IOC Updates Manual on Sport and the Environment

The importance of environmental protection and sustainable development has become a central issues on the IOC agenda over the past decade, culminating in the release of its updated manual on sport and the environment at the VI IOC World Conference on Sport and the Environment in Kenya on 9-11 November 2005.

The 1994 Centennial Olympic Congress in Paris, recognized the importance of environmental protection and sustainable development, resulting two years later in the revision of the IOC Charter to reflect the new reality. It now states its mission and role is “to encourage and support responsible concern for environmental issues, to promote sustainable development in sport and to require that the Olympic Games are held accordingly.”

Following the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, the IOC adopted its own Agenda 21, a tool designed to act upon the need for sustainable development through sport. The aim of the Olympic Movement’s Agenda 21 was and still is to encourage members of the sports movement to participate actively in sustainable development. The IOC considers the environment as the third dimension of Olympism, alongside sport and culture and its objectives are to ensure that staging the Games does not have a negative impact on the environment, but instead develops and enhances it and leaves a green legacy as well as generally promoting awareness on the importance of a healthy environment.

Seven years ago, the Sport and Environment Commission of the International Olympic Committee produced a manual on sport and the environment. Now the Commission has decided to prepare an updated guide to give practical advice and ideas for applying the points of the Olympic Movement’s Agenda 21.

The Guide was created with a view to presenting methodological and practical tools to the sports community, based on the major principles of sustainable development. Drafted by Professor Joseph Tarradellas of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL), it analyses the impact that athletes and various sports have on the environment, and offers practical solutions and tips to participants and spectators alike.

The guide is divided into three parts.
1. What is important now with sustainable development concerning the aspects that are closely related to sport, such as environmental protection and social aspects like the integration of women.
2. What is important to do if you are a simple sportsperson, a manager, a high-level athlete or an organization in relation to an event.
3. What can be done in each of the 35 Olympic sports to help with sustainable development. For example: sportspersons should bike to the sports fields in order to help with the environment or if jogging in natural areas, should not do so on protected sites and places which have an important and ecological value.

The 200-page guide will be available soon in hard copy and on the IOC website as a free download. For more information see the official website of the Olympic Movement at;
http://www.olympic.org/uk/index_uk.asp

LINK :
The Olympic Movement