The International Olympic Committee is making environmental sustainability a key goal as it looks toward the 2012 and 2016 Games and beyond.
IOC President Jacques Rogge told the 9th World Conference on Sports and Environment on Sunday that the IOC's ''commitment to the environment is more than just a matter of self-interest. It is a matter of values.''
''Reducing the environmental impact of the games is extremely important in its own right, but it also serves our goal of encouraging environmentally responsible behavior by others,'' he said.
''We have come a long way over the course of the past two decades. We have acknowledged and accepted our environmental responsibilities,'' he continued. ''I'm confident that our record of environmental progress will continue with next year's games in London, the 2014 games in Sochi and the 2016 games in Rio.''
Rogge said efforts to make the Olympics more sustainable started in 1994 at Lillehammer and have continued through the 2010 games in Vancouver that ''set a new standard for environmental sustainability in construction practices, energy conservation and legacy planning.''
He acknowledged the IOC still needed to do more, but did not offer new initiatives or discuss how the London or Rio games would be made sustainable.
United Nations Environment Program Executive Director Achim Steiner praised the IOC and FIFA for incorporating sustainability into their major events, noting that close to a dozen teams at the 2010 World Cup offset their carbon footprint.
Several groups are using the three-day conference to promote schemes they hope to put in place, including organizers of Munich's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. If chosen, Munich claims its games would be the first carbon neutral Olympics.
