British Columbia and the Vancouver Organising Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) unveiled a "carbon-offset target" for the 2010 Winter Games on 30 March.
To neutralise up to 300,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions from the Games, VANOC is "in advanced sponsorship negotiations with carbon-offset management companies to create a unique 2010 carbon-offset portfolio that will showcase climate change solutions".
The portfolio will include investments in green technology projects that improve energy efficiency or produce renewable energy such as wind, solar or geothermal. It may also include forestry and land use projects to help capture and store carbon from the atmosphere, the organisers said.
The plan was presented during the eighth World Conference on Sport and the Environment, which gathered the international sports community in Vancouver on 29-31 March to discuss how organisations and major sporting events can contribute to environmental, cultural and economic sustainability.
The conference's final declaration calls upon all sports stakeholders to promote sustainable development and environmental solutions through sport.
National Olympic Committees are encouraged to form partnerships with local government entities in order to implement specific environmental projects. International federations are encouraged to adopt policies and supporting programmes to advance the principles of sustainability across their disciplines, and promote those principles to national federations.
The participants also underlined that the Olympic Games present a "unique opportunity" to raise environmental awareness. Developing a new approach and implementing a "green code" in a community can help raise local environmental standards, the declaration underlines.
As for corporate sponsors of the Olympic Movement, the declaration encourages them to "share their sustainability practices and technologies with the Olympic family" and direct funding for increasing environmental awareness and empowerment of youth.
Award for Sport and the Environment
The first-ever International Olympic Committee Sport and Environment Awards were presented at the conference. The inaugural five trophies were awarded to organisations representing continents - Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania. The winners were selected among individuals, groups and organisations based on the overall impact of the activity or project on the promotion of sustainable sport and its potential to serve as a catalyst for sustainable practices worldwide.
The European prize went to the German Olympic Sports Confederation, which issues a guide to environmentally-sound large sporting events, the 'Green champions in sport and environment'.
The guide provides examples of good practices undertaken in Germany, based on analysis of sporting events' impacts on climate, nature and the landscape, as well as sport-related transport, energy, waste, catering, communications and use of materials. The aim is to encourage the sports community to adopt a responsible attitude towards the environmental and sustainable development issues related to the practice of physical activity.
The awards will be presented every two years to acknowledge and encourage the implementation of good environmental practices by the Olympic family.
