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The National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC -K) is committed to promoting, applying, and embedding sustainability principles and practices within its operations. It supports its member federations taking action to address the triple planetary crisis. This will be achieved by developing a Sustainability Policy and Sustainability Strategy. The NOC-K Sustainability Strategy (2023-2028) known as LEA – is anchored on three sustainability pillars.
Tree planting exercise in Ngong, Kenya
Photo: Lawrence Nzuve/SEI
These pillars include (1) Leadership; (2) Education; and (3) Action (acronym – LEA). LEA means “nurture” in Swahili language.
In its report Making Peace With Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) notes that the world is faced with an environmental emergency caused by the triple planetary crisis of climate change, loss of nature, and pollution of water and air. These environmental problems are affecting all sections of society including sports. Urgent action is therefore needed from the sports community to mitigate the risks and adapt to climate change, loss of biodiversity, land degradation, and air and water pollution. Sports, with its wide-reaching influence, can be a powerful tool for raising awareness and catalysing actions to address the current environmental challenges.
As a member of the International Olympic Commission (IOC) and the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), NOC-K Sustainability Agenda are guided and informed by the IOC Sustainability Strategy and the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Sustainability Policy. The IOC has developed guidelines for sustainability, including the more recent Olympic Agenda 2020+5 emphasizing sustainability as one of the critical pillars.
Furthermore, NOC-K is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Sports for Climate Action (S4CA) Framework which requires signatories to commit to achieving specific climate goals of halving emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) by 2030 and aiming to achieve net-zero by 2040. NOC-K and Athletics Kenya are the only signatories for the S4CA in Kenya, and among only 10 signatories from Africa (as of 24th April 2024). On 20 March 2024, NOC-K also became the fifth signatory, and first from Africa, to join the Sports for Nature (S4N) Framework, an initiative supported by UNEP, which aims to deliver transformative action for nature across sports, by 2030 and beyond, enabling sports to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration. Both the S4CA and the S4N frameworks are global platforms that provide NOC-K with the opportunity to be global leaders in using sports to address the triple planetary crisis and contribute towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The Specific objectives for the Sustainability workshop include the following;
The expected workshop outputs include the following.
The expected workshop outputs include the following.
The workshop will bring together participants from the National Olympic Committee of Kenya (NOC-K) Secretariat and Committee members, representatives from the member federations (sustainability champion and executive member), representatives of partner institutions (the United Nations Environment Programme – UNEP and SEI and experts from key national and technical institutions.
The workshop objectives will be achieved through keynote speeches, plenary thematic and topical presentations, group workout sessions, and training involving practical demonstrations of key requirements such as carbon footprint calculations and reporting. The workshop will comprise a total of 10 Sessions over two days. The first day will focus on high level participation, and the second day will be dedicated to practical demonstrations of sustainability in action and sharing of experiences. The information from the workshop will enrich the Draft NOC-K Sustainability Policy and the NOC-K LEA Sustainability Strategy.
NOC-K has organised the workshop in partnership with Athletics Kenya, the UNEP Regional Office for Africa (ROA) and the SEI Africa Center.
Day 1 (Monday 29th April 2024): High level session for NOC-K Leaders
| Time | Activity |
| 08:00-0830 | Registration |
| 09:00 – 09:45 | SESSION 1: OPENING
Moderator: Francis Mutuku, Secretary General, NOC-K
|
| 09:45 – 10:30 | SESSION 2: HIGH LEVEL KEYNOTE SPEECHES
Moderator: Francis Mutuku, Secretary General, NOC-K
|
| 10:30-11:00 | BREAK |
| 11:00 – 13:00 | SESSION 3: SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVES BY NOC-K
Moderator: tbd
|
| 13:00 – 14:00 | LUNCH |
| 14:00-14:30 | SESSION 4: FROM COMMITMENT TO ACTION IN SUSTAINABILITY – SPORTS RESPONSE TO THE TRIPPLE PLANETARY CRISIS
Moderator: Dr. Andriannah Mbandi, UNEP Regional Office for Africa
|
| 14:30-15:30 | SESSION 5: FOCUS AREAS FOR NOC-K SUSTAINABILITY POLICY AND THE LEA STRATEGY (GROUP SESSIONS)
Moderator: Philip Osano
|
| 15:30 | BREAK AND END OF DAY 1 |
Day 2 (Tuesday 30 April 2024): Training session for operational level staff
| Time | Activity |
| 08:30-09:00 | Recap of Day 1 |
| 09:00 – 09:45 | SESSION 6: MANAGING CLIMATE AND NATURE RISKS TO HEALTH AND SPORTS
Moderator: Chief Medical Officer (CMO), NOC-K
|
| 09:45 – 10:45 | SESSION 7 – PART 1: SHARING OF LESSONS – EXPERIENCES FROM SELECTED ATHLETES TAKING ACTION ON SUSTAINABILITY (PANEL SESSION)
Moderator: Dr. Philip Osano SEI Africa Center SESSION 5 (Continued): Report back from the Working Groups (10 min each) and General Discussions
|
| 10:45-11:00 | BREAK |
| 11:00 – 11:30 | SESSION 7 – PART 2: SHARING OF LESSONS – EXPERIENCES FROM SPORTS FEDERATIONS TAKING ACTION ON SUSTAINABILITY (PANEL SESSION)
Panelists
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| 11:30-12:00 | SESSION 7 – PART 2: SHARING OF LESSONS – EXPERIENCES FROM SPORTS FEDERATIONS TAKING ACTION ON SUSTAINABILITY (PANEL SESSION)
Panelists
|
| 12:00-12:30 | SESSION 8: WORKSHOP CLOSING SESSION
Closing Remarks and next steps by NOC-K |
| 12:30-13:30 | LUNCH |
| 13:30 – 14:30 | SPECIAL SESSION 9: SUSTAINABILITY CLINICS (PRACTICAL DEMONSTRATION ON HOW TO DO IT) – PARALLEL SESSIONS
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