SOCHI 2014 – UNEP MISSION REPORT
Contents
1 Introduction 2
2 Agenda of the UNEP Mission 2
3 Summary and Key Recommendations 3
4 Major Findings 4
4.1 Positive Findings 4
4.2 Major Concerns 5
5 Recommendations 7
Games
1 Introduction
In July 2007, the Olympic Congress in Guatemala awarded to the Russian Federation the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. The winning bid document includes a full section on environment and meteorology with specific environmental commitments, including carbon neutrality and ISO 14001 certification. As stated in the document “Sochi offers at the Olympic Movement an extraordinary opportunity to honor the Environment in the celebration of the 2014 Games (…) Sochi 2014 has developed a comprehensive plan to stage the games with a strong commitment to sustainability while also creating a legacy of environmental education awareness and enhancement”. The Games venues are located in part in the Sochi National Park, and close to the Caucasus Biosphere Nature Reserve.
In February 2008, the Government of the Russian Federation invited UNEP to discuss with Russian authorities and the Sochi Organizing Committee, ways of supporting efforts to optimize the environmental impact of the Olympics in 2014. As a result, the Executive Director of UNEP sent a delegation to Moscow and Sochi from 7 to 10 April to hold discussions with the Government of the Russian Federation, the Organizing Committee and other stakeholders, and to visit proposed venues and determine whether UNEP could make any meaningful contribution in efforts to green the 2014 Games.
UNEP also received information from some NGOs calling UNEP’s attention on the sensitive environmental location of some mountain venues located in areas of the Sochi National Park. UNEP also received a request from the IOC suggesting that UNEP should review the environmental aspects of the Sochi Games
2. Agenda of the UNEP Mission
Date and time / Venue / Description7 April, 10:00 to 10:30 / UN House, Ostozhenka, Moscow / Meeting with UN Resident Coordinator/UNDP Resident Representative Mr. Marco Borsotti
7 April, 10:30 to 11:30 / UN House, Ostozhenka, Moscow / Internal meeting of UNEP delegation
7 April, 12:00 to 13:30 / Ministry of Natural Resources, Moscow / Meeting with Mr. S. Levi, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and representatives of other governmental bodies involved in Sochi 2014
8 April, 9:30 to 10:00 / Olympstroy, Sochi / Presentation of Olympstroy Corporation on environmental aspects of constructing of Olympic facilities
8 April, 10:30 to 11:30 / Sochi / Meeting with representatives of various NGOs
8 April, afternoon / greater Sochi region / Visiting of a mountain area surrounding Sochi (potential compensation project to be included in Sochi National Park)
8 April, 19:00 to 20:30 / Organizing Committee, Sochi / Meeting with representatives of Olympstroy and Organizing Committee
9 April, whole day / Krasnaya Polyana / Visiting future Olympic sites in Krasnaya Polyana region
9 April, 20:00 to 21:00 / Sochi / Internal meeting of UNEP delegation
10 April, 12:00 to 13:00 / Sochi / Visiting the waste disposal site of Sochi
3. Summary and Key Recommendations
The UNEP mission concludes that there are grounds for UNEP to contribute to optimize the environmental impact of the Olympics in 2014. It also noted that making the 2014 Games an environmental model for Olympic Games will require considerable efforts and investments.
Among the positive environmental aspects is the plan to convert an old waste disposal system into an efficient and sustainable waste management system for the Sochi region – a development which might lead to significant waste and emission reduction.
Officials the mission met in Moscow and Sochi were open to advice and technical support in helping make their facilities and venues as environmentally-friendly as possible.
Among the concerns ,were mountain venues sport facilities planned to be constructed in remote areas of the Sochi National Park, foreseen to become major tourist destinations for winter sports, with potentially far reaching negative implications for the environment. If the issue of venue location is not addressed, it will negatively impact other efforts in relation to “greening” of the Games.
Key Recommendations
UNEP should respond positively to the Government’s request and provide support for the environmental dimensions of the Games. This will be a major undertaking with extensive resource implications. Should there be agreement on the principle and focus of UNEP’s interventions, a detailed paper on what UNEP could offer and the resources needed, will need to be developed in close consultation with the relevant partners in the Russian Federation and key stakeholders.
The location of the Bobsleigh and mountain sub-village remains a key issue that needs to be addressed urgently. As a decision on these venues has not been made, UNEP would like to encourage the partners in the Russian Federation and the IOC to look into the suitability of alternative locations. Our view is that the currently planned location may compromise other efforts to ensure the Games are environmentally friendly.
4 Major Findings
4.1 Positive Findings
a. Unique landscape: The area where the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games will take place – especially the mountain area – is a unique landscape that should be protected.
b. Protected area: A very significant part of the area surrounding Sochi is protected. Human settlements or development cover only three per cent of the area. In addition, only a small amount of the protected area will be used by the Olympic Games.
c. Open for support: The officials of the Russian Federation and the various related bodies for the Sochi Games that we dealt with are open-minded and interested in receiving ideas and help from external partners, particularly UNEP. There is strong political will on the part of the Russian authorities to integrate environmental issues into the development of the venues and facilities, as reflected in the bid commitments. The Sochi bid foresees a capital investment directly related to the 2014 Sochi Olympics in excess of 8.8 billion US dollars.
d. Catalyst for Awareness Raising: Sochi 2014 could become a catalyst for environmental behaviour and awareness not only in Sochi, but in the Russian Federation as a whole..
e. Comprehensive concept: The environmental concept identifies a wide range of issues that will be integrated into the environmental programme of Sochi 2014, including carbon neutrality, sustainable transport, zero waste, environmentally-friendly construction, sustainable water management, monitoring and assessment of environmental impacts, ISO 14001 certification biodiversity and involvement of all stakeholders.
f. Possibilities for improvement: Plans for the construction of the venues are still being developed; therefore environmental features could still be incorporated in most cases.
g. Improvement of infrastructure: The Olympic Games will be used to improve Sochi’s infrastructure. For example, the waste management sector has not been improved for about 30 years. The two landfills in operation were established about 70 years ago and are prone to major ecological problems such as fires and leakage of hazardous waste seeping into surrounding areas. Restoration of the landfills and the development of a modern and sustainable waste management system are major priorities of Sochi 2014. If successfully developed, the new waste management system will have the potential to offset some negative impacts of the Games and compensate for some carbon emissions.
h. Unrestricted access to stakeholders: The Russian officials gave UNEP unrestricted access to NGOs for discussions on the Games even though all the NGOs that we met with were largely critical of the environmental intentions of the Sochi Games Organizers.
4.2 Major Concerns
a. Venues: Twenty venues are planned for the Olympic Games and all of them will be built from scratch. In addition, all venues are planned as permanent structures, and this raises the issue of the use of these venues after the Games and the subsequent long term environmental impact.
b. Olympic venues – mountain cluster: The mountain cluster is located in Sochi National Park. The venues, which are scattered into at least three clusters, will use up sizable portions of the Park around Krasnaya Polyana Village. Some of the Olympic venues will be built in two ski areas intended for commercial use. The construction of one ski area - owned by Gasprom - is quite advanced while the construction of the other – Rosa Khutor, owned by a private company – has just started. After completion, the Rosa Khutor Ski Resort for example, will have eighteen lifts operating at the same time, expects 9,500 visitors per day, have a 55 km ski run and use up about 530 hectares of land. It will use up 43 hectares of forest for the development of the Resort. This construction will inevitably have adverse impacts on the environment. Advice from UNEP and other stakeholders might provide Sochi with ideas on how to minimize the negative environmental impact of these venues.
c. The planned sites for the Olympic sub-village and the Bobsleigh facility pose a serious environmental threat. They will both be located directly on the border of the Biosphere Nature Reserve – a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The area is home to several species listed in the red book of IUCN, the Russian Federation and the Krasnodar region, which will be threatened by the development of these facilities. The venues are located kilometres away from the next village and, thus far, accessed only by an old forest road (four-wheel drive vehicles only) with a few houses of park rangers. The road network and other infrastructures that will be needed for these venues will compound the negative environmental impacts.
d. Transport infrastructure to the mountain cluster: Until now, the Krasnaya Polyana Village (about 4,000 inhabitants) can be reached by road (about 50 km from the Sochi airport). The road runs through a narrow valley in the Sochi National Park and ends just after the village. In addition to the existing road, which will be further improved for the Games, the construction of a new railway line is planned. The third infrastructure project, to be constructed in the valley, is an expressway with three to four lanes to Krasnaya Polyana. According to the Organizing Committee, these transport infrastructures are mandatory requirements of the IOC to ensure secure access to venues and the need to cope with high peak capacities during the Games. The capacity of this infrastructure seems excessive for the Olympic Games and beyond, considering the village is only inhabited by about 4,000 people. In our view, the railway line could offer an opportunity for a “car-free” tourist destination and reduce the need for private cars.
d. NGOs involvement: The Organizing Committee mentioned that NGOs are involved in the Games preparations, but their impression as expressed in meeting with NGOs, is their that their opinions are not taken into sufficient consideration on major environmental issues, particularly those related to the mountain venues.
5. Recommendations
5.1 Alternative Locations for Mountain Sub-Village and Bobsleigh Facilities
We recommend that an expert group be urgently constituted with representatives from the Organizing Committee, Government of the Russian Federation, NGOs, UNEP, the IOC and the Bobsleigh Federation to visit Sochi to explore alternative venues.
5.2 Support to the Organizing Committee
The organizers have requested UNEP to support development of a comprehensive environmental programme that will take into account several factors including impacts on flora, fauna, landscape and a sustainable waste management programme for the greater Sochi region as well as best practice examples for “Auditing of skiing areas in the European Alps”[1]. Discussions with the organizers clearly indicate that extensive support is needed for the greening of their Games.
UNEP has therefore agreed to identify suitable experts and discuss with the Russian authorities an appropriate framework to support the development and implementation of their environmental programme. UNEP will also discuss with the Russian authorities how this programme will be financed.
5.3 Dialogue with NGOs
UNEP would like to promote dialogue between the organizers and NGOs. Based on UNEP’s past experience with other Games organizers, UNEP could organize a series of roundtable discussions for the organizers and all interested parties, to freely share information and ideas on the Games. UNEP might be able to help provide an impartial forum for debate and enable the stakeholders to develop common approaches to environmental issues.
5.4 General Recommendations on the Olympic Games
Based on the Sochi visit and UNEP’s interactions with other Organizing Committees of Olympic Games (OCOGs), UNEP has made some general recommendations to the IOC on the Olympic Games. These include the development of minimum environmental standards for Games and a standardized environmental questionnaire that could be used to gauge the environmental performance of all OCOGs and bid cities. If these recommendations are accepted to the IOC, UNEP would propose that Sochi 2014 be used as a pilot phase for the standardized questionnaire.
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[1] Project for the development of an environmental guideline for the monitoring, assessment and improvement of skiing areas. The auditing is based on EMAS/ISO 14001 and made use of the example of three skiing areas in different Alpine countries.