The Foreign Service Journal, October 2021

46 OCTOBER 2021 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Kenneth L. Meyer is a Foreign Service officer currently assigned as a management officer to the Tri-Mission in Rome, Italy. He previously served in Cambodia, China, the Czech Republic, Iraq, Japan, Slovakia and the United States. He attended the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and has published previously on climate change and national security. P resident Joe Biden has made tackling the climate crisis a national security prior- ity, and Tri-Mission Italy has stepped up to do its part. Multilateral engagement through our three missions in Rome (U.S. Embassy Rome, U.S. Embassy to the Holy See and U.S. Mission to the U.N. Agencies) is critical in fighting for a cleaner environ- ment with a better future; however, these are longer-term actions that could take years to bear fruit. To help ensure success in the shorter term that can bolster our diplomatic engagement, Tri-Mission Italy’s management section has made environmental stewardship an important component of how we approach facilities management. We have taken pragmatic action to improve our environmen- tal footprint in Rome, demonstrating to the Italians that we are serious about tackling the climate crisis. We are taking these steps right in their front yard, so to speak; and in the process, we are building a foundation for successful green diplomacy. Simple Concepts and Complex Projects To begin with, our main office buildings on our Rome campus are LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmen- tal Design) certified. This means we have complied with all environmental laws and regulations; occupancy, area and size ratios; and additional precertification requirements; and we share appropriate data on our energy efficiency and water usage. Achieving this on our historic campus, with buildings dating to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, demonstrates our commitment and leadership in energy and environmental design. To reduce waste and increase recycling, the Tri-Mission became one of the first large-scale organizations in Rome to implement a waste-recycling program in collaboration with City Hall Waste Management. Monitored results show we are recycling 80 percent of our trash, and the city government estimates that FOCUS ON CLIMATE CHANGE DIPLOMACY Taking practical action to improve the Tri-Mission’s environmental footprint in Rome is smart diplomacy. BY KENNETH L . MEYER Building a Foundation for Successful Green Diplomacy