SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALS A SERIES OF PRACTICAL GUIDES FOR THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT INTRODUCTION TO SUSTAINABILITY SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALS SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALS Sustainability is one of the most pressing • The IOC as an organisation: To embrace challenges of our time across a wide sustainability principles and to include spectrum of social, environmental and sustainability in its day-to-day operations. economic matters. Major issues such as climate change, economic inequality and • The IOC as owner of the Olympic social injustice are affecting people Games: To take a proactive and leadership throughout the world. These are also role on sustainability and ensure that it is pressing concerns for the sports community, included in all aspects of the planning and both for managing its day-to-day affairs and staging of the Olympic Games. for its responsibilities towards young people and future generations. We also recognise • The IOC as leader of the Olympic that sport has an unrivalled capacity to Movement: To engage and assist Olympic motivate and inspire large numbers of Movement stakeholders in integrating people. This is why we believe that the sustainability within their own organisations Olympic Movement has both a duty and an and operations. opportunity to contribute actively to global sustainability in line with our vision: “Building Following on from Olympic Agenda 2020, a better world through sport”. we issued the IOC Sustainability Strategy in December 2016. The Strategy is based on It is therefore logical that sustainability forms our three spheres of responsibility and five one of the key elements of Olympic Agenda focus areas, as illustrated below. 2020, the Olympic Movement’s strategic roadmap adopted in December 2014. In particular, this defined our approach to sustainability across the IOC’s three spheres of responsibility: The IOC Sustainability Strategy framework is illustrated below: Infrastructure and natural sites Sourcing and resource management Mobility IOC AS LE AD ER O F T H E Workforce IOC A O S O L WN Y ER M O P I IMPACT F C T H M E O O V L Y E M M I P E O OC RG I N A A C T Climate N S I G S A A A N T M I O E N S CONTROL INFLUENCE 02 SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALS The Strategy sets out a number of actions The “Sustainability Essentials” series of guides in our capacity as leader of the Olympic is the first concrete outcome of this Movement. Among these is a commitment commitment. These guides aim to provide to develop common guidelines, simple, practical and essential information on methodologies and tools for National key aspects of sustainability for NOCs and IFs Olympic Committees (NOCs) and to be better able to navigate the complexities International Federations (IFs). of this subject and develop effective Further information can be found at sustainability programmes. Whether your https://www.olympic.org/sustainability. organisation is just starting out, or is already actively engaged in sustainability, we hope these guides will provide a valuable overview and reference point for this important topic. FEEDBACK We hope that our “Sustainability Essentials” guides will provide a valuable basis for understanding sustainability. We also know that sustainability is a constantly evolving discipline, with new issues, challenges and opportunities always needing to be addressed. We therefore welcome feedback, comments and suggestions so that we can continually improve our guidance and ensure our material is as fresh, relevant and accurate as possible. If you have any comments, please contact us in any language at: [email protected] PRINTING This document is available only as a downloadable pdf file from the IOC website. If you need to print a copy, please set your printer to double-sided copying on recycled paper. Ideally, please also avoid colour printing and copying. 03 SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALS CONTENTS 04 SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALS ASSESS YOUR IDENTIFY KEY ISSUES 1 STARTING POINT AND SCOPE 6 Take stock of what you have Decide what matters been doing on sustainability, and is relevant. or assess opportunities and challenges of getting started. DEFINE YOUR VISION SET OBJECTIVES 2 AND STRATEGY AND TARGETS 7 Map out what you think a Define what you sustainable future for your are going to do organisation looks like. and by when. DEMONSTRATE ASSESS 3 LEADERSHIP INTRODUCTION TO PROGRESS 8 Set the direction SUSTAINABILITY Measure for achieving IN BRIEF - and evaluate your vision. SUMMARY OF performance. KEY STEPS ESTABLISH EFFECTIVE REPORT 4 GOVERNANCE Provide a credible 9 Make sure sustainability account of what fits into your organisational you have done. structures and decision- making processes. ENGAGE COMMUNICATE 5 STAKEHOLDERS Spread the word and talk 10 Talk to everyone who is about what you have affected or influenced by achieved, what was your organisation’s activities. challenging and what you have learned. 05 SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALS INTRODUCTION 1 INTRODUCTION 06 INTRODUCTION SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALS INTRODUCTION This is the introductory guide to our impressive achievements have been made. “Sustainability Essentials” series. Our aim To learn more about the kinds of initiatives here is to provide a general understanding being undertaken, we recommend you read of sustainability: what it means, why it is the wide selection of case studies the IOC has important, how it relates to sport and what published on the sustainability projects of IFs: your organisation can do to be part of this https://www.olympic.org/sustainability. critical endeavour. True sustainability, however, goes much further We have compiled this general overview of than individual projects. It is about looking sustainability as we believe it is essential for closely at what you do as an organisation, National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and the way you interact with society at large, International Sports Federations (IFs) – indeed and ensuring you have appropriate governance any sports organisation – to have a basic structures, policies and processes in place that understanding of how sustainability is relevant will secure your long-term future for the benefit to sport, and how to go about developing an of your organisation, society and the effective sustainability programme that also environment. leaves lasting legacies. All environmental and social initiatives need There are many organisations across the to be seen in this context and embedded in sporting world, large and small, that are already sport’s core activities, not as “nice-to-have” actively engaged in individual aspects of add-ons that ignore sport’s actual impacts. sustainability. Typically, these tend to fall into True sustainability offers indisputable value, two separate categories: “greening” initiatives, from cost savings and risk management where the focus is on the environment, and to improved stakeholder relations and “social responsibility” projects supporting public credibility. worthy causes in the wider community. These are good things to do, and some TRUE SUSTAINABILITY OFFERS INDISPUTABLE VALUE, FROM COST SAVINGS AND RISK MANAGEMENT TO IMPROVED STAKEHOLDER RELATIONS AND PUBLIC CREDIBILITY 07 SUSTAINABILITY ESSENTIALS INTRODUCTION WHAT WE MEAN BY SUSTAINABILITY aspirations into reality means being prepared to consider the consequences of decisions. There are many formal definitions of sustainability In turn, that means having all the relevant with variants on the theme of a balanced information available to help inform such approach to environmental, social and economic decisions. aspects, providing for both present and future needs. This is very much the sense in which Ultimately, therefore, sustainability is about the UN recognises sustainable development. finding better ways of doing things and taking the time to make well-informed long-term The IOC’s official definition of sustainability choices. Sometimes this means challenging is that, when making decisions, we ensure established ways of doing things and rejecting feasibility, and we seek to maximise positive old thinking. An organisation that is truly impact and minimise negative impact in the committed to sustainability is one that makes social, economic and environmental spheres. the effort to understand its choices, to account for them and to learn from them. In practice, sustainability is about how you work and make decisions. It is as much about A common misrepresentation is the culture of an organisation as it is about when people speak of “environmental technical aspects. We believe an organisation sustainability”, “social sustainability” or can begin to achieve its vision and goals only “economic sustainability” as separate disciplines. if it fully integrates sustainability principles and True sustainability requires an integrated and practices into day-to-day operations, so that holistic approach; it cannot be segregated these become part and parcel of how people into component parts. For example, climate think and behave. change may be viewed as an environmental phenomenon, but its impacts affect society The goal for any organisation should be to and economies at many levels. Measures to maximise positive benefits while at the same mitigate or adapt to climate change are therefore time avoiding or minimising negative impacts on necessarily relevant to sustainability in its people and the environment. To turn such full sense. SUSTAINABILITY AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY (CSR) These two terms are often confused and addressing current stakeholder issues. used interchangeably. While