UN City Copenhagen
A Sustainable Hub for 10 UN Agencies
About UN City
UN City Copenhagen comprises two campuses with a total of 2,000 employees. Campus 1 opened in 2013 and houses 1,600 employees from 108 different countries working in 10 different agencies. Campus 2 is home to UNICEF Supply Division with 400 employees and is the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world.
The 10 UN agencies resident in UN City vary in size and mandate. They do, however, share a common agenda: to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Prior to the construction of Campus 1, several agencies were located in different parts of Copenhagen. Gathering the organisations in the same building facilitates and enhances cross-organisational cooperation.
UN City has become a hub where agencies can collaborate, share knowledge and work with experts from different fields.
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Campus 1
The UN City Campus 1 on Marmormolen opened in July 2013. Today, the building houses 10 UN organisations and 2000 staff members from 100 nations.
The UN City Campus 1 is designed by the Danish architecture company 3xNielsen and it is one of the most sustainable buildings of its kind in Scandinavia. The building is shaped like an eight-fingered star with a heart-shaped open space in the middle – this design was chosen to reflect interagency communication and cooperation.
The open space inside the building is adorned by a specially designed staircase made to symbolise interaction between the different UN agencies.
Every Friday at 2 PM, you can take part in a guided tour in the UN City. Here, you can learn more about the UN’s work as well as UN City itself. The tours are free of charge, and it takes approximately 45 minutes.
Read more about the history of UN City here
Campus 2
UN City Campus 2 is located in the container port in the Northern Harbor of Copenhagen. It constitutes UNICEF’s state-of-the-art high bay warehouse. With a total storage capacity of 36,000 pallets and more than 850 materials, it is the largest humanitarian warehouse in the world.
UNICEF’s Supply and Logistics headquarters in Copenhagen ensures that affordable life-saving supplies are available in the right quantity and of the right quality, wherever children are in need.
As well as supporting UNICEF’s ongoing programmatic activities, the Supply function provides rapid supply response to emergencies.
Read more about UNICEF’s work here.
10 Resident Agencies in UN City
The UN system is made up of the UN itself and many programmes, funds, and specialised agencies, all with their own leadership and budget.
They work on a broad range of issues in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 and coordinate efforts for a safer world for this and future generations.
Find an organisation chart of the UN system here.
Contact the agency representatives in UN City here
Established in 1951, IOM is the leading intergovernmental organization in the field of migration and works closely with governmental, intergovernmental and non-governmental partners.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is the leading global authority on the environment. UNEP’s mission is to inspire, inform, and enable nations and peoples to improve their quality of life without compromising that of future generations.
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is mandated by the UN General Assembly to lead international action to provide legal and physical protection to refugees, asylum-seekers and others of concern while pursuing durable, comprehensive solutions with relevant governments.
UNOPS provides infrastructure, procurement and project management services for a more sustainable world.
UN Women is the United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and women’s empowerment. A global champion for women and girls, UN Women was established to accelerate progress on meeting their needs worldwide.
As the UN’s largest development organisation, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) works to eradicate poverty, reduce inequalities and build resilience so countries can sustain progress.
UNFPA – the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency – works in more than 150 countries to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
UNICEF (The United Nations Children’s Fund) works in the world’s toughest places to reach the most disadvantaged children and adolescents – and to protect the rights of every child, everywhere.
WFP is the world’s largest humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is the United Nations agency that connects nations, partners and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable – so that everyone, everywhere can attain the highest level of health.
One Sustainable, UN City
UN City is called a city because, in many ways, it operates like one. It is a smart building that manages its functions autonomously on multiple levels and stands as one of the most sustainable buildings in Copenhagen.
Campus 1 is designed to use at least 55% less energy than a typical office building of its size, making it one of Denmark’s most energy-efficient structures. Its annual energy consumption is less than 50 kWh per square meter, meeting the Danish Energy Class 1 standard.
Today, UN City (Campus 1) holds LEED Platinum certification—the highest level of recognition for sustainable building design.
Pioneering Sustainability in Festival Design
UN City Copenhagen Pavilion
In June 2023, UN City Copenhagen inaugurated a unique construction at Folkemødet (Denmark’s largest political festival).
As the UN City building in Copenhagen is energy-efficient by design and serves as a credible backdrop in advocating for sustainable development, the idea of a similar set-up used at external events, such as the Danish democracy festival in Bornholm, was born.
Built on the principles of circularity and sustainable consumption, UN City partnered up with Catapult Projects to produce a festival pavilion that embraces creative design, modularity, and a commitment to long-term usability.
Sustainability in Action
75% of the UN City pavilion is crafted from up-cycled, non-virgin materials – breathing in new life and a second purpose to these materials while showcasing the power of repurposing and reducing waste.
- The wooden parts have been reclaimed form decommissioned Covid centres by Region H
- The metal mesh was sourced from recycled fencing, originally part of a street football court at a school in Vanløse
Another sustainable design feature of the UN City pavilion is its modularity.
By being easily moveable, packed up, and set up in multiple ways in different settings, the pavilion is practical, reduces waste, promotes resource efficiency, and challenges the norm of single-use materials in the festival industry.
With no solid walls, the pavilion’s design is democratic and transparent – inviting in the people of all 193 member states of the United Nations we serve as we build a better, more sustainable future, leaving no one behind.
highlights
Events in UN City
UN City hosts diverse events that bring experts, stakeholders, and communities together to tackle global issues like climate action, human rights, and sustainable development. Explore events below:
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See also
Learn more about the work of the United Nations and UN City in Copenhagen, Denmark.
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