Environmentally Friendly 2010 Rowing Champs Impresses IOC

Event short-listed for a major award

Environmental strategies and plans for the 2010 World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro have caught the eye of the International Olympic Committee and secured the event a nomination for a new global Olympic environmental award.

The International Olympic Committee and its Commission for Sport and Environment recently launched the IOC Award for Sport and the Environment to encourage and acknowledge the implementation of outstanding and sustainable environmental practices in the field of sport.

It has shortlisted Karapiro 2010’s Rainbow Project – a portfolio of environmental strategies being developed around the event – for one of its top international awards. Winners will be announced at the next World Conference on Sport and the Environment in Vancouver at the end of the month.

“There will be one winner from each continent, and we have been advised that Karapiro 2010 has been shortlisted for the Australasian award,” explained Karapiro 2010 CEO Tom Mayo.
“We don’t know who we are competing against, though it is likely to be one of the more competitive continents.”

Rainbow Project initiatives built around the 2010 event include a carbon emission reduction scheme, a zero waste plan, educational programmes, a comprehensive bio security strategy for all international boats and equipment heading to the venue for the event, environmental protection for all permanent and temporary infrastructure, the inclusion of an environmental officer on the organising committee and plans to provide environmental training to ensure all officials and volunteers have a ‘green’ focus.

“Right from the beginning, the whole World Championship project has been about adding to the quality of the Karapiro domain and not just the rowers, but everyone who visits the venue. We are working very closely with many partners, such as Mighty River Power to make these goals realities.

“All of the goals are ambitious, and many of them are critical to ensuring the event leaves a positive and sustainable legacy. I believe it is this approach which has caught the eye of the IOC and marked out Karapiro 2010 as a stand-out example of sport and the environment working in harmony.”

“The Rainbow Project encompasses all of our environmental initiatives, goals and strategies and involve a high degree of planning and delivery that some sporting events might consider more than enough, but that’s the way we want to deliver this championship.

Rowing as a sport relies on the quality of its environment for its very existence and Karapiro 2010 will most certainly reflect that. To be nominated for this award is clear acknowledgement that we are heading in the right direction and we are all delighted by that.”

The World, Rowing Championships will be held at Lake Karapiro between October 29th and November 7th. They were last held in New Zealand in 1978 – an event which is widely acknowledged as one of the best ever in the sport’s history.