Sports for Nature Celebrate Paris 2024 and Welcome 14 New Signatories

Olympic champions and a Paris 2024 medallist were among the more than 100 people who welcomed 14 new signatories to the Sports for Nature (S4N) Framework at an event held on the margins of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

Under the title of “Sports for Nature. Stronger Together”, the event was moderated by Lina Taylor, two-time Olympian, and leadership and executive coach. The event brought together a range of experts, sports organisations and partners to celebrate positive action for nature, share experiences, and discuss how to best protect nature.

The event celebrated the work that S4N Framework signatory, Paris 2024 Organising Committee, have done to promote, protect, and restore nature. This included the development and implementation of a biodiversity assessment methodology across all Olympic sites, with a special focus on temporary sport infrastructure. The methodology will be published in autumn as one of the legacy projects of the Paris Games to help sports organisations better care for nature when organising events.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) Corporate and Sustainable Development Director, Marie Sallois, explained that Paris 2024 had provided “proof of concept” that it was feasible and practical to implement a Games that was both spectacular and sustainable. It was the power of sport to inspire that made it stand out from other sectors, she said. “I believe we are all conscious that we represent a unique opportunity. No other sector, no other industry, can have this inspirational power, and this is why we can be more part of the solution than anyone else.”

An athletes’ panel featured Paris 2024 bronze medallist Alena Olsen, from the USA Rugby 7s team, who humbly pulled her new medal from her pocket to wear on stage. She urged sports organisations to include athletes in their work to support biodiversity, and has begun to engage with World Rugby, a S4N signatory. Alena was joined on stage by Abhinav Apjit Bindra, five-time Olympian and Beijing 2008 gold medallist from India, CEO of Abhinav Futuristics, founder of Abhinav Bindra Foundation Trust, and recently awarded the prestigious Olympic Order and appointed as 2^nd Vice-Chair of the IOC’s Athlete Commission.

He supported Olsen’s statement adding, “I think the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement provides us, athletes, with a great platform to be advocates for change in diverse fields.”

Adam von Koeverden, Canadian three-time Olympian and four-time medallist including a gold at Athens 2004, is now Parliamentary Secretary to Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change and to the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity, and acknowledged the work already done noting the evolution over multiple Olympic Games.

A panel of S4N signatories within the Olympic movement spoke about the Framework’s utility and flexibility. Karine Teow, Head of Sustainability at International Table Tennis Federation, noted that her organisation joined S4N because it wanted its efforts to be visible and credible, while Jamie McKeown, Sustainability, Diversity and Inclusion Manager at World Rugby, said the S4N Framework helped his organisation formalise the approach set out in its sustainability strategy. The group also acknowledged how easy it is to get started.

Rocio Echeverri, Executive Board Member and Chair of the Environmental Committee of the National Olympic Committee of Costa Rica, joked, “When you first start reading about this you think ‘Do I need to have a PhD to be able to do this?’, and the truth is you don’t. Anyone can do it. It is very simple. The most important thing is that we have allies who help us every step of the way.”

The gears shifted in the last part of the event and the audience was brought from “inspiration” to “commitment.” This sentiment was expressed in discussion with Olympic Movement leaders, Keith Joseph, President of the Caribbean Association of National Olympic Committees (CANOC), and Alexandra Palli, Chair of the Sport and Environment Committee at the Hellenic Olympic Committee, who highlighted the importance of cooperation, clear vision and leadership. They then both signed the S4N declaration, committing their respective organisations to acting towards the S4N Framework’s four key principles – nature protection, nature restoration, green procurement practices, and education and communications – and reporting annually on their progress.

CANOC and Hellenic Olympic Committee were joined on stage by representatives of six sport organisations, who also signed the Sports for Nature declaration. The new signatories, and others who have joined recently and were announced at the event, bring the total number to 76.

The event concluded with inspiring messages from representatives of Sports for Nature partners who reinforced the power of sport to inspire action.

Dona Bertarelli, IUCN Patron of Nature and Executive Chair of Dona Bertarelli Philanthropy, shared a video message saying, “From the grandest stadiums to our local sports parks, sports unite us in passion and spirit, but with unity comes responsibility. Every swing, hit, throw, kick, stroke, climb, sprint, ride, surf or sail impact nature. Our role in safeguarding this landscape is not just a duty, but a fundamental necessity for survival and well-being.”

And Programme Officer in Sustainable Lifestyles at the United Nations Environment Programme, Garrette Clark, closed the event by returning to one of its main objectives; to inspire: “Sports can be an amazing force to galvanise nature-positive change to a new norm, a more aspirational vision for sustainability.”

The new S4N signatories are: