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SPORT FOR DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE THE UN SYSTEM IN ACTION

With sport being intimately connected to nature and a healthy environment necessary for healthy sport, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) aims to ensure that the impact on the environment of sports facilities, events, activities and the manufacture of sporting goods is minimized. Energy and water consumption, air pollution, emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances, waste management and impacts on biological diversity are all issues for the sporting world to address. UNEP uses the popularity of sports to promote environmental awareness and respect for the environment among the public, especially young people.

UNEP (2009), Independent Environmental Assessment: Beijing Olympic Games, Nairobi, Kenya.

UNEP (2007), Beijing Olympics 2008 - An Environmental Review, Nairobi, Kenya.

German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (2007), Green Champions in Sport and Environment, Berlin, Germany.

Environment Department of the Organising Committee for XX Winter Olympic Games Torino 2006 (2006), Sustainability Report 2006, TOROC, Torino, Italy

Lo Sze Ping (2004), UNEP Environmental Assessment, Expo 2010, Shanghai, China: Full Report, UNEP, Nairobi, Kenya.

5th World Conference on Sport and Environment, Turin 2-3 December 2003, Climate Change and Winter Sports: Environmental and Economic Threats

UNEP (2001), Sustainable Sport Management, Nairobi, Kenya.

UNEP and GSA: Vital Messages

Yao Ming
Status: UNEP Environmental Champion
Date of birth: 12 September 1980
Nationality: Chinese
Sport: Basketball
Date of appointment: 9 August 2008
Personal website: yaomingfanclub.com, theyaomingfoundation.org
Quote: “In my role as an environmental champion, I will work with governments, the private sector and the public to promote good and effective management of our environment so we can preserve the planet for future generations.”

Theodore Oben
Chief, Outreach
E-mail: theodore.oben(at)unep.org

News
Top Kenyan Athletes Support Half-Marathon Run to Celebrate UNEP's 40th Anniversary 7 February 2012
Nairobi (UNEP) - Kenya's top runners will join the public later this month for an historic half-marathon that will celebrate the UN Environment Programme's (UNEP) four decades of working for the environment and raising public awareness of what needs to be done to ensure the sustainable future of the planet.
UN Special Adviser Praises Winter Youth Olympic Games and Attends Christmas Truce Celebration in Flanders and Brussels 24 January 2012
Geneva (UNOSDP) – Wilfried Lemke, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, was in attendance last week at the closing of the 1st Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOGs) in Innsbruck, Austria. Tomorrow, he will travel to Belgium where he will give a lecture at the European Parliament and participate in a ceremony commemorating the Christmas Truce football game during WWI.
Winter Youth Olympic Games kicked off in Innsbruck 16 January 2012
Innsbruck (UNEP) – After three years of preparations the First Winter Youth Olympic Games (Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Games) officially kicked off on 13 January 2012 in the majestic city of Innsbruck located in the heart of the Austrian Alps. The city of Innsbruck is no stranger to the Olympics or young people having hosted the Winter Olympic Games in 1964 and 1976, and being the seat of major universities. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a long standing partner of th...
9th World Conference on Sport and the Environment in Doha comes to a close 3 May 2011
Doha, Qatar (UNOSDP) - The 9th IOC World Conference on Sport and Environment concluded yesterday in Doha, Qatar with the release of the Doha Declaration outlining a clear agenda for the sports world to renew its commitment to the environment.
Sochi 2014 Olympic Partners Commit to Mzymta River Basin Restoration 23 March 2011
Sochi / Nairobi (UNEP) - Leading partners involved in the construction of the Olympic venues and infrastructure in the Russian city of Sochi, host of the 2014 Winter Olympics, signed a Declaration, Wednesday, that commits them to develop and implement a restoration plan for the Mzymta River Basin, based on a recommendation by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

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