Ipieca celebrates 50 years

50 years ago, Ipieca was established in 1974 at the request of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to act as the engagement channel between UNEP and the oil and gas industry on environmental and climate issues.

In the five decades that have followed Ipieca's scope has expanded to also cover social performance and mainstreaming sustainability and now works with a wide range of UN bodies - as well as NGOs, civil society and academia - across its strategic pillars of climate, nature, people and sustainability.

Key Ipieca milestones and highlights include:

• Over 300 good practice guidance and tools for climate, nature, people and sustainability published
• Supported every climate COP event since the first one in 1995
• Provided industry technical inputs to the Global Biodiversity Framework
• Contributed to the development of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• Founding partner of the UNEP-led Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles, which celebrated the end of global leaded petrol in 2021
• With the International Maritime Organization, created the Global Initiative in 1996 which delivers oil spill preparedness and response training in over 80 countries
• Published the SDG Roadmap for the oil and gas sector with WBCSD in 2021
• Launched the Ipieca Principles as a condition of membership in 2022

Ipieca Executive Director Brian Sullivan said, ‘Ipieca’s achievements over the last 50 years are a testament to the power of partnerships. Bringing together some of the foremost sustainability experts from across our membership with their counterparts in the UN, civil society and academia has enabled us to make a significant – and unique – contribution to areas of climate, nature, people and sustainability.’

Ipieca Chair Morten Mikkelsen said, ‘While Ipieca’s scope has expanded and its membership increased greatly over the years, our core role remains the same as it was when we were established 50 years ago: to raise awareness and support for UN conventions and provide the good practice guidance and tools to help industry contribute to achieving them.’