Working to support the various Departmental Strategic Objectives of the British government, the British Embassy is actively committed to "achieving climate security, through the promotion of a transition to a sustainable, low-carbon global economy".

To this end, the Embassy’s objective is to raise awareness of the importance of this challenge among the host country (Italy), co-operating with partners, in accordance with the parameters established by the Kyoto Protocol.

In 2004 some staff members of the British Embassy in Rome set up a group called Think Green .

The employees, belonging to different sections of the Embassy with the full support of management, have in common a particular sensitivity towards the environmental issues and the will to make the Embassy adopt more socially-responsible behaviour and have a reduced impact on the climate.

From the beginning, the group’s objective has been a commitment to environmental protection issues by contributing to ideas and concrete projects to achieve a more sustainable and environmentally friendly workplace.

Spreading information and raising awareness among staff are among the core objectives of the Think Green group which, with the action already taken and projects planned for the future, aims to make a contribution in tackling climate change.

At the same time, the Think Green group aims at spreading information and sharing its experience outside the Embassy, hoping to encourage its partners to adopt similar measures.

Thanks to Think Green, the British Embassy in Rome has managed to achieve, in a short time, considerable results in 4 main areas:

1) Energy efficiency and renewable energy:

2) Procurement Policy:

• energy
• paper, wood and furniture
• IT equipment
• purchase of a hybrid car for official use

3) Protection of Environment: encouraging awareness of environment protection and energy saving:

• recycling of paper, glass and plastic
• reduction in energy and water consumption
• promotion of public transport for official city journeys

4) Sustainable community:

• staff information and update
• reminders and communications by email
• publication of Green Guidelines and of a Code of Conduct on the Embassy Intranet

The Think Green group carried out many communication initiatives. The British Embassy was awarded the Premio "Ambiente e Sviluppo" (Public Administration section) by the Italian Ministry of Environment on April 2006 and the "Sodalitas Social Award" in 2007.