UNEP and Ipieca
Since our foundation at the request of UNEP in 1974, Ipieca has convened industry and stakeholders to work on a broad range of environmental topics associated with industry operations. Our work in this area is to identify and address environmental risks and impacts, facilitate the sustainable use of natural resources and promote environmental good practice throughout the supply chain and across the energy transition.
Ipieca Principles
Launched in 2022, the Ipieca Principles are grouped around our four strategic pillars of climate, nature, people and sustainability, with two in each area, and are a condition of membership. The nature principles drive support for the UN Convention for Biological Diversity and call for the responsible management of operational impacts on the natural environment and ecosystem services.
Environmental stewardship
Ipieca’s work on environmental stewardship covers: environmental management good practice, biodiversity and ecosystem services, water management, nature positive, circular economy and nature-based solutions.
The recently published Ipieca-OGCI Natural climate solutions guidance sets out the key principles to help energy companies conserve, enhance and restore the high carbon stock ecosystems to mitigate climate change and benefit nature and people.
Ipieca and IOGP’s Environmental management in the upstream oil and gas industry outlines the latest international environmental management good practice and technology advancements in upstream operations.
Protecting biodiversity
Ipieca works to responsibly integrate the management of biodiversity and ecosystem services (BES) across the life cycle of oil and gas and alternative energy operations and decision making.
This year, Ipieca-IOGP launched updated A guide to developing biodiversity action plans for the oil, gas and alternative energy industry. Join our webinar today (5 June) on Biodiversity action plans: case studies where members will share their experiences in developing and utilising biodiversity action plans.
Water management and conservation
Ipieca water management guidance covers water usage through entire project life cycles, from enhancing efficiency in upstream onshore oil and gas industry to utilising produced water and understanding and evaluating water risk.
Ipieca has developed a fact sheet on evaluating the opportunities and challenges of reusing produced water for the onshore oil and gas industry.
In 2021, Ipieca published the Water management framework, a risk-based, continuous improvement process to water management which can be applied across any local hydrological, environmental, social-economic and regulatory setting.
Nature and the SDGs
The Ipieca-WBCSD SDG Roadmap sets out SDG impact pathways across the systemic themes of climate, nature and people to accelerate action on ten priority SDGs including SDG 14 Life below water and SDG 15 Life on land. There are two nature impact pathways: resource management; and biodiversity, land and water stewardship.
