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Commission for a Sustainable London 2012

Sustainable development was a centrepiece of London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

From decisions on how suppliers and sponsorship partners are chosen, to promoting appropriate training and long term employment opportunities and tackling global issues such as climate change, the London Games are set to make history.

By setting ambitious standards, inspiring innovation and new approaches to partnerships, London, the rest of the UK and the world can benefit from the London Games, long after the closing ceremony.

The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, launched on 23 January 2007, has been tasked to independently assure London’s 2012 pledge to host the most sustainable Games to date and its legacy.

It is the first body of its type in the history of the Games and the first created in relation to a major infrastructure programme of this size in the world.

The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 will advise the Olympic Board and report to the public on sustainable development across the entire Games programme, from delivery to staging and legacy.

The commission wants to help make the most out of the social, economic and environmental opportunities that will come with hosting this major sporting and cultural event in London and the UK and assure its legacy.

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We are pleased to announce the appointment of a further eight commissioners.
For a press release on the announcement of the new commissioners, please go to our media pages.

Commission publishes its first review

The commission published its first review on 29 November 2007. This was the first of its annual governance reviews, looking at the governance arrangements of the delivery bodies for the 2012 Games and how they are placed to deliver the “most sustainable Games to date”.

Key findings of the report include:

• a good start from the delivery bodies on sustainability strategy and planning, but the need to follow up with actions and results
• the need to define an overarching strategy for waste, particularly for legacy
• the need to follow through on a ground breaking attempt to develop a carbon footprint for the games and translate it into strategy for active management and minimisation of carbon and other greenhouse gases
• the requirement to establish cross cutting work streams across the activities of all the stakeholders and
• the need for the development of a clear plan for considering ethical issues in procurement and sponsorship contracts for the ODA and LOCOG and to maximise the opportunity presented to encourage wider performance improvements through partners

In the course of the review the commission was able to influence a number of policy areas including calling for the development of the overall London 2012 sustainability plan, launched on Monday; the initiative to develop an overall carbon footprint for the games, now being actioned; highlighting a lack of strategic focus on waste leading to the LDA taking responsibility and calling for stronger executive leadership which led to the appointment of Neale Coleman as Chair of the London 2012 Sustainability Group.

To read the review in full please go to our reports section to download the report.

For a press release on the launch of the governance review, please go to our media pages

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