(Sports news) IOC has announced that they will cut its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, as part of its commitment to tackling climate change.

The announcement was made by IOC President Thomas Bach during the General Assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), currently taking place in Greece. It comes ahead of the UN Climate Summit (COP26) due to be held at the end of October in Glasgow, Great Britain.

“The climate crisis is arguably the biggest challenge humanity is facing,” said President Bach. “It is affecting all areas of our lives, including sport of course, as an important part of society. By further reducing our carbon emissions, we strengthen our contribution to the realisation of the Paris Agreement, follow the latest science on climate change, and contribute better to this global effort. We urge all other sports organisations to follow suit.”

In order to achieve the 50 per cent cut in emissions by 2030, the IOC has set an intermediate target of 30 per cent, to be achieved by 2024. It's a plan to deliver increased efforts to reduce emissions in the form of  travel, energy use and procurement.

Aligning with the latest science

The IOC’s announcement comes following the publication of the Sixth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – Published in August 2021, the report has found out that human-induced climate change is the reason emission is increasing quickly.

Sport is increasingly affected, both in winter and summer. Unreliable snow and temperatures impact winter sports, while increasing summer heat is a concern for the health of athletes, event organisers and fans.

Based on the latest data from the IPCC report, all signatories to the Framework will be required to reduce their emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, in order to help limit global temperature rise to 1.5˚C.

Climate-positive commitment

Already carbon neutral, the IOC aims to become climate positive by 2024.

This will be achieved by:

• reducing the IOC’s direct and indirect emissions by 50 per cent by 2030, a, in line with the Paris Agreement;
• compensating more than 100 per cent of its remaining emissions, mainly through the Olympic Forest project
• using its influence to encourage the broader Olympic Movement, to make the supply chain and other stakeholders take action against climate change and make the sports  more sustainable.

Also read: IOC would hope for more consultation and clarity regarding FIFA’s World Cup plans

Climate-positive Olympic Games

From 2030 onwards, each Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (OCOG) will be contractually obliged to:

• minimise and compensate its direct and indirect carbon emissions; 
• implement zero-carbon solutions for the Olympic Games and beyond.
   

All upcoming Olympic Games have committed to carbon neutrality, with Paris 2024 aiming to become the first climate-positive Games even before the 2030 deadline

• All competition venues at the Beijing 2022 Games aim to use 100 percent renewable energy. Natural and low carbon emission CO2 refrigeration systems will be used at most of the Beijing 2022 ice venues, this the first something like this will be used in an Olympic Venue.
• With 95 percent of venues pre-existing or temporary, among other measures to avoid and reduce carbon emissions, the Paris 2024 carbon footprint is expected to be half the carbon footprint of previous Olympic Summer Games. Paris 2024 will also compensate more than 100 per cent of its residual emissions and use its influence to develop long-term carbon compensation projects,
• LA 28 has adopted a radical reuse approach, which means it will leverage the best of Los Angeles’ iconic sports facilities and not require a single new permanent venue to be built.