Sports for Nature. Stronger Together

The Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be a time of celebration – celebration of effort and determination, excellence and willpower, teamwork and collaboration.

While victors on the field will be adorned with medals and cheered by fans, we must remember to celebrate the successes and victories off the field. Indeed, addressing big challenges such as climate change and nature degradation in and through sport requires a continued and unwavering effort, which could seem to leave no space for celebration. Yet, to persevere and keep improving, we need moments of recognition to remind ourselves of how far we have already come.

It is in this spirit that we are organising a seminar titled “Sports for Nature. Stronger Together” on 7 August 2024, 14:30 – 16:30, at Club France in Paris. The event will provide a platform to celebrate sports’ contributions to nature conservation, highlight the importance of partnerships and cooperation, welcome new signatories to the Sports for Nature Framework, and inspire further action for nature in and beyond the sports sector.

Speakers included (in order of appearance):

• Samuel Ducroquet, Ambassador for Sport, Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, France
• Marie Sallois, Corporate and Sustainable Development Director, International Olympic Committee
• Benjamin Lévêque, Head of Climate & Biodiversity, Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
• Julie Duffus, Sustainability Senior Manager, International Olympic Committee
• Meredith McCurdy, Programme Leader – Sports for Nature, International Union for Conservation of Nature
• Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (by video message)
• Justine Marchal-Appleton, Manager Environmental Impact, Biodiversity & Regulatory procedures, Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games
• Abhinav Apjit Bindra, Olympic champion, Founder of Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust
• Adam van Koeverden, Olympic champion, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Environment and Climate Change and the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity, Canada
• Alena Olsen, Olympic medallist, USA Rugby 7
• Karine Teow, Head of Sustainability, International Table Tennis Federation
• Jaime McKeown, Sustainability, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, World Rugby
• Rocío Echeverri, Executive Board Member and Chair of Environmental Committee, National Olympic Committee of Costa Rica
• Nina King-Gillies, Project officer, Territorial Biodiversity Strategy, French National Museum of Natural History
• Keith Joseph, President of Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC)
• Alexandra Palli, Chair of Sports and Environment Committee, Hellenic Olympic Committee
• Dona Bertarelli, accomplished sailor, IUCN Patron of Nature and executive chair of Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy (by video message)
• Garrette Clark, Programme Officer, Sustainable Lifestyles, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

More information  about the event (including images and videos will follow).