Sport can be “innovative and inventive” in its approach to climate action, says IOC sustainability director

Sport can be “innovative and inventive” in its approach to climate action, says IOC sustainability director

Marie Sallois and Michele Parmelee of Deloitte talk to The Sustainability Report about the latest Climate Action Award winners

At the outset of Climate Week in New York, the United Nations (UN) unveiled its Pact for the Future, an extensive international agreement aimed at “turbo-charging” the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, emphasising sport’s vital role in driving transformation.

Highlighting the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) deepening relationship with the UN, Thomas Bach addressed world leaders in the Big Apple, accepting sport’s role as an important enabler of peace, climate action and human rights.

Two days later, the IOC announced the winners of its second Climate Action Award, which, according to IOC corporate and sustainable development director Marie Sallois, effectively showcased sport’s capacity to promote sustainable development across various disciplines and regions.

“It’s always difficult to choose winners because all the applications are interesting in one way or another,” Sallois told The Sustainability Report from New York. “But with these winners, what we wanted was a variety of solutions, and each of them highlighted important dimensions and a holistic approach.”

For instance, the Swiss Olympic Committee has established a ‘climate fund’ to assist national federations and clubs in reducing carbon emissions through investments in sustainable infrastructure, technology and processes. A 50-year-old swimming pool in Frauenfeld, Thurgau, located about 40 kilometres northeast of Zürich, was upgraded with a heat pump system, saving 500 tonnes of carbon emissions annually – the equivalent of emissions related to the energy use of 65 homes for an entire year. An electric bus was also funded for the Ticino Group of Blind and Visually Impaired Athletes. The Swiss Olympic Committee aims to support an additional 100 projects nationwide in areas such as energy, athlete mobility and construction.

The “ecosystem approach” implemented by both the Swiss Olympic Committee and the International Federation award winner, the International Hockey Federation (FIH), stood out to Sallois, as these organisations looked beyond their own footprints and demonstrated that it is possible to “be inventive and innovative” to effect change “at the very heart of your sport.”

Deloitte, a Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner of the IOC, supports the awards, recognising athletes, National Olympic Committees and International Federations striving to lessen the environmental impact of sport while inspiring the wider Olympic Movement to take action.

Michele Parmelee, Deloitte US’s sustainability, climate and equity principal, stated that the organisation aimed to support “innovative, diverse actions around climate change” that could be scaled.

Imogen Grant, a gold medal-winning rower at the Paris 2024 Games for Great Britain, was acknowledged for her role in launching the Clean Water Sport Alliance, a coalition of British national governing bodies of sport, representing 450,000 members, elite athletes and participants, advocating for the restoration of blue spaces and providing real-time data on water quality for water-based activities.

Lina Taylor, a scientist and beach volleyball Olympian from Bulgaria, received recognition for her work through her nonprofit, Climate Executive Coaching, which helps professionals accelerate climate action through science-based climate education.

The athletes and organisations will receive support from Deloitte to help them “accelerate their strategies and actions.” The Swiss Olympic Committee and FIH will benefit from $25,000 worth of advisory services through consulting and workshops, while Grant and Taylor will receive six months of mentorship from a sustainability practitioner at Deloitte.

Parmelee explained that this support would be tailored for each winner following a process to understand their needs, involving a “multi-hour greenhouse session” to outline next steps.

“We want to better understand what they’ve done, where they want to go, what they think their capabilities are, what their gaps are, and create a plan of action to accelerate and scale,” she said.

During the Games in Paris, the IOC and Deloitte hosted a precursor event to the Climate Action Awards announcement, where the shortlist was revealed. Despite taking place at the height of the Olympics, the event drew an oversubscribed crowd, with a room full of leaders from International Federations, National Olympic Committees and athletes.

Sallois views this as evidence of the growing sustainability movement in sport.

“It is a huge difference from when we launched the agenda or even Katowice (where the UNFCCC Sports for Climate Action was unveiled at COP24), because we see the momentum. Now people have implemented things to share and have learned from each other,” she added.

The success of Paris, praised for its sustainable approach to the Games and regular updates on carbon reduction and circular economy plans, along with its commitment to primarily using existing venues, has significantly contributed to “demonstrating the power” of the IOC’s sustainability agenda, Sallois said.

“It’s becoming real,” she said. “In 2015, it was a conviction, we had it internally. The United Nations recognised it externally, but we had not shown it was feasible. Now, half the world’s population has watched the Games and understood what we accomplished in Paris.

“For the first time, we owned the narrative in advance of the Games, and people recognised our efforts to reduce its carbon footprint. This is a message people have heard and understood.”

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