Green Cross Spain has produced the 2009 yearbook on Sport and Sustainability to highlight the major events and news in the field of sports and sustainable development in 2009. The yearbook is a compilation of the news that appeared in their bi-monthly Sustainable Sport newsletter. While 2009 included several notable developments in the field of sports and sustainability, perhaps the most important was the 8th Sports and Environment Conference held in Vancouver in March. The Conference brought together experts from all over the world and resulted in a resolution to neutralize the predicted 300,000 tons of CO2 emissions resulting from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Games.
Another highlight of 2009 includes the awarding of the 2016 Summer Olympics Games to Rio de Janeiro. Green Cross Spain played a particular role in developing and publishing an Environmental comparative analysis of bid cities to host 2016 Summer Olympic Games where the environmental proposals of Rio de Janeiro, Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid were compared.
Also highlighted in the yearbook are new local experiences in building and managing sporting facilities as well as planning and hosting events and championships demonstrating how sport managers are increasingly incorporating sustainable measures.
Looking ahead, 2010 has many notable and large sports events scheduled that will undoubtedly have an impact on the environment, including the Winter Olympic Games currently being held in Vancouver, the Youth Olympics Games in Singapore and World Championships in football (South Africa) and basketball (Turkey), among others. 2010 is also the International Year of Biodiversity, from which sport cannot be separated due to the tight relationship between sports and the environment.
The newsletter, started in 2007, highlights the national and international developments in sport. The goal of GC Spain’ Sport and Sustainability programme is to minimize the environmental impact of sports, to develop social initiatives in building and management of sporting facilities and organization of sporting competitions and to spread values related to sustainable development through sports. Included as part of this programme is GC Spain’s National Strategy on Sports and Sustainability and the seperate Sport and Sustainability website.
Click here to download the 2009 Yearbook on Sport and Sustainability (in Spanish)
