The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has released the finalists for the annual IOC Climate Action Awards 2024, celebrating those within the Olympic Movement who are taking concrete measures to help address climate change.
Presented by Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner Deloitte, the IOC Climate Action Awards encourage, recognise and reward innovative projects from National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International Federations (IFs) and athletes that aim to reduce the environmental impact of sports, while inspiring the wider Olympic Movement to take action.
“Climate change is taking its toll on everyone, and sport is no exception,” said Marie Sallois, the IOC Director of Sustainability. “We all have the responsibility to reduce our impact. The IOC Climate Action Awards aim to celebrate those that are driving climate action within the wider Olympic Movement. The high number and quality of applications we have received this year illustrates the progress made in addressing climate change across the Olympic Movement.
“We are thankful to our Worldwide Olympic and Paralympic Partner Deloitte who have offered their expertise to support the development of the programme criteria and prizes for the winners. We hope this award will continue to inspire innovation and knowledge sharing amongst the Olympic Movement and beyond.”
“The Olympic & Paralympic Games Paris 2024 will not only be a demonstration of athletic excellence, but they will also exemplify a strong commitment to sustainability,” said Jennifer Steinmann, Deloitte Global Sustainability leader. “Deloitte is proud to once again be the presenting partner of the IOC Climate Action Awards and advance our shared mission to accelerate sustainable sport and collective climate goals through education, innovation, and technology solutions. We look forward to working with the National Olympic Committees, International Federations and athletes to support their efforts in furthering sustainable behavior change at scale.”
This year’s finalists are:
In the NOC category:
Comite Olimpico de Chile – for a comprehensive sustainability strategy that focuses on reducing carbon footprint, recycling waste and influencing the community, and has resulted in, for example, increasing the amount of recycled waste at the Olympic training Centre from two tons in 2022 to 98 tons in 2023. The Chilean NOC is also empowering athletes to use their voice on social media, TV, radio and other channels to inspire and educate the wider community about sustainability.
Hellenic Olympic Committee – for implementing a clear carbon reduction strategy, which includes actions such as replacing the lighting system in buildings and infrastructure, and adoption of green procurement practices, resulting in a planned 24% reduction in 2024 emissions compared to the 2023 footprint.
Mauritius National Committee – for developing a comprehensive carbon footprint reduction plan focusing on travel and procurement. Key initiatives include a local community-based project which has encouraged around 50,000 people to switch from plastic bottles to glass bottles in order to reduce plastic waste, and the design of a ‘Bio Climatic gym’ that uses sustainably sourced PEFC certified wood, 100% renewable energy and natural air ventilation instead of carbon-heavy air conditioning – the first of its kind in Mauritius.
Comite Olimpico Espanol – for collecting 4,500 kgs of old sports clothing to manufacture Spanish flags needed for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, with a supporting awareness-raising campaign reaching 8.6million people. To further reduce the use of textiles, the number of kits provided to athletes will be limited and, together with the flags, will be reused at future competitions.
Swiss Olympic – Having created a carbon reduction plan and working on minimizing their own emissions, the NOC is focusing on providing funds to its national federations, their clubs and partner organisations through the “Swiss Olympic Climate Fund” to support their carbon reduction efforts. For example, the NOC has contributed to the funding of a heat pump system for a 50-year-old swimming pool in Frauenfeld, Thurgau, which, has the potential to save 500 tons of CO2 annually. The Swiss Olympic Climate Fund has also helped fund an electric bus for the Ticino Group of Blind and Visually Impaired Sportsmen. Moving forward, the NOC is aiming to support 100 other projects across all their member and partner organisations, leading to a long-term plan of reducing emissions across all sports within Switzerland.
In the IF category:
International Biathlon Union (IBU) – for working with TV broadcasters to measure their carbon footprint during the 2023/24 World Cup Season and identify initiatives they can implement to reduce emissions in the future, with the aim to provide learnings for other sports. IBU is the first IF that has looked at reducing broadcasting emissions – an area that is often deemed difficult to address.
International Canoe Federation – for creating, together with the Italian Canoe Federation, a program called ‘Developing Environmental Circular Knowledge’ (DECK), which identified 50 environmental management and circular economy best practices for canoe competitions and creating a rating tool for evaluating any type of paddling events. The focus areas include recycling and redistribution of leftover food, switching to greener mobility options like car sharing, transitioning to digital tickets to minimize the use of paper and managing spectator movement at events to ensure the protection of biodiversity.
International Hockey Federation (FIH) – for working with the artificial turf industry to develop a new technology – Dry Turf – that reduces the amount of water needed for hockey pitches, achieving a 40% reduction from London 2012 to Tokyo 2020, and an anticipated further 30% reduction for Paris 2024. The aim is to replace 2,000 water-based artificial hockey pitches globally, saving approximately 7.6 billion litres of water per year. FIH has also introduced “wet balls” that release water at the point of contact between the ball, the surface and the stick, to ensure the sport can be played at the highest level on dry turf. The project is part of the FIH’s wide-ranging sustainability strategy, and a comprehensive carbon reduction plan, which includes the first ever carbon zero artificial turf which is currently being used in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
World Rowing – As one of the first signatories to both the Sports for Climate Action and Sports for Nature, World Rowing have partnered with WWF for many years on the conservation of water. Their latest project, “The Water Wardens” aims to create a global movement around the need to conserve water, engaging rowers as actors of change, and providing educational resources for use by organisations, clubs and schools. Activities have included Water Protection Conferences and a mobile application for the rowing community to upload data on water issues, with 145 clubs actively engaged.
World Rugby – for collaboration with its partners to develop a Carbon Emissions Reporting Tool (CERT) which enables forecasting and measurement of emissions across events such as tournaments, meetings, and events, helping overcome the lack of one-size-fits-all reporting options currently available. CERT guides rugby event organisers in identifying actions that can be taken to reduce emissions and enable knowledge sharing between World Rugby, local organising committees, national federations, suppliers, and other stakeholders.
In the athlete category:
Christopher Blevins, Mountain Biking, USA – for the ‘Where do we land’ multimedia project that intertwines animation and spoken word poetry to delve into the urgent reality of climate change, launching in summer 2024.
Imogen Grant, Rowing, Great Britain – for helping to launch the Clean Water Sport Alliance to improve river health and water quality, as part of the UK National Training Centre sustainability group. As an ambassador for the Rivers Trust, Imogen has also spoken at a number of events across the UK to raise awareness and educate athletes on their responsibilities.
Lina Taylor, Beach Volleyball, Bulgaria – for educating professionals from government corporations and NGOs on how they can apply a sustainability lens to everything they are doing. Through her business Climate Executive Coaching, she educates leaders in these sectors to build the skills to influence and inspire climate action. In just two years, Lina has coached over 2,000 people in 30 countries and across 60 organisations. Lina is also supporting fellow athletes and National Olympic Committees, training them individually in climate solutions.
Marion Thenault, Skiing, Canada – for measuring her own carbon footprint with WSP Canada and working on standardizing her travel quantification process to help other athletes to follow suit. Thenault is also working with the Le Relais Foundation to reduce the environmental impact of Le Relais Ski Aerials World Cup in Canada by implementing projects focused on improved waste management system, sustainable procurement and optimising spectator transportation.
Oliver Scholfield, Hockey, Canada – for co-founding “Racing to Zero”, a sport-focused sustainability consultancy that helps organisations to understand and mitigate their environmental impact.
The announcement of the finalists took place during the Olympic Games Paris 2024, at an event hosted by Deloitte. The winners of this year’s awards will be announced during the UN Climate Week between 22 and 29 September.
