Global Forum for Sports and Environment
Joint Declaration on Sports and the Environment
The joint declaration states as follows: "We recognize that a healthy environment, with clean air and water, is a product of natural ecosystems and essential for those who play sports. We therefore declare that we are committed to reducing pollution and enriching the natural environment so that future generations can enjoy sports as we do now." The goal of the joint declaration is two-fold: Firstly, the declaration, signed by the leaders of the sports world at the Aichi Expo, will be passed on to upcoming international sporting events, such as the Olympics Games, and to the representatives of international sports federations at the Summit, creating a globally expanding movement for an environment where future generations can safely enjoy sport. Secondly it is hoped that the joint declaration will give courage and support, and help to foster the positive efforts of all the organizations worldwide that are already tackling environmental problems through sport and in their everyday lives, as part of the “Ecoflag Movement”—a program supported by NPO Global Sports Alliance and the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) that promotes saving energy, reducing garbage and other environmental measures among a global family of sports organizations, teams and events. At the Roundtable Discussion, the declaration was studied in detailed and the attending delegates and guests given an opportunity to offer comments or criticism. Both Fekrou Kidane of the International Association of Athletics Federations and Michael Kleiner, Head of the United Nations Office for IYSPE 2005, praised the simplicity and clarity of the declaration. Wataru Iwamoto of UNESCO stressed the importance that education would play in achieving the goals of the statement, and Tatsuo Okada of NPO Global Sports Alliance (GSA) reminded the group that this official joint declaration had been joined by hundreds of individual declarations submitted to the Sports Summit by sports organizations around the world. Paolo Revellino, Head of Sustainability Assessment, Torino 2006, praised the ‘simple but strong’ statement and promised that Torino would do all it could to protect the integrity of the environment, sentiments echoed up by Salla Koivusalo of the IAAF World Championships in Helsinki. Michael Kleiner, Head of the United Nations Office for IYSPE 2005, announced that the Joint Declaration would be given a significant space at the second International Conference on Sport and Development in Magglingen, Switzerland in December, along with the results of the other sports-related events that have made up the International Year of Sports and Environment (IYSPE) 2005. The joint declaration was signed by the following delegates. Torao Oshima, SSE 2005 Executive Committee Chairman (Chunichi Shimbun) For more information on the Joint Declaration, contact info@gsa.or.jp |
One of the key features of the Sports Summit for the Environment (SSE) 2005 was a roundtable discussion held at the Tokugawaen in Nagoya on 30 July, where the main delegates at the Summit discussed the details of a Joint Declaration on Sports and the Environment, which was to be signed and then officially announced at the Expo Dome of the World Exposition in Aichi the next day.