International Olympic Committee names finalists for Climate Action Awards 2024

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced the names of the finalists for the annual IOC Climate Action Awards 2024, celebrating those within the Olympic Movement who are taking concrete measures to address climate change.

Aimed at encouraging, recognising and rewarding innovative projects from national olympic committees (NOCs), international federations (IFs) and athletes aimed at reducing the environmental impact of sport, the IOC Climate Action Awards also set out to inspire the wider Olympic Movement to take action

Commenting on the finalists, Marie Sallois, the IOC’s Director of Sustainability, stated “climate change is taking its toll on everyone, and sport is no exception.

“We all have the responsibility to reduce our impact. The IOC Climate Action Awards aim to celebrate those that are driving climate action within the wider Olympic Movement. The high number and quality of applications we have received this year illustrate the progress made in addressing climate change across the Olympic Movement.”

This year’s finalists are:

In the NOC category:
Comité Olímpico de Chile - for a comprehensive sustainability strategy that focuses on reducing carbon footprint, recycling waste and influencing the community, and has resulted in, for example, increasing the amount of recycled waste at the Olympic Training Centre from two tons in 2022 to 98 in 2023. The Chilean NOC is also empowering athletes to use their voice on social media, TV, radio and other channels to inspire and educate the wider community about sustainability.

Hellenic Olympic Committee - for implementing a clear carbon reduction strategy, which includes actions such as replacing the lighting system in buildings’ infrastructure, educating personnel on sustainable procurement practices and adopting a comprehensive waste management plan and green practices, resulting in a planned 24% reduction in 2025 emissions compared to the 2022 footprint.

Mauritius National Committee - for developing a comprehensive carbon footprint reduction plan focusing on travel and procurement. Key initiatives include a local community-based project which has encouraged around 50,000 people to switch from plastic bottles to glass bottles in order to reduce plastic waste, and the design of a ‘Bio Climatic gym’ that uses sustainably sourced PEFC-certified wood, 100% renewable energy and natural air ventilation instead of carbon-heavy air conditioning - the first of its kind in Mauritius.

Comité Olímpico Español - for collecting 4,500kg of old sports clothing to manufacture Spanish flags needed for the Olympic Games Paris 2024, with a supporting awareness-raising campaign reaching 8.6 million people. To further reduce the use of textiles, the number of kits provided to athletes will be limited and, together with the flags, will be reused at future competitions.

Swiss Olympic - Having created a carbon reduction plan and working on minimising its own emissions, the NOC is focusing on providing funds to its national federations, their clubs and partner organisations through the “Swiss Olympic Climate Fund”, to support their carbon reduction efforts. For example, the NOC has contributed to the funding of a heat pump system for a 50-year-old swimming pool in Frauenfeld, Thurgau, which has the potential to save 500 tons of CO2 annually. The Swiss Olympic Climate Fund has also helped fund an electric bus for the Ticino Group of Blind and Visually Impaired Athletes. Moving forward, the NOC is aiming to support 100 other projects across all its member and partner organisations, leading to a long-term plan of reducing emissions across all sports within Switzerland.

In the IF category:
International Biathlon Union (IBU) - for working with TV broadcasters, in collaboration with the European Broadcasting Union, to measure their carbon footprint during the 2023/24 World Cup season and identify initiatives they can implement to reduce emissions in the future, with the aim of providing learnings for other sports. The IBU is the first Olympic IF that has looked at systematically reducing its major events’ broadcasting emissions - an area that is often deemed difficult to address.

International Canoe Federation (ICF) - for creating, with the Italian Canoe Federation, a program called ‘Developing Environmental Circular Knowledge’ (DECK), which identified 50 environmental management and circular economy best practices for canoe competitions, and for creating a rating tool for evaluating any type of paddling event. The focus areas include recycling and redistribution of leftover food, switching to greener mobility options like car sharing, transitioning to digital tickets to minimise the use of paper, and managing spectator movement at events to ensure the protection of biodiversity.

International Hockey Federation (FIH) - for working with the artificial turf industry to develop a new technology - Dry Turf - that reduces the amount of water needed for hockey pitches, achieving a 40% reduction from London 2012 to Tokyo 2020, and an anticipated further 30% reduction for Paris 2024. The aim is to replace 2,000 water-based artificial hockey pitches globally, saving approximately 7.6 billion litres of water per year. The FIH has also introduced ‘wet balls’ that release water at the point of contact between the ball, the surface and the stick, to ensure the sport can be played at the highest level on dry turf. The project is part of the FIH’s wide-ranging sustainability strategy and a comprehensive carbon reduction plan, which includes the first-ever carbon zero artificial turf, which is currently being used at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

World Rowing - As one of the first signatories of both the Sports for Climate Action and Sports for Nature Frameworks, World Rowing has partnered with the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) for many years on the conservation of water. Their latest project, 'The Water Wardens', aims to create a global movement around the need to conserve water, engaging rowers as actors of change and providing educational resources for use by organisations, clubs and schools. Activities have included Water Protection Conferences and a mobile application for the rowing community to upload data on water issues, with 145 clubs actively engaged.

World Rugby - for collaboration with its partners to develop a Carbon Emissions Reporting Tool (CERT), which enables the forecasting and measurement of emissions across events such as tournaments, meetings and events, helping overcome the lack of one-size-fits-all reporting options currently available. CERT guides rugby event organisers in identifying actions that can be taken to reduce emissions and enable knowledge sharing between World Rugby, local organising committees, national federations, suppliers and other stakeholders.

In the athlete category:
Christopher Blevins, Mountain Biking, USA - for the ‘Where do we land?’ multimedia project that intertwines animation and spoken word poetry to delve into the urgent reality of climate change, launching in summer 2024.

Imogen Grant, Rowing, Great Britain - for helping to launch the Clean Water Sport Alliance to improve river health and water quality, as part of the UK National Training Centre sustainability group. As an ambassador for the Rivers Trust, Imogen has also spoken at a number of events across the UK to raise awareness and educate athletes on their responsibilities.

Lina Taylor, Beach Volleyball, Bulgaria - for educating professionals from government corporations and NGOs on how they can apply a sustainability lens to everything they are doing. Through her Climate Executive Coaching business, she educates leaders in these sectors to build the skills to influence and inspire climate action. In just two years, Lina has coached over 2,000 people in 30 countries and across 60 organisations. Taylor is also supporting fellow athletes and NOCs, training them individually in climate solutions.

Marion Thenault, Skiing, Canada - for measuring her own carbon footprint with WSP Canada and working on standardising her travel quantification process to help other athletes to follow suit. Thenault is also working with the Le Relais Foundation to reduce the environmental impact of the Le Relais Ski Aerials World Cup in Canada by implementing projects focused on improved waste management system, sustainable procurement and optimised spectator transport.

Oliver Scholfield, Hockey, Canada - for co-founding ‘Racing to Zero’, a sport-focused sustainability consultancy that helps organisations to understand and mitigate their environmental impact.

The names of the winners of this year’s awards will be announced during UN Climate Week, between 22nd and 29th September.

Click here for more information about the IOC Climate Action Awards.

Click here to find out more about the IOC’s work on climate.

Lower image shows Poligras' first-ever carbon zero artificial hockey turf currently being used at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. Credit: International Hockey Federation (FIH).