(This report begs some questions:

• Are “climate neutral events” really lowering carbon and curbing climate change?
• Does “creating modern cultural landscapes that contribute to environmental knowledge and awareness raising” translate into behavior change at scale large enough to address the challenge?
• What measures of effectiveness are being applied? By whom? Accountable to whom?)

Nairobi, 11 February 2009 United Nations Environment Programme (United Nations Environment Programme)

It used to be “Swifter, Higher, Stronger” but in the future the Olympic motto may well include “lower” at least as it relates to carbon and curbing climate change. …From the 2014 Sochi Olympics to the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be hosted by South Africa to Norway’s premier car race starting tomorrow - major sporting events around the globe are increasingly looking at neutralizing their carbon footprint as part of overall “greening” strategies.

“Whether carried out on track and field or on ice and snow, sporting events ignite the spirit of achievement in thousands of competitors and billions of spectators worldwide. It is therefore heartening that this passion for excellence increasingly encompasses environmental performance, with sporting organizations raising the bar ever higher at each and every tournament”.— Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director

• The Sochi Olympics organizers have set the goal of hosting “Carbon Neutral Games”, which will be pursued by investing an estimated US$1.75 billion in energy conservation and renewable energy, upgrading transport infrastructure, and by offsetting remaining greenhouse gas emissions from the use of electricity, air travel and ground transportation. Other environmental initiatives include development of “green belts” in the city and reforestation of the Sochi National Park.
• The FIFA 2010 World Cup - which will be staged at 10 venues across nine South African cities-will be the first-ever global soccer tournament to be hosted by an African nation…The FIFA 2010 World Cup will have the largest carbon footprint of any major event with a goal to be “climate neutral”-estimated at more than two million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent, with international travel contributing more than 65 percent.
• Often likened to a “winter Dakar”, Rally Norway is the annual extreme motor sports event with over 20 teams racing against each other on iced-over and snow-covered tracks. This year’s edition, which will be held from 12-15 February in Hamar, also aims to be the first “emission-neutral” rally.
  

  “Rally Norway aims to be the driving force to change the motor sports to a low-carbon sport. The drivers are role models, and the races are test labs for new technology and more low-carbon fuels. Our objectives are to be a driving force to make all World Rally Championships climate neutral, and hopefully this will influence the car production and the fuel production to low-carbon cars in general.” (Granted: auto motor sports has always been about innovation and technology development. Wouldn’t it be nice it it was more appropriately intentioned?)

• the Norwegian Grand Prix is one of the most spectacular powerboat events in the world and the largest annual outdoor sporting event in Norway with more than 100,000 spectators. The Norwegian Grand Prix’s vision is to be a global champion of climate neutral boat sports, and to leave the legacy of sustainability to future generations.
• the Norwegian Golf Federation (NGF)-the country’s third largest sports association with 122,000 members-aims to show that golf courses can serve as good examples of sustainable area planning in creating modern cultural landscapes that contribute to environmental knowledge and awareness raising. The Federation has pledged to make its operations climate neutral as of this year.

UNEP’s Climate Neutral Network

25th session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum

UNEP’s Sport and Environment
UNite to Combat Climate Change campaign

(Via Yahoo Search: sports carbon neutral&ei=UTF-8&fl=0&x=wrt.)