IOC publishes Sustainability Report
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today published its Sustainability Report, tracking progress towards achieving its 18 sustainability objectives for 2020 across its three ‘spheres of responsibility’ – as an organisation, as the owner of the Olympic Games and as the leader of the Olympic Movement.
The report was published during the IOC’s 133rd Session taking place in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It shows substantial progress on the majority of the organisation’s sustainability objectives, only 18 months following the publication of the IOC Sustainability Strategy.
“The universality and global appeal of sport means that the IOC and the Olympic Movement have a special responsibility to promote a sustainable future for our world,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “This IOC Sustainability Report serves as a benchmark to measure our progress on sustainability and to chart the challenges that are still ahead. It outlines the steps we have taken to make sustainability an underpinning principle of all our activities.”
For the IOC as an organisation, sustainability has been at the heart of the construction of Olympic House - the new IOC headquarters building in Lausanne, Switzerland. The building is on track to achieve very high international sustainability certifications. The organisation has also implemented its “carbon neutrality” goal by putting in place carbon reduction measures, while residual emissions are compensated with the help of Dow, the Official Carbon Partner of the IOC.
With the publication of the “Olympic Agenda 2020 – The New Norm”, which, through 118 reforms, re-shapes the way the Olympic Games are planned and delivered, sustainability principles are now present throughout the entire lifecycle of the Olympic Games - from the earliest stages of the candidature process through to the handover to legacy bodies. The reforms aim to ensure the Games are affordable, beneficial and sustainable by reducing their cost and complexity, minimising risks, resource consumption and waste, and – consequently – lowering their environmental impacts and carbon emissions. The goal is to ensure that the Olympic Games act as a catalyst for sustainable development within the host city and region.
And finally, the IOC has teamed up with expert organisations to ensure that the Olympic Movement as a whole benefits from state-of-the-art knowledge and best practice in sustainability. Our commitment to join the United Nations Clean Seas programme on marine litter has secured active participation from a number of International Federations, National Olympic Committees and IOC TOP Partners such as Coca-Cola, Dow and P&G. A partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) aims to help avoid the potential impacts of sports organisations on nature and identify ways in which sport can contribute to biodiversity conservation.
The Sustainability Report was compiled according to the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards – Core Option and has been independently assured by ERM Certification and Verification Services.