The UIAA was one of number of international bodies who took part in a climate change workshop hosted on Friday 8 March by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at their temporary headquarters in Pully, Switzerland.
Some 20 international sport federations, among which the International Ski Mountaineering Federation (ISMF), World Rugby, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) and the International Ski Federation (FIS) to only name a few, took part in the discussion about the Sports for Climate Action Framework, an initiative launched under the auspice of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) at COP24 to gather sports organizations, teams, athletes, and fans in a concerted effort to raise awareness and action to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement. As the UNFCCC wording explains: “The Framework has two main goals, one being to achieve a clear trajectory for the global sports community to combat climate change, and the other to use sports as a unifying tool to drive climate awareness and action among global citizens.”
Julie Duffus, Olympic Movement Sustainability Manager, encouraged and supported all recognized and Olympic sport federations to join the initiative and act together against climate change. The 8 March meeting followed an initial workshop in December 2018. The goal of the session was to ensure federations commit to putting in place a more robust strategy and clearer timeline for implementation.
The conversation was led by Duffus, together with Jeremy Mathieu, International Manager at BAFTA Sustainability and Sustainability Advisor at BBC, while allowing all federation representatives to share their best practices as well as present challenges faced.
All attending representatives, the UIAA was represented by Project Manager Carol Kahoun, expressed their intention to sign the Sports for Climate Action Framework. The UIAA Mountain Protection Commission, has endorsed and already proposed joining the UNFCCC initiative to the UIAA Management Committee and expects their consensus and clear commitment to climate action at its next meeting in Malta on 4 May 2019.
Photo: UIAA/Carol Kahoun
