IOC: Sport must join climate change crusade

THE world of sports must join the effort to tame globa l warming, and the International Olympic Committee intends to lead t he way, it said on Tuesday at UN climate ta lks in Katowice, Poland.

At the 195-nation negotiations, the IOC and UN launched an initiative aimed to line up verifiable commitments from sports federations and clubs to cut carbon pollution in line with the Paris Agreement.

That calls for capping the rise in Earth’s temperature “well below” two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and at 1.5C if possible.

With only one centigrade of warming so far, t he world has seen a crescendo of deadly extreme weather – heat waves, drought, f loods.

“Add ressi ng cl i mate cha nge i s ever yone’s responsibi l it y, a nd t he IOC treats it ver y seriously,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.

He was backed by Prince Albert II of Monaco, chair of the IOC’s Sustainabilit y and Legacy Committee.

“With its globa l reach, universa l appeal and the power to inspire and inf luence millions of people around t he globe, sport is uniquely placed to drive globa l climate action and encourage crowds to join in,” Prince Albert said at t he event.

“As cou nt r ies here i n Katow ice prepare to turn their climate commit ments i nto rea l it y, we st a nd ready to leverage the power of sport to support t heir ef forts.”

Li ke ot her sectors, sport has felt t he sting of climate change.

Unreliable snow and warm winters are t hreatening winter sports, wh i le r i s i ng temperat u re s a nd u npred ictable weat her a re cha lleng i ng su mmer-spor t at h lete s, spectators and organisers.

T he new cha r ter a lso c a l ls on spor t s bod ies to reduce cl i mate i mpacts, promote cl i mate act ion, a nd encourage “responsible consumption”.

The initiative aims to use sport – the single largest audience aggregator – to drive globa l climate awareness and action.

Beside the IOC, organising committees for the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 games, the World Sailing organisation, the World Surf League and Roland Garros have all signed up.

The IOC has asked Olympic organising committees to develop t heir own carbon-cutting plans.