7th World Conference on Sport and the Environment - International ...

Report
1. Sports champions can be important role models, especially for youth, and therefore serve as
ideal ambassadors for environmental causes by communicating the importance of sustainability and
the protection of the environment. They have the ability to mobilize millions of people to support and
participate in sustainable development issues.
2. Organizing committees and international sports institutions, on the other hand, also have to
assume their responsibility in the organization of major sport events. Some of them have already achieved
a lot such as the Olympic Movement, a pioneer in this field. In 1994, it recognized the importance of
the environment and sustainable development which led to the inclusion of a paragraph in the Olympic
Charter. In 1995, a Sport and Environment Commission was established to advise the Olympic Movement
on environmental-related policy. The following year, the environment was adopted as the third pillar of
Olympism, alongside sport and culture.
The Olympic Movement has thus long worked on incorporating environmental sustainability into sport, its
objective being to ensure that the Games do not have a negative impact on the environment but instead
develop and enhance it and leave a green legacy. It has also worked on using the influence of sport to
promote awareness of the importance of a healthy environment.
The Olympic Games can serve important environmental outcomes if they are planned and conducted
in a circumspect way. They should provide sustainable environmental legacies such as rehabilitated
sites, increased environmental awareness and serve as best practices for future sporting initiatives. In
recognition of the growing importance of environmental issues in major sport events, the environment
has become one of the key criteria in the selection of venues for the Olympic Games. The organizing
committees of the Olympic Games are asked to build effective partnerships, especially with the local
community, international organizations, the private sector, and civil society. In this regard, IOC’s “Green
Games” project, led in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in the
framework of the 2008 Beijing Summer Games, is exemplary of a partnership to ensure environmentally
sustainable sporting events.
Through such initiatives, a major contribution is made to meet the eighth Millennium Development Goals,
i.e. the establishment of a global partnership for development. Furthermore, sport events also present the
opportunity to address other social and economic priorities such as the fight against poverty, the spread
of HIV/AIDS and the promotion of human development. To meet these challenges, sport can undoubtedly
play a significant role.
3. The sporting goods industry faces the responsibility to ensure that natural resources are not wasted
in the production of their goods. While adopting a responsible corporate environmental perspective,
equipment manufacturers and builders of sports facilities should favour production techniques that
are non-polluting and that do not waste resources – be they raw materials, energy or water – with a
preference for recyclable end-products.
4. Clubs should improve their day-to-day functioning by saving water and energy and managing waste.
In poor communities, clubs are often the only organized and respected social structure. Therefore, club
leaders such as coaches are instrumental in education and awareness. They can educate club members
– especially young members – on environmental issues.
5. Sport fans also have their role to play. At an individual level, they can all play an important part in
promoting sustainable development and protecting the environment by respecting a number of simple
rules in their every-day behaviour. For instance, they can use public transportation instead of cars to go
and watch competitions. They can also use recycling systems put at their disposal when attending sports
events.
Awareness and action must be taken by all actors to prevent or minimize the negative cumulative effects
that can ensue from sports activities, events, facilities and the manufacture of sporting goods, such
as excessive energy consumption, air pollution, emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting
substances, waste disposal, erosion, waste use and impacts on biological diversity. Sport must be
pursued in an environmentally sustainable manner with a healthy environment necessary for healthy
sport. Participants must learn to respect and appreciate their natural environment, and hence become
more willing to take a stake in community activities.
<strong>7th</strong> <strong>World</strong> <strong>Conference</strong> on Sport and the Environment
International Cooperation and Development Dept.
Page 26/256