The Greening of Sports

How We Drive Change

Love of sports is something most of us share. With their millions of fans, sports have immense power to challenge old thinking and influence our attitudes toward the environment.

And every change comes with the industry leaders who are ready to break barriers. UNDP helps create awareness of things that aren't always a part of our everyday dialogue, whether that's climate change, green growth or resource efficiency. UNDP Montenegro drives behavior change through the sports experience by using the influence of sports to engage fans and athletes, volunteers and whole communities to be more environmentally responsible – to save energy and water, reduce waste and prevent pollution.

By bringing meaning to our efforts to save the nature we connect it to our hearts.

Being bold about greening sports

From May 27 to June 1, Montenegro hosted the Games of the Small States of Europe 2019 welcoming 1200 athletes from 9 EU countries with less than 1 million inhabitants, 300 volunteers and 215 international journalists. UNDP helped Montenegrin Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism to organize a week full of sports focusing on five key areas: energy and water, transportation, venues, and waste.

The Games were supported by Olympic Solidarity and as part of its green initiative, the organizers have placed top priority on environmental friendliness. All athletes traveled to venues on shared transport. From the big things – like using reusable water bottles and ditching single use plastic ones, to eating lower impact protein and switching to local suppliers – we made it look easy.

Greening sports helps achieve sustainability by protecting natural resources, reducing personal carbon footprint, preserving biodiversity and reducing waste.

The sporting line-up at the Games of the Small States of Europe 2019 included events from 12 disciplines: athletics, basketball, beach volleyball, cycling, bowls, judo, swimming, tennis, table tennis, archery, shooting and volleyball. Many athletes coming from - Monaco, Cyprus, Andorra, Malta, Luxembourg, Iceland, Liechtenstein, San Marino and Montenegro - are already walking the walk.

’As athletes we have a duty to protect nature. Athletes need healthy food, clean air and water and a stable climate  due to many sports being rooted in the outdoor environment. Therefore all sports should start the journey towards environmental protection and reduce their impact on nature’’

Nicole from Monaco

And, behind every sporting event is an army of volunteers who have dedicated their time and efforts to sport. UNDP was lucky enough to be involved in the recruitment and training of 300 of them, thrilled to see that the enthusiasm around volunteering continues to grow in Montenegro!

‘’The games are over, but their impact is evident. They have outlined the vision for the future - we changed the rules of the game by playing sports more sustainably’’

Ivana Vojinovic, Ministry of Sustainable Development and Tourism.

Staging Sport Events comes with a huge environmental footprint

UNDP recognizes the sports industry’s growing embrace of LED and energy efficiency, water conservation and the role it plays in spreading the environmental message.

Sports venues in Montenegro have enormous potential to reduce their environmental impact by greening operations and engaging fans in green initiatives. Some of them have already began renovating their structure in a bid to minimize their carbon footprint. Moraca Sports Center is a newly renovated multi-sports energy-efficient building in Podgorica. UNDP’s Towards Carbon Neutral Tourism Project, supported expansion of its capacities and modernization of multi-functional training facilities. The Center was renovated by rethinking electrical installations, lighting, heating, ventilation, air conditioning and hydraulic networks and it now meets the most advanced energy efficiency standards.

Until recently, the most energy consuming building in Montenegro, the Sports Centre Moraca saves up to 80% energy thanks to its new highly efficient LED fixtures. They will also, in a course of 1 year, save 80,000 kWh of electricity and reduce CO2 emissions for 94.1 t.

Certainly, much work remains to be done, but we love to see how thousands of fans are being educated about environmental values by their favorite teams, athletes and sport venues across the country.

Our sustainable future is possible

Sporting events offer a powerful platform to work together to act responsibly. UNDP’s experience shows that sports can bring out the best in us.

‘’Next Games are inspired to choose an area: transport, electricity or ecology and showcase innovative ideas to inspire millions of others across the world"

Aleksandra Kikovic, UNDP Montenegro

The future of greening sports looks bright. The sports stories worth telling underscore a passion for people. Because every sport fan has a story to tell... We've done our part and it's now your turn!

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