Sochi 2014 to Deliver Sustainable Development

Approval of sustainable development policy at Supervisory Board meeting 30 Jun 2011 By IPC

The second Sochi 2014 Supervisory Board meeting of 2011 under the chairmanship of Alexander Zhukov, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, has taken place at the House of the Government of the Russian Federation.

A key outcome of the meeting was the approval of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee sustainable development policy, which includes ensuring that the opportunities arising from hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games are fully utilised to make positive changes in the Sochi region and across Russia.

Mr. Zhukov was joined at the meeting by Supervisory Board members Alexey Gromov, Deputy Chief of the Presidential Executive Office, Marat Bariev, Executive Director of the Russian Olympic Committee, Anatoly Pahomov, Sochi Mayor and Mikhail Terentiev, Secretary General of the Russian Paralympic Committee.

The Supervisory Board rated the innovative Sochi 2014 sustainable development management system concept very highly. The Board’s approval of the concept means that the sustainable development programme will be developed and will be officially presented during the International Investment Forum in Sochi in 2011.

A number of leading Russian and international environmental and sustainability experts have been working on the concept. The new system will unite the best international standards and the outstanding achievements in this area, and will look to implement sustainable development principles as part of the operational activity around the preparations and hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. This includes the core activities in the sustainable development field including a healthy way of life, harmony with the nature, a world without barriers, economic prosperity, modern technologies, culture and national values.

During the course of his speech Alexander Zhukov, the Chairman of the Sochi 2014 Supervisory Board and Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, said:

“The Sochi 2014 project allows Russia to take a giant step forward. We are already seeing the great positive legacy that the Games offers, including the development of a volunteer movement for the first time in Russia, free-barrier construction for people with a disability and the implementation of green standards. Following the approval of the sustainable development concept today, we want to tap into the potential for the Games to act as a catalyst to the full to bring long-term positive changes not only to Sochi but across the whole of Russia.”

Dmitry Chernyshenko, the President and CEO of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, said: “We have ambitious goals concerning all aspects of our preparations for the Sochi 2014 Olympic and Paraylmpic Winter Games. The system of sustainable development, created largely on the back of the preparations for hosting the Games will become the most important legacy of Sochi 2014.”