How SAMBO can Play its Role for Nature

Representatives of FIAS, together with employees of various sports organizations, at the invitation of the International Olympic Committee, took part in the discussion of the concept of "Sports for Nature" Framework, as well as in communication with representatives of the Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Convention on Biological Diversity.

The event's framework was designed to help sport take measurable environmental action that will contribute to the achievement of their sustainable development goals. The Sport for Nature Framework reflects and will work hand in hand with the UNFCCC-led Sport for Climate Framework for Action.

For decades, the United Nations Environment Program has worked with sport as a channel for raising environmental awareness and proactively addressing environmental issues. In 2020, the United Nations introduced the Triple Planetary Crisis concept, referring to three interconnected crises—climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss—that put people at risk of irreversibly changing our relationship with the natural world.

“Eight major winter sports events have already had to be canceled this season as the sports fields we used to take for granted are literally melting. We hope that this new structure will be able to enlist the support of the entire sports family in the fight for nature, we can no longer waste time,” said UNEP Ecosystems Director Susan Gardner.

Now UNEP is re-envisioning the sports sector as a critical partner on the nature agenda, particularly as the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration takes shape, and the urgency of adopting and following the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework across all segments of society becomes apparent.

Two complementary initiatives inspired this effort: the United Nations Sports for Climate Action initiative co-launched by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as well as guides produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the IOC on Sports and Biodiversity.

During the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP 15) from 7-19 December 2022 in Montreal, Canada, governments from around the world came together to agree on a new set of goals to guide global action through 2030 to halt and reverse nature loss. Among other valuable targets and goals at this event was officially launched the "Sports for Nature" Framework.

The International SAMBO Federation is one of the twenty-three sports organisations that become the early signatories of this Framework. Signatories to the framework commit to developing and implementing action plans for each of the four principles, and report on their progress annually to an expert panel, who will confirm that the actions undertaken are credible and effective. On behalf of the founding partners, IUCN will lead on coordination with the signatories to the Framework and provide them with technical support, tools and training in partnership with Sails of Change Foundation, which is dedicated to the protection and regeneration of biodiversity.

This is a natural continuation confirming the commitment of the FIAS to the principles of sustainable development, which we accepted by the Federation from the beginning after the SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly.  Since that moment, the International SAMBO Federation has developed the FIAS policy in the field of ecology and sustainable development, the Guide to activities in the field of sustainable development, the Sustainable Development Strategy for 2021-2030 and has regularly reported on all seven years of work in this area. Moreover, in 2019, the FIAS became a signatory of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework. Since that, three times, the International SAMBO Federation annually was among the sports organizations that won the Carbon Action Awards of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The FIAS is grateful for the opportunity to be one of the first a signatory of the "Sports for Nature" Framework and to collaborate with an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources and the global authority for the environment with programmes focusing on climate, nature, pollution, sustainable development and more, with the endless support of IOC.