Environment and Sports

Abstract

The state of the environment can have significant impacts on sport. Sportsmen and women can be affected by environmental conditions such as air and water quality and exposure to harmful substances. Changes in climate and the loss of natural spaces may make participating in sport more difficult. The impact of the environment and especially of climate change becomes most obvious when looking at winter sports. If global warming affects the mountain snow cover, skiing or snowboarding and other winter sports will no longer be possible. There is growing consideration for the environment in the world of sports. The Olympic Movement, for instance, has incorporated the environment into its charter, alongside sport and culture. It has a Sport and Environment Commission to advise it on environment-related policy and has developed an Agenda 21 for sport and the environment to encourage its members to play an active part in sustainable development. Among the fruits of these initiatives was the first ever ‘green’ Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000, which showed clearly how development opportunities provided by the Games can be used to benefit the community and the environment. Since then UNEP has worked on both the Beijing and Vancouver Games and is planning with the most significant way sport can benefit the environment and sustainable development is through its popularity. Sports stars are among the world’s most famous and revered people. They display qualities we all need: courage, application, refusal to submit to adversity, leadership. Their potential as ambassadors, as promoters of sustainable ways of living, is enormous.