G-Forse 2006 WAK Report
REPORT
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THE GLOBAL FORUM FOR SPORT
AND ENVIRONMENT
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“Mainstreaming the environment
in major sports events”
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30 November to 1 December 2006
LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND
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Table of Contents
1.
/ Executive Summary ………………………………...2.
/ Welcome Session ……………….….……………….../ 2.1. Message by Mr. Eric Falt
UNEP Director of Communications and Public Information …...
2.2. Message by Mr. Tatsuo Okada
Executive Director, Global Sports Alliance (GSA) ……………………
2.3. Message by Mr. Tommy Sithole
Director of International Cooperation and Development
International Olympic Committee (IOC) …………………………..……..
3.
/ Keynote addressMr. Glenn Bourke, CEO Volvo Ocean Race ……….……………
4.
/ Forum programme ……..……………………………...5.
/ Summaries of Panel Discussion ……………/ 5.1. Panel 1 ……………………………………………………………
/ 5.2. Panel 2 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 5.3. Panel 3 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 5.4. Panel 4……………………………………………………………………….
/ 5.5. Panel 5 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 5.6. Panel 6 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 5.7. Panel 7 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 5.8. Panel 8 ……………………………………………………………………….
6
/ Closing Session ……………………………………………………………6.1. Speech by Mr. Pal Schmitt, IOC Member and Chairman of
the Sport and Environment Commission of the IOC …………….....
6.2. Speech by Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, Acting Director-General, The
World Conservation Union (IUCN) ……………………………………….
6.3. Speech by Mr. Adolf Ogi, UN Secretary General’s Special
Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace ……………………..
6.4. Speech by Mr. Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary
General and UNEP’s Executive Director ……………………..
7
/ Presentations ..………………………..…..…………./ 7.1. Panel 1 ……………………………………………………………
/ 7.2. Panel 2 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 7.3. Panel 3 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 7.4. Panel 4……………………………………………………………………….
/ 7.5. Panel 5 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 7.6. Panel 6 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 7.7. Panel 7 ……………………………………………………………………….
/ 7.8. Panel 8 ……………………………………………………………………….
8
/ List of participants …………………….………………1. Executive Summary
1.1.
/ The Global Forum for Sport and Environment (G-ForSE) is organized every two years by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Japan-based Global Sports Alliance (GSA). G-ForSE brings together international sports organizations and federations, sports clubs, sporting goods manufacturers, civil society organizations, the media and sport personalities.G-ForSE provides a platform for sport and the environment stakeholders to review sports impact on and contribution to the environment. Specifically, the Forum provides a platform to discuss the integration of environmental issues in the development of sports facilities and equipment and the running of sports events. It also provides a platform to discuss the role of sport in promoting environmental awareness and action and to recognize and promote best practices.
The 2006 Global Forum for Sport and the Environment (G-ForSE 2006) was held at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, from 30 November and 1 December 2006. Sponsored by Volvo, the Pentland Group and Nestle/Power Bar, G-ForSE 2006 brought together 162 participants representing international sport organizations and federations, organizers of major sport events, NGOs, the private sector and other stakeholders.
The Forum reviewed efforts by sport organizations to mainstream the environment in major sports events, based on the experience of recent sport events - the Helsinki 2005 IAAF World Championships, the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games and the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
The forum had eight panel discussions on issues related to sport and the environment ranging from eco-designs of sport venues; water management in sport events; raising environmental awareness through sport; NGO involvement in the organization of sport events; the offsetting and reduction of carbon dioxide emissions; to renewable energy, transport, waste and recycling in sport events.
Based on the presentations and discussions, the participants exchanged several ideas on how to further improve and integrate environmental considerations in major sport events.
G-ForSE 2006 was also used to launch the final Sustainability Report of the Torino 2006 Winter Olympic Games and the 2006 FIFA World Cup Green Goal Legacy Report.
On the margins of the Forum, several bilateral discussions on cooperation were held. These include meeting with senior officials from the world of sport, representatives of the private sector, meeting between representatives of the Beijing 2008 Organizing Committee and NGOs to discuss ways and means by which NGOs could support BOCOG preparations of the 2008 Olympic Games, as well as the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation with the Understanding Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).
2. Welcome Session
2.1
/ Message by Mr. Eric Falt, UNEP Director of Communications and Public InformationOn behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme, I would like to welcome you all to this Global Forum for Sport and Environment.
Before we start I would like to express our appreciation to Tatsuo Okada, Executive Director of the Global Sports Alliance, for his organization’s longstanding partnership with UNEP, and his personal commitment to linking the world of sport with caring for the environment.
I would also like to thank our sponsors, Volvo, Pentland and Power Bar, for helping us to organise this event.
I would also like to acknowledge our other major partner in our sport and environment activities, the International Olympic Committee, represented here this morning by Tommy Sithole, Director of International Cooperation and Development.
The Olympic Movement and UNEP have worked together since 1994. Together we have come a long way. I would like to thank them for hosting today’s event.
Last November UNEP and the IOC co-hosted a very successful World Conference on Sport and Environment at UNEP’s headquarters in Nairobi.
I am confident that this meeting will be just as successful in moving forward the sport and environment agenda.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The theme for discussion is ‘Mainstreaming the Environment in Major Sports Events’.
We are fortunate to have a wide variety of experienced men and women with us to share experiences and come up with new ideas of how we can not only make major sporting events environmentally friendly, but use them to spread the message of sustainability to the massive audience that the world of sport commands.
In preparation for this conference, we collected a number of best practices, some of which have featured in the series of posters that you will see as you participate in this forum.
In compiling the information, I was impressed by the range of existing initiatives, and the potential there is for replication, both in the sporting world and beyond.
Major events, such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup, make an significant mark on a city. They present a wonderful opportunity for showcasing the best in architecture, urban planning and event organization.
By making sure that environmental care is evident in everything that is done, that the planning and the assessment of results is transparent, and that the goals and achievements are proudly advertised, event organizers can help to firmly embed the principles of sustainability in the minds of the public, of event planners, of business people and of local governments far beyond the immediate vicinity of the events themselves.
This, I believe, is something that has been achieved by the organizers of the Torino Olympic Winter Games and the 2006 FIFA world Cup, both of whom will be launching their reports at a press conference here today.
One of the central themes of both events was climate change. I think this is an issue whose time has finally come.
As the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Anna said two weeks ago at the UN Climate Change meeting in Nairobi, climate sceptics are ‘out of arguments, out of step, and out of time.’
Now is the time for everyone, from governments to individuals, to face up to their responsibility to bring us to a low-carbon world so that greenhouse gas concentrations stop accumulating in the atmosphere.
Examples such as Torino’s HECTOR programme, FIFA’s Green Goal initiative, Vancouver’s plans for a hydrogen highway for the 2010 Winter Olympics and the sustainable transport initiative for the 2010 FIFA World Cup are all significant steps in the right direction which we believe can be part of a snowball effect that helps propel us to a more energy efficient and less polluting future.
These are some of the examples that will be discussed during the course of the day. There are many more, and I look forward to the discussions, and the conclusions of this meeting.
I mentioned how pleased I was with the attendance here today. What I did not mention is that we were over-subscribed. Many more would have liked to attend.
I think this is an indicator that this movement—of environmental sustainability through sport—is gaining momentum all the time.
At the end of this meeting we will be signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme. This is one more organisation that is taking concrete steps to follow an environmental code of conduct and promote environmental principles through their actions and to their members.
They are not alone. In fact they are part of a growing movement that is well represented here.
I thank you all for your participation. I hope you have a very enjoyable and productive meeting, and I look forward to the results of your discussions.
Thank you.
2.2
/ Message by Mr. Tatsuo Okada, Executive Director, Global Sports Alliance (GSA)On behalf of the co-organizer, Global Sports Alliance, I would like to express my sincere welcome to the 4th Global Forum for Sport and the Environment. Our aim here is to share and apply the knowledge and experiences on the environmentally friendly activities in the field of sports.
Since 2001, Global Sports Alliance has been constructing a unique and open data-base “g-forse.com” in order to compile actions actually taken by people in sports for the environment so that anyone can learn from advanced examples.
I believe that humans are smart. We have enough knowledge on the earth’s environment, such as it is the rich natural ecosystem that cleans the air and water. But the problem is that we don’t apply the knowledge in the real society, which is short-sighted economic-centered society.
We who love sports, however, are different. We are aware how important it is to have clean and healthy environment.
Through our discussion today and the data-base “g-forse.com” we can learn from each other and apply the knowledge in our own sporting scene as well as at work and everyday lives.
So, let’s all join forces to challenge the global environmental problems together.
Thank you very much!
2.3
/ Message by Mr. Tommy Sithole, Director of International Cooperation and Development - International Olympic Committee (IOC)On behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), I would like to welcome you to the Olympic Museum which is the universal home of the written, visual and graphic memory of the Olympic Games, as well as meeting place of history, culture, art and all those who are interested in to the future of our society.
Today, I am particularly pleased to see so many of you at this important Global Forum for Sport and the Environment (G-ForSE). I want to congratulate the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Japan-based Global Sports Alliance (GSA) for creating such a platform for different stakeholders to discuss the links between sport and the environment.
We are very honoured for hosting this event and occasions like these ones can only strengthen our joint efforts for environmental stewardship that is also a part of the Olympic development programme as the all-important sport itself.
I wish you every success as you discuss the challenges and opportunities for the integration of environmental considerations into sports events.
Thanks you.
3.
/ Keynote addressBy Mr. Glenn Bourke, CEO Volvo Ocean Race
I am very honoured to be the keynote speaker of this Global Forum for Sport and the Environment (G-ForSE). I want to thank the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Japan-based Global Sports Alliance (GSA) for inviting me to speak at this magnificent home of the IOC.
The Olympic Museum is pretty apt venue! Having been through several incantations as fan, athlete, coach and more recently organiser, some, including my own staff, consider me to be a bit of an Olympic dinosaur!
I spent 42 years of my 45 listening to stories of myth and legend about the Olympics from my father, as an ex Olympic swimmer himself, seen here with two of his girlfriends, endlessly told me about the legends like Nurmi, Koen, Mark Spitz, Al Oerter and Bob Beamon. At some point, almost immediately after my birth, he decided in his great wisdom, that I should follow in his footsteps and take to the pool with the same verve that he had always felt for it. He also decided much to my horror “that he would be my coach!”
So from the age of 4 to 14 I ploughed up and down this seawater pool in Manly, trying initially not to get distracted by passing schools of fish, and later on by the girls in small bikinis
During these years this pristine and homespun environment was going through massive change. As the population of Sydney grew, ever-increasing amounts of sewerage were being pumped into the ocean at the north and south cliff faces of the harbour.
Raw sewerage blown in on the winds was poisoning the harbour, and all its inhabitants and users.
Ear infections, colds and flu were becoming par for the course, as were dead fish floating bloated on the surface. At some point in my mid teens they built a freshwater Olympic pool nearby, so we moved to this man made environment.
You know how it goes, light blue tiles and with the black line up the middle of the lane, 20 degrees all year round, your hair turning green from the chlorine. It was then when I realised how boring it was looking at that black line kilometre after kilometre. Finally one day, I said to my dad “dad I just don’t want to swim anymore” He said “what would you like to do?” Thinking about these years of purgatory, I said to him “what sport don’t you know anything about” and he said “sailing”. Good, then that’s what I want to do!
I took up sailing and loved it and over the next few years I returned to Sydney Harbour often to train. But the harbour was becoming even sicker than before. By the time I was 18 and heading out through Sydney Heads in preparation for the 1980 Olympic trials, you would have to hold your breath every time a wave smashed the bow and spewed its putrid bile into the air. Well it didn’t take too long before the harbour users started to scream about the state of the environment. Don’t forget it was only 20 years before that it had been clean and perfect. It was then the Authorities realised action was required. Over the course of the next decade. Treatment plants were upgraded. Ocean outfalls were moved offshore into the currents.
This overflow tube was built running for 30 kms under Sydney used as a catchment during heavy rain when the sewers became overloaded.
It took nearly 20 years but by the time of the Olympics came in 2000 the harbour was as good as it had been in my father’s youth. The fish were back, the oysters on the rocks, the penguins and dolphin and whales. While we are on the Olympic theme, it’s important to note that the IOC in conjunction with the OCOG’s has probably more capacity to make change and create a new legacy, than any other single event. How could we forget the waste streams for recycling.
Or my personal favourite the Green & Gold bell frog, an endangered species that forced Olympic organisers to shift the site of the venue for tennis at the 2000 Olympic Games. The conservation of the frog species became a key planning parameter that shaped how the Park looks and is managed today. It also helped promote the the long-term viability of the Green and Golden Bell Frog population, and arguably one of the largest habitat construction projects ever undertaken for an endangered amphibian. The transformation of Homebush from "toxic wasteland into world-class sporting arena is a fine example of what we can achieve together. Olympics have set the example for all of us in such an event. This might seem like small victories. But it is a reflection of our undiminished value in restoring our environment to a time in our youth, or perhaps our parents’ youth. Beauty of what thousands of generations before us had enjoyed.
Sure they might seem like small victories amongst a litany of disasters like Chernobyl, Bhopal, Exxon and our example here of Prestige sinking off the coast of Galicia.
Look at Galicia now – completely restored but minus the tourists. Through these experiences, I finally realised how important it was to create awareness and hopefully improvement in the environmental through our own individual efforts.
In contrast Volvo Ocean Race (VOR) have always been at the forefront when it comes to the environment. And Why? Because perhaps no other sportsman is more intimately in touch with nature than an ocean racing sailor. The Ocean is our Monaco, our Bernabeu, our Yankee Stadium. And perhaps it therefore follows that we should do more as a sport to contribute to environmental awareness. Particularly with the oceans as they are our playground and our battlefield. Where nature and the elements become our fiercest foe and equally our greatest ally as it drives us to the finish line.
In 2001/2 we had the Volvo Ocean Adventure Programme. Information gathered hundreds and sometimes thousands of miles from land was beamed by elaborate and height tech satellite comms equipment to our HQ. In conjunction with NOAA, NASA we developed a web based youth educational program, where hundreds of thousands of children were able to learn about the state of our oceans. We looked at phytoplankton counts, ozone depletion, ultra violet radiation and sea temperature monitoring. By 2005-06 we were looking for something new and decided we needed to choose an environmental issue which was close to the hearts of sailors - Something more tangible.
There is a saying of old mariners “that the soul of every dead seaman soars in wings of an albatross”. So we decided on the Save the Albatross as our mission of choice. I would like to show you a short video about there plight!
Most gracious sea birds with a nearly 3 metre wingspan. We knew they were in danger – in fact over 60,000 perished during the 2005-06 race alone. We didn’t know how easy it was to stop the slaughter. Our efforts with Birdlife International with Prince Charles as our collaborator contributed to funding of six additional members of the Save the Albatross (STA) Task Force. Most importantly there is this link between the sailors and the Albatross which can only be explained if you have lived down there in the southern ocean on a small yacht with 9 of your closest mates.
When you are out in the open ocean, it’s no joy ride down there, life is tough on board. Our crews are starved of company. 4 hours on 4 hours off, day and night, 25 days. Nature throws everything at them.
Living conditions – its’ not like the Ritz - the world’s greatest hotel, food is not great either. But they still find time to act responsibly. We have a program called Ocean Watch and I’d like to show you some footage capture by the sailors down there.
Lets look at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as an example. Rio is the most beautiful natural harbour in the world. Might look beautiful and suited for in-port race. But as a result of sewerage, waste and toxins the harobour looks brown and dead. But it can be repaired. It may take I20 years to repatriate itself – like Sydney. When we see such a beautiful place being destroyed, people with a voice need to start shouting.
Biggest most powerful voice in the world is sport! More powerful than politicians – because people trust us. It’s up to us as leaders and opinion formers to stand up.
Sure global warming may be the result of natural effects.
Evidence is provided through these exclusive photographs and the data captured by our crews. I can tell you from experience they are drifting further north.
But what if it isn’t a natural phenomenon? we all had better start right now to act. At Volvo we intend to do even more for the next race. So what is the VOR project of the future? Continue work with STA and oceanographic agencies.
For our next race in 2008-09 race, a specialist media crew member on each competing boat, will focus on environmental issues – to get the message out! We cannot wait any longer, hoping it will fix itself. The time to act is now!
UNEP sees Sport as a powerful weapon. I agree with them that Sport can make a difference! And I certainly hope we have shown you a small example here today. Volvo are proud to be involved in this conference and with UNEP on their many and varied projects.
Thank you for your time today.
4. Programme of the Forum