www.olympic.orgOLYMPIC REVIEW45In recent decades, first environmental protection andthen sustainable development became establishedas urgent goals for the world's various societies -both industrialised and developing nations - as the thirdmillennium got under way. Yet these concepts requireboth support and active commitment from everyone,from individuals through to political bodies including alllocal, regional and global organisations; at the sametime they challenge some of the lifestyle habits we haveinherited from the industrial era. Moreover, newevaluation mechanisms will need to be developed inorder to choose which methods to implement and to assess the results obtained by applying conceptsrelating to different fields. These are the main difficulties in implementing these goals if we wish tomove beyond good intentions.The International Olympic Committee has not onlybeen a pioneer in embracing these concepts but alsohas sought to facilitate their implementation. To this endsince 1997 it has produced a number of documentsexplaining the role that all the Olympic family shouldplay in protecting the environment (Manual on Sportand the Environment, 1997, revised in 2005) andsustainable development (The Olympic Movement'sAgenda 21, 1999), and also providing practicalguidelines for implementing these concepts (IOC GuideOn Sport, Environment and Sustainable Development,IOC, Lausanne, 2005).The IOC's central idea in this area is that humansare an integral, indeed central, component of theenvironment and that any attack on human integrity isan attack on the environment as a whole. Respect forthe environment begins with respect for the individual.In particular this relates to the individual as a biologicalentity: this means that the battle against drugs, dopingand narcotics - which have serious long-term ?AboveSportsactivities canoffer a modelfor improvingenvironmentalprotection andsustainabledevelopmentBEYOND GOODINTENTIONSJOSEPH TARRADELLASAND DOMINIQUE ROSSELARGUE THAT WHEN IT COMES TO SPORT, THE ENVIRONMENT AND SUSTAINABLEDEVELOPMENT, ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER THAN WORDS

46OLYMPIC REVIEWwww.olympic.orgOLYMPIC RESEARCH CORNERpsychological and physiological effects on the individual- also contributes to environmental protection andsustainable development. Beyond this, whether asporting activity takes place in a natural environment orin a stadium, the key criterion to be observed is toensure that it does not have any further damagingeffect on the environment where it takes place. In other words all sporting activities should avoid: ?causing water pollution; ?discharging solid waste; ?emitting toxic gases which could harm the ozone layer or add to the greenhouse effect; ?polluting or eroding land;?contributing to deforestation; ?reducing biodiversity; ?damaging landscapes, physically or aesthetically; ?depleting non-renewable resources. As regards sustainable development, it is vital thatsporting activities should avoid: ?wasting resources - raw materials, energy and water; ?marginalising particular groups or sections of the population; ?undermining cultures or beliefs; ?undermining local economic activities. Finally, sports activities can offer a model for improvingenvironmental protection and sustainable development.Through sport, for example, it is possible to: ?raise people's awareness and appreciation of nature; ?combat the damaging health effects of polluted environments; ?promote low-pollution, resource-efficient forms of mobility; ?help different groups within society to meet and understand one another; ?combat segregation of all kinds; ?protect young people against acts of violence to which they may be subjected; ?contribute to the integration of disadvantaged groupsand people with disabilities.For sportspeople, implementing these criteria is allabout attitude - whatever the nature of the events theyare involved in (physical activities, competitions, sportsadministration, creating and managing infrastructure,equipment suppliers, audiences and the media). To sumit up: sportspeople take action through sport itself. The IOC has paved the way by placing increasingemphasis on the environmental aspects of the criteriacandidate cities must fulfil in order to host the OlympicGames. Major advances have also been achieved by allother players in the sporting world in improving theenvironment-friendly credentials of purely technicalaspects of their sports. Measures taken include bans ondangerous products (such as aromatic solvents inadhesives used for rubber, asbestos in buildings, anti-fouling paints containing tin in sailing, etc.), improvedmanagement of other potentially polluting products(refrigerant liquids, artificial snow, the lead shot used inshooting, etc.), improved energy efficiency in buildingsand waste sorting at large-scale events. This is by nomeans an exhaustive list - every new facility and eventbrings further welcome progress. We must celebrateand acknowledge the efforts made in this direction,especially by the International Federations, the buildersof sports facilities and the equipment manufacturers.Yet it is evident that the transition from intention toapplication is not happening as swiftly as we mighthope when it comes to energy and the economic andsocial aspects of sustainable development. This isbecause these are areas where environmentalprotection and the promotion of sustainabledevelopment call into question our lifestyle and thedominant modes of global governance. In particular,sustainable development asks us to promote thedevelopment of local trade in energy and raw materials.One of the ways this concept is applied is throughindustrial ecology: connecting the various activities of agiven region in a closed loop in order to minimise theenergy expended on transport and to promote recyclingand the re-utilisation of materials and energy. Industrialecology is therefore fundamentally incompatible withthe current globalisation of trade.Let's take another example: energy efficiency. Thesedays everyone is aware that our world cannot persistwith its unrestricted use of non-renewable energysources and that these are the main cause of globalwarming. In this respect the modes of transport we usemust be subject to particular scrutiny. Of course, theexistence and development of reliable transportnetworks is a key factor in promoting progress - butthe nature of these transport networks is crucial. If wewish to promote sustainable development, preserveenergy resources and contribute to the battle againstthe greenhouse effect, we must be consistent in ourdedication to promoting public transport and propulsionsystems that use non-renewable energies in the mosteconomic way.For the world of sport this means a change ofattitude which has not yet been fully achieved. Staging