Design of an environmental accounting system and audit of a humanitarian mission, Kenya

Recommendation for the establishment of an environmental accounting system, identification of sources of measurements, algorithms of calculation and implementation through a study of the environmental impact of a mission, Doctor Without Borders Switzerland, Kenya,  April – May 2019

All humanitarian actors raise the question of their own environmental impact especially on the populations they wish to help.

MSF wanted to put in place a tool to measure its impact for its missions in the field and in major decision-making centers. This project is part of a global effort to transform the organization to meet the challenges of the 21st century and its ever-increasing importance.

The audit in Kenya was part of an audit plan (5) that provided a first picture of the environmental impact of the organization. The audit also allowed to understand how accurate data could be obtained in practice.

The mission was to define the measures to be carried out, to organize the field mission in relation with the local team, to define the realistic calculation systems allowing to estimate the carbon balance with the available data.

In addition, we made recommendations on the measures to implement in order to reduce the impact and how to simplify the collection and calculation of data.