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The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) has been actively committed in the pursuit of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as an integral part of its sustainability strategy. Aware of the imminent threats of climate change, IIHF has joined the IOC as a participant of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and pledged to stop plastic waste as part of the Clean Seas campaign.
In 2020, and five years after the publication of the “IIHF Manual for Sustainable Events”, the federation published a new document portraying the “IIHF Sustainability Vision”, a reflection of the IIHF’s aspirations in regards to sustainability within its organisation, its events and the broader ice hockey family.
The IIHF Vision for Sustainability spans across its different spheres of influence:

• As an organisation the federation follows the premise of “keeping your own house clean”. With the goal of staying as sustainable as possible, IIHF seeks to lead by example including the use of green energy, having a recycling system in place, eliminating the use of single-use plastic bottles and the promotion of water filters, generally taking a continuous improvement approach at the organisational level.
• Member National Associations (MNAs) and stakeholders are encouraged to have their own sustainability strategies responding to their resources and local contexts. The federation recognises best sustainability practices amongst its members since 2019 through its IIHF Sustainability Award.
• IIHF Events are asked to follow the IIHF Manual for Sustainable Events designed to make sustainability an integral, and easy to apply, component of event planning.
  However, the manual is not meant as a one-size-fits-all document, but rather a guide that can allow any organiser to be flexible.

BENEFITS

• By creating opportunities to communicate actions by its members and stakeholders, an IF can serve to multiply the effect of positive initiatives by promoting ideas and collaboration.
• The publication of a vision can serve internally as a reference of direction but it can also have external effects. It can create awareness on what is relevant to the organisation and foster relationships with current and potential stakeholders, such as new possible sponsors, which can align and support that vision.

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The World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) officially opened “Home Plate” on July 2020, its new headquarters in Switzerland, designed with sustainability at its heart. The move follows the merger in 2013 of the International Baseball Federation and the International Softball Federation and the acquisition in 2018 of the building which, after a complete renovation, now hosts its joint federation.

Seeking to leave a positive legacy for its community, sustainability was embedded in every step of the planning, conditioning and intended use of its new headquarters.

Twenty-four roof top photovoltaic panels, with a power output of 12 kilowatts, provide approximately 10% of the building’s electricity needs with the goal of increasing the capacity to cover 100% of its needs by 2025. The underfloor heating and cooling system use hot and cold water to maintain an ideal office climate, whilst all walls have been insulated with high density stone wool allowing temperatures to be maintained for up to 20 hours after the system has been switched off. The same stone wool increases fire resistance and acoustic comfort. All the lighting is made with LED technology and occupancy sensors to keep energy consumption levels to a minimum. The interior Saint-Gobain glass walls and doors feature fire resistant Ei-60 glass - double of the requirement by law.

BENEFITS

• The WBSC now has a sustainable, state-of-the-art permanent headquarters to allow for further, and conscious, growth.
• The new headquarters have significantly improved the working environment and team spirit amongst the staff.
• The sustainability of the building is a source of inspiration to the staff to come up with their own ideas for making their working environment even more sustainable.

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As Sustainable As Possible (ASAP) is a European based, National Olympic Committees’ (NOCs) mentorship and development programme on sustainability matters. Building bridges among organisations, the programme which started in 2020 and will span over a three-year period, is aimed to guide mentees into the creation of integrated sustainability strategies while giving mentors the chance to refine their own.

The ASAP consortium is comprised of six NOCs who will collaborate on a mentorship relationship. The German Olympic Sports Confederation, the National Olympic Committee and Sport Confederation of Denmark and the Finnish Olympic Committee serve as mentors to the Slovak Olympic and Sport Committee, the Hungarian Olympic Committee and the Czech Olympic Committee, who also serves as the coordinator for this project. The programme is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union, supported by the IOC and is in close cooperation with the European NOC Sustainability Working group that gathers 12 European entities.

OBJECTIVES
The ASAP project was established in order to:

• Build tangible collaborations between NOCs through mentoring.
• Facilitate the path for mentees to create, adapt and implement integrated sustainability strategies in their organisations while mentors can further improve their operations through the sharing of knowledge.
• Build leadership by exemplary sustainability action both in sports and the broader community

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Click here for more information about ASAP

World Triathlon, part of UNEP and IOC Clean Seas since 2018 and signatory of the UN Sports for Climate Action framework, has now taken a step further by creating guidelines aimed at its Local Organising Committees (LOCs). The goal is to provide guidance on best sustainable practices to be taken into consideration during the planning, and staging, of an event.
World Triathlon encourages organisers of all sizes to start with an assessment of their carbon footprint to establish a baseline and identify areas that might need to be prioritised. Regardless of their level of experience, organisers can then access a step by step guide to develop their own sustainability plans through a comprehensive approach across fifteen categories.
The proposed strategic areas cover a broad range of topics such as governance, staffing, mobility, waste and water management and biodiversity, among others. Each of them has then been linked to specific action points that event organisers can set in motion includingeighteen must have items, thirty-three recommended actions and seven aspirational elements.

The new guidelines also serve as a framework to their newly launched World Triathlon Sustainability certification system for 2021. Through the development of a sustainability plan and later execution, LOCs can achieve three levels of recognition which they will have to validate on a yearly basis.

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The postponed 2020 Finals of the Billie Jean King Cup will see women share the largest annual fund in women’s team sports equalling the amount awarded in the men’s competition.

However, whilst the pay-gap in elite tennis is closed in terms of prize money and tennis performs well in terms of global participation with 47% female participants, significant off court challenges remain: 20% of coaches and 22% of certified officials are women, and female representation on ITF’s board sits at only 18%.

A 2020 ITF leadership survey highlighted the importance of female role models as one of the most important factors influencing women as they develop their careers. With the goal of increasing the number of women on and off the court, including those in decision making and leadership roles, ITF established the Gender Equality in Tennis Committee (originally called the Women in Sport Committee) in 2017 chaired by USTA president and ITF Vice President Katrina Adams. The following year, with the support of the Foundation for Global Sports Development (GSD), the Advantage All programme was launched including enhanced funding for workshops, education and professional development for up and coming female leaders, including coaches and officials.

BENEFITS
• Having a gender equality strategy establishes clear objectives and targets for an organisation and its stakeholders to advance gender equality.
• The development of female leadership facilitates sustainable change in closing the gender gap and achieving equal representation.
• Ensuring equal opportunity in sport maximises commercial opportunities.

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The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) launched an online carbon calculation tool for their own federation as well as for their stakeholders, in line with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and following the implementation of the FIA Environmental Accreditation Programme.
The ‘FIA carbon calculation tool’, provided by Global Climate Initiatives, has been specifically adapted to the motorsport industry and will allow any of the accredited stakeholders to calculate their carbon footprint. After the calculation, FIA can step in and support the users in designing a reduction plan to take concrete actions to reduce their emissions.
The tool will serve as a supportive option to the FIA Environmental Accreditation Programme and is planning to, in its first year, assist approximately 40 Three-Star level Accreditation stakeholders gain insights on their footprint and plan for carbon neutrality.

Benefits:
By obtaining insights on the environmental performance of their stakeholders, FIA can cater to them in order to:
• Prrovide them with support in understanding their carbon footprint and becoming climate neutral.
• Maximise the impact of the programmes by defining priority areas where more attention and education is needed in order to reduce emissions.
• Establish benchmarks and goals for motorsports.

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In April 2020, World Athletics launched its Sustainability Strategy for 2020-2030. The ten-year strategy is set to provide a framework to the organisation, its Member Federations and its event organisers on how to produce tangible, meaningful and measurable results on environmental, social and economic sustainability. The main objective is to protect the local communities within which the millions of athletes, both competitive and recreational, participate in the sport with the vision of becoming “the leading International Sports Federation in delivering best in class sustainable events”.

The World Athletics strategy has been designed in alignment with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the IOC Sustainability Strategy and identifies three spheres of responsibility: World Athletics as an organisation (including its Member Federations), the events owned by World Athletics, and those which hold a World Athletics’ Permit or are licensed events.

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As an international organisation, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) takes its responsibility to protect, cherish and limit its impact on the environment seriously. FIFA aims to lead by example and inspire greater awareness and best practices in sustainability standards with regard to FIFA World Cups™ and FIFA as an organisation.
Since 2010, FIFA has been measuring, reducing and mitigating its impact on climate change as well as engaging with its stakeholders to promote awareness on climate change.

OBJECTIVES
Since 2010, FIFA has engaged in carbon management to improve the sustainability of its operations and events by:

• Estimating the carbon emissions of
  FIFA competitions.
• Implementing reduction measures,
• Offsetting its controlled and
  unavoidable emissions.
• Engaging with stakeholders to help
  raise awareness on climate change.

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Click here to download FIFA Background Paper

World Sailing (WS) has created a 'Special Event Sustainability Charter', a comprehensive list of sustainability requirements for the largest sailing events in the world that World Sailing sanctions. WS is a participant of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework and a partner of the IOC and UN Environment on campaigns related to Ocean Health including the Clean Seas initiative fighting plastic pollution in our oceans.
The Special Event Charter was launched in 2019 with the support of their Special Event. Sail GP, which, together with The Ocean Race and World Match Racing Tour are among the first signatories. While all special events can sign up voluntarily at any stage, all 'Special Events' will eventually be contractually obliged to sign when their contracts are due for renewal.

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World Rowing has set new sustainability goals for 2020-2024 with an updated and comprehensive approach to sustainability.
After a pledge to protect world heritage sites designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO),a partnership with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) to protect fresh water around the world, and joining the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework, the federation is going beyond the environmental focus to include social aspects within their sustainability targets.
As defined by World Rowing, the intention is to shift from a “preserve & protect” focus to “enhance” and pursue a positive impact on the ecosystems and communities in which they operate.

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