Case Study

Inspiring sustainability in sports: Carbon emission management at the International Olympic Committee

19 pages
September 2024
Reference: IMD-7-2512

The case highlights the significant role played by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in reducing its environmental footprint and promoting sustainability in sports. As the leader of the Olympic movement, the IOC bore the responsibility of setting a positive example to inspire the broader sports community. With ambitious climate targets aiming to cut its carbon footprint in half by 2030, the IOC implemented a range of measures to reduce the environmental impact of its organization. These included the introduction of carbon budgeting, the adoption of innovative carbon footprint management tools as well as specific measures targeting areas such as mobility, building management and procurement. The Olympic House, inaugurated in 2019, was built according to some of the highest sustainability standards and stood as a testament of the IOC’s commitment to sustainability. Strategies to reduce emissions associated with international business travel, a major contributor to the organization’s overall carbon footprint, were particularly successful. The impact of these measures had to be carefully evaluated, considering their potential effects on organizational culture, efficiency, communication, employee satisfaction and talent attraction. Furthermore, the IOC leadership reflected on the effectiveness of its actions in inspiring other organizations within the Olympic movement to embrace sustainability practices. Looking ahead, the IOC remained committed to intensifying its efforts to achieve its carbon reduction goals by 2030. This included exploring improvements in impact measurement and introducing incentive schemes aimed at further encouraging carbon reduction.

Learning Objective
  • Understand the challenges of sustainability strategy setting and its implementation through a concrete case of a carbon emission accounting, management, and reporting system.
  • Gain knowledge of mandatory sustainability reporting and GHG protocol and become familiar with current regulations and reporting standards for emissions and climate related risks and opportunities.
  • Reflect on risks and opportunities related to carbon emission management as well as organizational impacts.
  • Learn the steps to design and implement a carbon management system, how to report carbon footprints as well as assess and develop emission management strategies and tools
  • Understand broader organizational effects when new management tools are introduced.
Keywords
Sustainability, Accounting, Strategy, Non-profit, Decarbonization, Carbon Accounting, Carbon Footprint, Carbon Footprint Reduction, Planetary Boundary Framework, Sustainability Reporting, Environmental Social and Governance, Climate Action
Settings
Europe, Switzerland
International Olympic Committee, Travel and Leisure, Sports
2021-2024
Type
Field Research
Copyright
© 2024
Available Languages
English
Related material
Teaching note
Case clearing houses
IMD case studies are distributed through case clearing houses. In order to browse the collection and purchase copies please visit the links below.

The Case Centre

Cranfield University

Wharley End Beds MK43 0JR, UK
Tel +44 (0)1234 750903
Email [email protected]

Harvard Business School Publishing

60 Harvard Way, Boston MA 02163, USA
Tel (800) 545-7685 Tel (617)-783-7600
Fax (617) 783-7666
Email [email protected]

Asia Pacific Case Center

NUCB Business School

1-3-1 Nishiki Naka
Nagoya Aichi, Japan 460-0003
Tel +81 52 20 38 111
Email [email protected]

Contact

Research Information & Knowledge Hub for additional information on IMD publications

Center for Sustainable & Inclusive Business
Discover our latest research
IMD's faculty and research teams publish articles, case studies, books and reports on a wide range of topics