8th WORLD CONFERENCE ON SPORT AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Report
ethical participation in sport for professional and amateur athletes. The scheme also recognised
that integration of ethics within sport cannot occur simply from a top-down approach and as a
result ensured that there was proper education and promotion of environmental best practices
within local sports organisations. In addition, the Swiss Olympic Committee has adopted numerous
programmes that deal with a host of ethical challenges in sport including sexual abuse, smoking
and recommendations on how to host an ecologically sustainable sporting event. In conclusion,
Ms Conrad suggested that top athletes and organisers have a responsibility to use their position
as role models to promote sustainability and pass these messages along to young people.
8th World Conference on Sport and the Environment
International Cooperation and Development Department
Mr George Kazantzopoulos,
Member, IOC Sport and Environment Commission;
Founder and President, Institute Team for the World, Greece
Mr Kazantzopoulos observed that sport is one of the most ideal locales to promote environmental
measures as it reaches a tremendous number of people and typically involves a natural link to
the environment. Understanding this fact, both the Athens Classic Marathon and the International
Rowing Association have been engineered to limit the carbon footprint which occurs through
the hosting of their events. The Athens Classic Marathon instituted four core programmes which
worked in concert to reduce or offset the overall emissions released from the event. Similarly,
FISA, the International Rowing Association, has created policies that target not just the footprint
derived from large scale events but also through the daily operations of participating in the sport.
For both organisations the ultimate goal is to promote best sport practices and ensure that
sporting events are fully sustainable.
Mr Jack Groh,
Director, Environmental Programme, National Football League, USA
Mr Groh, as designer of the National Football League Environmental Programme summarised the
various measures that the NFL has launched to become more ecologically-friendly. In developing
an environmental system, the NFL sought to follow the simple mantra of “if you break it then
you fi x it”. Taking ownership of the environmental costs of holding mega-events in football, such
as the Superbowl and Pro Bowl, the NFL devised strategies to reduce, eliminate or offset their
emissions. As a testament to the fi nancial incentives to become more environmentally sustainable,
the NFL discovered that for every dollar spent on greener practices, it resulted in 7.2 dollars in
direct cost savings or money being funnelled into the surrounding community. Mr Groh stated
that although environmental programmes were originally developed strictly for cost-savings, they
have now been embraced by NFL team owners and viewed as a priority for the league.
Discussion:
A delegate asked Mr Kazantzopoulos if any other international organisations have made efforts
to promote environmental excellence.
Mr Kazantzopoulos replied that there were indeed other international organisations working
on environmental excellence including the International Cycling Federation, the International
Tennis Federation, and the International Association of Athletics Federations.
A delegate asked: What are other NFL teams doing to address environmental issues during
regular season games?
Mr Groh responded that the NFL is not a corporation and therefore top-down approaches
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