The Environment: A TOP Priority

At the 7th World Conference on Sport and the Environment in Beijing (25th to the 27th October) two of the Olympic Movement’s TOP partners, Coca-Cola and GE will share their expertise with the delegates.

Coca-Cola has been a worldwide Olympic Partner since 1928—longer than any other. Coca-Cola was also one of the first sponsors to support the IOC’s environmental agenda.

At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, Coca-Cola will once again serve the Olympic community with its HFC-free refrigeration equipment, resource-efficient packaging, biodegradable cups and recycling programmes. The company also plans to unveil the expansion of its hybrid diesel fleet of trucks in China and highlight its efforts to reduce travel miles for product deliveries in the country.

In addition, Coca-Cola is focusing a great deal of attention on raising environmental awareness in Beijing and across China. In advance of the Games, the company has launched an ambitious “Save a Barrel of Water” programme in Beijing to help young people understand the value of water conservation in their daily routines. Developed in partnership with the Beijing Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, China’s Ministry of Education and a number of local community organisations, the programme encourages students to work with their families to save fresh water and recycle waste water.

Another strong proponent of water conservation—and, for that matter, renewable energies, desalination, cleaner coal and greenhouse gas reductions—is GE. The company, which became a Worldwide TOP Partner in 2005, offers an array of solutions aimed at addressing the world’s most pressing environmental challenges.

For the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, GE is providing a number of cutting-edge energy, lighting and water treatment solutions based on ecomagination technologies. In addition to helping the Beijing Organising Committee deliver “green Games” that promote long-term environmental sustainability, these solutions are allowing GE to showcase its business and technology expertise to potential customers in China. According to Peter Foss, GE’s president of Olympic sponsorship, the company’s relationship with the Olympic Movement is helping them achieve that goal. “Our potential customers in China understand the need for green solutions, especially in the areas of water purification and renewable energies. What we are doing with the organising committee in Beijing certainly gets their attention.”

Indeed, it does. GE is currently delivering several large non-Olympic-related ecomagination projects across China. One involves providing water-processing solutions for the Nanpu Waste Water Plant in Tangshan, which allows recycled water to be used to cool equipment at nearby electricity plants. Another involves supplying wind turbines for the Zhangbei and Shangyi power plants north of Beijing, which will generate nearly 80 megawatts of power and eliminate up to 18.3 million tonnes of greenhouse gases.







The TOP Partner programme provides a win-win scenario for all involved. The Olympic Movement benefits from access to cutting-edge technologies, practises and solutions that promote great Games and environmental sustainability. As GE’s Foss explains, “Our association with the Olympic Games provides great opportunities for us to create connections with other companies committed to environmental causes. The IOC is facilitating conversations and providing a great platform for new collaborations.”