s Selection Award winner is chosen by a vote open to all Division of State workers; nominations include all of the submissions for the GDI Award for Excellence in Staff Sustainability.
Winners of the GDI Awards:
- U.S. Embassy Islamabad is the abroad winner of the 2024 GDI Award for Excellence in Staff Sustainability Efficiency. In 2023, U.S. Embassy Islamabad applied initiatives to scale back power use by 312,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of power, saving $400,000 and lowering the Embassy’s annual carbon footprint by 250 tons. The staff changed over 1,000 filters to extend the effectivity of the HVAC system, elevated wastewater recycling by 6.57 million gallons, decreased fuel consumption by 4 p.c, decreased fertilizer use by 200 kilograms per 12 months, changed plastic take-out containers for recyclable aluminum at a mean of two,000 dishes per week, and planted a citrus grove to behave as a carbon sink. Moreover, U.S. Embassy Islamabad partnered with a number of organizations such because the U.S. Nationwide Parks Service and Duke College to host occasions specializing in conservation, wildlife safety, air high quality enchancment, and different related local weather matters. Previously 12 months, sections throughout U.S. Embassy Islamabad contributed greater than $150 million in international help to assist mitigate the consequences of local weather change. $72.8 million in grant financing had been secured for USAID’s Recharge Pakistan Mission to enhance water programs and broaden inexperienced infrastructure.
- U.S. Embassy Bogota is the runner-up for the 2024 GDI Award for Excellence in Staff Sustainability Efficiency. U.S. Embassy Bogota sponsored the Carrera Verde de Bogota (Bogota’s Inexperienced Race) and led a number of collaborative initiatives to generate buzz for the race. This included a “launch occasion” the place the DCM spoke in entrance of media retailers with different race sponsors and a partnership between the Bureau of Worldwide Narcotics and Regulation Enforcement Affairs and the Nationwide Police to showcase how U.S. Embassy Bogota helps Colombia tackle environmental crimes associated to wildlife and timber trafficking. The race finally noticed over 6,500 contributors fund the planting of 20,000 timber in a protect close to Bogota. U.S. Embassy Bogota additionally bought six electrical automobiles (EV), which entered the fleet on the finish of 2023.
- U.S. Embassy New Delhi is the winner of the 2024 Individuals’s Selection Award for Staff Sustainability Efficiency. With over 1,200 of votes casted, U.S. Embassy New Delhi emerged as the worker favourite. U.S. Embassy New Delhi’s Useful resource Conservation Unit (RCU) championed the on-compound waste administration program in 2020 and has expanded it previously 12 months to incorporate undertaking work particles from residential make-ready and renovations. By promoting the recyclable materials, U.S. Embassy New Delhi decreased the inhouse labor price and time required for storage and transportation. This system diverted the waste going into landfills and decreased the U.S. Embassy New Delhi trash disposal price by 70 p.c, saving over $40,000 yearly. This endeavor additionally generated over $300,000 in income for U.S. Embassy New Delhi with the sale of over 430 tons of fabric, which accounts for 10 p.c of the whole metropolis waste produced in a 12 months. U.S. Embassy New Delhi discovered methods to save lots of time, cash, and carbon emissions by upgrading the first crew transportation from a pick-up truck to EV motor bikes (scooters). By investing in over a dozen EV scooters, FAC employees saved on commuting time and labor hours since motor pool drivers weren’t required. To cut back the environmental impression, the FAC/RCU staff put in a photo voltaic charging station for the EV scooters and golf carts.
Now in its sixth 12 months, the Resilience Innovation Fund, sponsored by OBO, gives as much as $1 million for revolutionary initiatives at posts that advance the Division of State’s resilience and sustainability in its operations and amenities. This 12 months, 16 U.S. embassies and consulates will obtain funding for a wide selection of initiatives, together with the set up of residential insulation, EV charging stations, irrigation programs, rainwater harvesting programs, low energy consumption gentle upgrades, bicycle storage, and flood fortifications.
Winners of the GDI-OBO Resilience Innovation Fund:
- U.S. Embassy Lilongwe
- U.S. Embassy Bern
- U.S. Embassy Windhoek
- U.S. Embassy Beijing
- U.S. Embassy La Paz
- U.S. Embassy Dar Es Salaam
- U.S. Embassy Sofia
- U.S. Embassy Islamabad
- U.S. Embassy Kigali
- U.S. Embassy Astana
- U.S. Embassy Rome
- U.S. Embassy Budapest
- U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo
- U.S. Embassy Bridgetown
- U.S. Consulate Monterrey
- The American Institute of Taiwan
The Greening Diplomacy Initiative is managed by the Workplace of Administration Technique and Options (M/SS). For extra data on the Division of State’s sustainability efforts, GDI, or M/SS, please contact stategdi@state.gov or go to Sustainability at the U.S. Department of State.