OC Sport, the pioneering sports events management company, has made a firm commitment to embed sustainability at the heart of its operations by becoming a signatory to the Sports for Climate Action Framework hosted by UN Climate Change.
This is the first step towards the development of a company-wide sustainability framework which will be implemented through OC Sport’s portfolio of events across sailing, running and triathlon, by 2021.
“We feel very privileged to have been accepted as a signatory of the Sports for Climate Action Framework, and to be able to work alongside the world’s leading sports organisations to help take meaningful climate actions,” commented OC Sport CEO Hervé Favre.
“The world is facing more challenges than ever before. We have observed first-hand the potential devastating impact of our traditional ‘way-of-life’ on our health, economy and the sport event sector. At OC Sport we firmly believe that sport has a crucial role to play in driving positive change, and that by taking bold action, it can lead the way towards a healthier and more sustainable future. That’s why we have taken the first steps in signing the Framework, while in unison we are working to develop a global, OC Sport sustainability strategy. As such, we will be measuring, reducing and eventually compensating our carbon emissions from all of our activities, maximising the positive impact we can have on society through our events.”
The Sports for Climate Action initiative calls on sporting organisations to acknowledge the contribution of the sports sector to climate change and its responsibility to strive towards climate neutrality for a safer planet.
In line with the five core principles enshrined in the Framework and the aims of the Paris Agreement, by signing the Framework, OC Sport will strive to:
1) Promote greater environmental responsibility;
2) Reduce the overall climate impact from sports;
3) Use its platform to educate for climate action;
4) Promote sustainable and responsible consumption; and
5) Advocate for climate action through communications.
Speaking at the launch event for the Framework in 2018, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Patricia Espinosa explained that sports organisations are in a unique position in the race against climate change “because sport touches on every cross-section of our society.”
Operating from bases in the UK, Switzerland and France, each year OC Sport organises more than 200 days of competition across its different events. In mass participation sports this includes the Harmony Geneva Marathon for UNICEF, the Geneva 20km by Geneve Aéroport, Run Mate and La Tour Geneve Triathlon; and in sailing The Transat CIC, Route du Rhum-Destination Guadeloupe, La Solitaire du Figaro and La Transat AG2R La Mondiale. “Our reach is global, and we organise events year-round, and so we hope our commitment will inspire our participants, fans, the communities in which we operate and our partners to work with us to raise their own climate ambitions,” commented Favre.
OC Sport will work alongside fellow signatories including the International Olympic Committee, Tokyo 2020, Paris 2024, World Sailing and other sporting federations, committing to work in a mutually supportive fashion to reduce carbon emissions from their activities.
Find out more about theSports for Climate Action Framework here and visit the official website here.
Find out more about OC Sport here.
