Concerns about the effects of climate change on potential hosts of the Winter Olympics have led the IOC to delay the election of the host of the 2030 Games.

Speaking at a press conference following an update from the Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games at the IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, Christophe Dubi, Olympic Games Executive Director said, “The Commission, building on Agenda 2020, outlined a number of proposals, but also potential uncertainties around hosting the winter Games which could have an impact on future elections.”

Global warming means the IOC could have a smaller pool of potential hosts of Winter Games to choose from.

“We have preliminary results on leading academic research on the impact of climate change which shows a potential reduction in the number of climate-reliable hosts in the future,” said Dubi.

The IOC Executive Board also heard how winter federations have already started to adjust their event calendars and formats.

It was also suggested that the Olympic Winter Game hosting rights might rotate “between a certain pool of cities and regions.”

There was also a conversation about further prioritising existing venues in the host selection criteria. “It is felt that for the future we should target hosts that can display all venues to be existing or temporary.”

Another proposal discussed would require future hosts to “show a minimum average of below zero [degrees Celsius] for snow competition venues at the time of the games over a ten-year period.”

“All these being considered, on the request of the Commission, the IOC Executive Board decided to give the Winter Commission more time to study all these factors and opportunities to make the best possible decisions about future hosting.

“It will enable the Commission to consult deeply with interested parties, IFs, NOCs, the athletes, winter sports industry experts and the IPC – because we are operating over a full month and that needs to be considered in a global warming environment.

“This will give the Commission more time to have a clearer picture and make a sounder decision for 2030.

“This means we are not targeting an election of the host of the Olympic Winter Games 2030 at the 114^th Session in 2023,” said Dubi.

“This is in line with the new flexible approach to electing Olympic hosts under which the Executive Board has the authority to determine the timing of the election in the interest of the Olympic Movement.”

The Executive Board also discussed the possibility of awarding the hosting rights to 2030 and 2034 simultaneously to “create stability for the winter sport and the Olympic Winter Games.”

Dubi said “The three interested parties have been informed of those conversations and discussions,” without naming the cities. Sapporo and Salt Lake City are interested parties; Vancouver was out of contention but may be back in the running.

The host selection process is still in the “continuous dialogue” stage, Jacqueline Barrett, Director of Future Olympic Games Hosts at the IOC explained.

“We haven’t opened targeted dialogue yet. So not targeting next year for a session will allow more time to develop these projects before when the commission feels its ready, to open a targeted dialogue.”

The IOC did not confirm the details of the changed timeframe for opening targeted dialogue, and subsequently electing the host city. 

“We are not going to push this decision many years down the road. We are still in continuous dialogue which is non-committal and open at this stage,” Barrett said.

“The mandate of the Commission is to ensure that there will always be a healthy pipeline of interest for the future… our door is never closed.

“There was a collective recognition around the table today… there are these concerns about the future of the Winter Games; the future of being able to practice Winter Games in the future – everyone is concerned about this.”

Sarah Lewis OBE OLY, Deputy Secretary General & Chief Operating Officer of FISU, and former Secretary General of FIS, told Host City: "Winter sports are and will increasingly need to adapt to a warming planet. We need to recognize our responsibility to ensure events are hosted in the most sustainable way possible today while having an adaptative, innovative and creative mindset regarding what winter sports will look like in the future. Transition is always painful but innovation and an adaptive, responsible mindset will hopefully enable a dynamic and engaging future for our athletes and all those engaged in winter sports.

"Lake Placid as Organiser of the FISU World University Games in January 2023 has embraced sustainability as a core element of the Games. Alongside the competitions themselves, the Lake Placid World Forum 2023 'Save Winter' will address this topic with leading academics and practitioners. Save Winter is a movement to unite all of us who love winter to work as one to save the season of snow. More than 40 million of us enjoy winter sports and recreation. Save Winter will help ensure we’re doing everything we can to reduce our impact on the planet and enjoy winter as it was meant to be enjoyed. It’s about more than just snow - it’s about keeping winter for generations to come."

The sport industry is an instigator of societal growth, as well as significant economic returns. As a result, the future of the industry doesn’t just impact the organisations involved within it; it affects a huge swathe of communities, fans and players around the world. 

Here are the trends that we’re expecting: 

1. Next generation of players, fans and workforces  

Gen Z (1997-2010) and Gen Alpha (2010-2025) will play and consume shorter, more action-packed formats of traditional sports. Organisations will have to innovate via format and rule changes, whilst captivating younger audiences through excellent online content, social media engagement and live experiences. 

Impact on the sports industry now: Declining interest in sport from younger generations is forcing organisations to begin their digital transformation to attract, retain and diversify fanbases & player pools. 

Impact that we expect to see by 2030: The future customer will dictate what new sports will become mainstream and how existing formats need to evolve. Delivering the right fan experience will continue to be a non-negotiable.  

2. Evolving global sports market 

The sports industry will continue to grow beyond its current commercial value of $500-600bn. The number of sports seeking to commercialise is increasing at an unprecedented rate and organisations will explore innovative ways to expand their revenue generation models. By 2030, private equity investment will be the major catalyst for change and commercialisation across sports. 

Impact on the sports industry now: Sports organisations are looking to commercialise in order to generate how revenue by boosting customer acquisition and retention. 

Impact that we expect to see by 2030: Investment in sport will enable organisations to have undertaken transformations, innovate and evolve to become entertainment entities. 

3. Pace of digital  

Digital innovation continues to yield new ways for people to play, consume and engage with sport. As a result, many ad-hoc initiatives are being driven through technological advancements. Keeping pace with digital is a major challenge and sports organisations must be agile in order to rapidly respond to grow and counteract disruption.  

Impact on the sports industry now: Sports organisations are going back to basics as the first step in their digital transformation, by establishing robust foundations with key capabilities that will enable their digital aspirations. 

Impact that we expect to see by 2030: Digital will be embedded in all aspects of sport, resulting in numerous use cases. Organisations will need to become data-obsessed and digital first in how they operate.    

4. Societal impact  

Societal demands are forcing sports organisations to redefine their views on equality, diversity and inclusion. From a participation standpoint, female sport will flourish with the aid of watershed moments like the success of the Women’s Euro 2022 Championship. Societal shifts will also mean that the structure of sports organisations will evolve, with a growing focus on building an inclusive industry for workers, players and fans. 

Impact on the sports industry now: Increased focus on societal issues and high-profile incidents has resulted in organisations taking a stance, grasping the potential for sport to act as a catalyst for societal change.  

Impact that we expect to see by 2030: Female representation in sport will be higher than ever before. More women will participate, including in traditionally male-dominated sports like football, cricket and rugby. The make-up of sports organisations will also evolve, as organisations will look to be more purpose-driven and be at the heart of broader societal change. 

5. Health and wellbeing  

Physical health is already a concern for many and this was exacerbated by the pandemic. Moreover, lockdowns highlighted the benefits of exercising and team sports due to the rise in mental health issues. Increased awareness and new sports formats will therefore play a role in boosting interest in sport and participation rates in the future. 

Impact on the sports industry now: Health is top of mind, particularly for younger generations post-pandemic. Disease prevention as a priority, increased from 22% to 28% between2020-2021 for both Millennials and Gen Z. 

Impact that we expect to see by 2030: Greater health awareness will drive more young people to exercise and play sport.  

6. Climate change and sustainability  

Climate change and sustainability are impacting consumer and societal expectations, with an emphasis on individuals and institutions taking a more environmentally conscious approach. The sports industry can be the catalyst in responding to and driving initiatives, if it wants to be, due to its ability to transect geographies and cultures. 

Impact on the sports industry now: It’s estimated that the sports industry contributes 0.6-0.8% to total global carbon emissions, with a carbon footprint equivalent to Spain. 

Impact that we expect to see by 2030: A changing climate will have a serious impact on how, when and where sport can be played. Governing bodies will need to play a leading role in developing policy accordingly. 

To receive the full overview of these forces for change, email: UKDeloitteSportsBusinessGroup@deloitte.co.uk

“AIPH is interesting for me because it’s committed to using knowledge of the power of plants for a sustainable future,” David Stubbs told the AIPH Expo Conference on 19 October.

“For me, that’s all about urban greening, and comes back to my early passion around biodiversity and creating good viable spaces for people’s health and well-being; it’s good for climate action and it’s a fantastic platform for spreading awareness.”

Early in his career, Stubbs was involved in a survey of all green spaces in London, through which he discovered that golf courses take up 3 per cent of the Greater London area. This led to more work in the sports sector, including his role as Director of Sustainability at the London 2012 Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Since then, Stubbs has worked in the field of major event sustainability for rights holders including the IOC, FIFA, F1 and World Economic Forum – and earlier this year he started working with AIPH - the global approving body for International Horticultural Expos - to develop their sustainability strategy.

Together they identified five policy themes where AIPH can make most difference, starting with climate action. Stubbs cited the recent IPCC reports tracking progress on meeting the Paris accord target of global warming of no more than 1.5 degrees.

“We are not on track to meet that and you can see the evidence all over the world through floods, droughts, forest fires and sea level rises – there are so many impacts of climate change that are happening all over. If through using plants and green spaces we can support climate adaptation and resilience programmes in urban environments, that will be a really important thing to do.

Linked to climate action is the biodiversity agenda, which promotes nature in cities and sustainable horticultural practices worldwide.

“Beyond that let’s look at sourcing and resource management. Think of all the materials that become waste or other forms of pollution, how we can become more efficient and create better policies towards the sourcing, use, disposing and reuse of these materials – it’s a circular economy approach.

“There’s also an important people dimension about equity and inclusion, making sure these green spaces are accessible by all. It’s also about upholding fair and equitable practices across the value chain, supporting diversity and human rights within the industry.

“Finally there’s education and awareness raising. Through green spaces, horticultural shows and green city initiatives we can inform people and inspire them about the role of plants and how it all links to biodiversity, climate action and the other themes.”

These policy themes will be implemented across a number of action areas. These include advancing sustainable practices in expos, making sure they are used to promote biodiversity and create legacies. Other action areas include providing help in the form of best practice guidance and trying to get urban areas more environmentally friendly through green city initiatives.

Through this work, the AIPH strategy will substantially help towards a number of the UN sustainable development goals.

“Having a programme which can support the realisation of some of these goals is a very exciting opportunity for the association.

“AIPH has the ambition for World Horticultural Expos to be recognised as among the world’s most sustainable major events. This is a great opportunity, when you think about how these sites can promote biodiversity conservation and create green legacies. It’s about helping these cities to improve their adaptation and resilience to climate change.

“We must also recognise that putting on these events can create a lot of impacts – waste, construction impacts, congestion – unless they are planned and delivered properly you don’t necessarily realise these benefits. The key to this strategy we are developing is to direct organisers to a much more sustainable approach.”

Stubbs cited the example of the London Olympic Park, which resulted in the cleaning up of a polluted river and industrial land, the use of renewable energy, sustainable materials, nature-friendly features such as streetlights that face away from the river to avoid disturbing bats – and an accessible parkland was created for people to visit and enjoy.

Biodiversity-enhancing features of the park include reedbeds, woodlands and microhabitats. It also serves as a flood alleviation site, absorbing large quantities of water to prevent flooding downstream.

“Plant Expos are like Olympic Parks – the horticultural elements were a big part of the Games,” Stubbs said.

Watch the full presentation here

AIPH is the global approving body for International Horticultural Expos. To find out more, please visit https://aiph.org/expos/

The pace of urbanisation, especially in China, is a “sensitive and significant” challenge facing humanity today, according to former French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe and Mayor of Le Havre.

“The world changes all the time, but the challenges that we face now are literally dizzying,” Philippe said in a keynote address to the Annual Conference of the Fondation Prospective et Innovation.

The hybrid conference took place at Convention Center of Futuroscope with the theme of Finding Balance in an Unstable World.

He identified demographics, the environment and China as “three elements that are sensitive and significant”.

“Urbanisation is dizzying in its pace around the world,” he said, pointing out that since the outset of the industrial revolution in the early 19^th century it took until 1931 for the urban population to exceed 50%, and another 50 years to reach 80%.

This contrasts greatly with the much faster speed of urbanisation in China in recent years.

“The transformation of China is like a city as big as Rome being built every 2 weeks,” said Philippe, pointing out that China has experienced in 30 years what took 250 years in Europe, and has used more concrete since 2013 than the US did in the whole of the 20th century.

“This transformation of infrastructures is incredibly dizzying.”

He also highlighted the contrast between demographic changes in Europe and other developing countries, as global population growth continues to soar. Europe’s median age is 43 and its net population of around 5m fell in 2020, whereas Africa’s median age is 20, with a population of 1.3bn set to double by mid-century.

Philippe also identified the environment as another dizzying change, with the effects of global warming already palpable everywhere. Climate change is causing terrible fires in Siberia, famine in Madagascar, and also affecting his city.

“The problems that we see in Le Havre due to rising sea levels are making it very difficult to build in the lower part of the city, because of the flood risk.”

We should all be worried about these changes, he said. “Those who are not feeling dizzy are a worry to me!”

As for solutions: “We must underscore the role of leaders in this dynamic. Thought, insight and debate can contribute to understanding the situation.”

Cultural codes

As French Prime Minister in 2018, Phillipe met Chinese President Xi Jinping who told him that other nations had shouldered the universe for a long time, but now China has the power to carry the whole weight of the universe.

European nations have a key role in counterbalancing risk of polarisation between the global economic superpowers, US and China.

“We can work within our means to be a European power, to try to be a strong France within Europe,” he said.

“We need intelligence and multilateralism – we need to be very careful how we understand our US and Chinese counterparts.

“We share some cultural codes with the US, but that doesn’t make us natural allies.

“We have different language and culture to China; it’s crucial that we create links with a country that remains difficult for Westerners to understand.”

The Fondation Prospective et Innovation , chaired by former French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, is also co-organising RAID2021 (Regulation of AI, Internet & Data) online on 12 Oct. Register for free here: http://www.raid.tech/register