Understanding climate change, measuring our footprint, reducing our impact and acting for the sustainability of sport

Sustainability is one of the most pressing challenges of our time across a wide spectrum of social, environmental and economic matters. Major issues such as climate change, economic inequality and social injustice are affecting people throughout the world. These are also pressing concerns for the sports community, both for managing its day-to-day affairs and for its responsibilities towards young people and future generations. We also recognise that sport has an unrivalled capacity to motivate and inspire large numbers of people. This is why we believe that the Olympic Movement has both a duty and an opportunity to contribute actively to global sustainability in line with our vision: “Building a better world through sport”.

It is therefore logical that sustainability forms one of the key elements of Olympic Agenda 2020, the Olympic Movement’s strategic roadmap adopted in December 2014. In particular, this defined our approach to sustainability across the IOC’s three spheres of responsibility:

• The IOC as an organisation: To embrace sustainability principles and to include sustainability in its day-to-day operations.

• The IOC as owner of the Olympic Games: To take a proactive and leadership role on sustainability and ensure that it is included in all aspects of the planning and staging of the Olympic Games.

• The IOC as leader of the Olympic Movement: To engage and assist Olympic Movement stakeholders in integrating sustainability within their own organisations and operations.

Following on from Olympic Agenda 2020, we issued the IOC Sustainability Strategy in January 2017. The Strategy is based on our three spheres of responsibility and five focus areas, as illustrated below.

OUR GOALS

Empower National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to acquire relevant knowledge to

measure their carbon footprint
define carbon reduction strategies in order to
reduce their carbon emissions and
strengthen good governance in the field of climate action 

OUR STRATEGY

Step 1: Train Climate Action Officers and provide them with precious knowledge on climate change and carbon footprint measurement

Step 2: Create a Carbon Footprint Measurement Tool

Step 3: Develop National Carbon Footprint Reduction Strategies

OUR PARTNERS

Coordinators

Partners

National Olympic Committees of:

Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark ,France, Greece, Ireland, Kosovo, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain

Supporters

ANOC
IOC
Öko-Institut

Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Greece, Ireland, Kosovo, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia,, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia ,Slovakia, Spain