Complementing the adoption of legacy and sustainability as focus areas of the FISU Global Strategy in 2022, FISU has become the latest signatory of the United National (UN) Sports for Climate Action Framework and the Race to Zero.
By joining 270 other signatories from the sport sector within the UN Sports for Action Framework, FISU commits to support the overarching mission of UN Climate Change to help drive the sports sector to meet global targets for addressing climate change. Automatically becoming a signatory of the Race to Zero, FISU is also part of a global campaign seeking support from various leaders in the sport sector to collectively cut carbon emissions in half by 2030 and seeking net-zero emissions as soon as possible.
“In addition to our ongoing efforts to create a more sustainable approach to our activities as the governing body of university sport, signing the Sports for 
Climate Action Framework is yet another step we are taking to ensure that our leaders of tomorrow have what they need including a healthier planet,” said Eric Saintrond, FISU CEO & Secretary General.
“Climate change is a serious issue that is having an impact on all sports events worldwide.
Serving the sport community, we must collectively act now to ensure the opportunity and promise that sport delivers to young people today is also available to them in the future,” he mentioned.
The Sports for Climate Action Framework was created by the UN and made for sports organisations and their stakeholders to tackle climate change through a set of principles outlined by the framework:
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Undertaking systematic efforts to promote greater environmental sustainability
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Reducing overall climate impact
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Educating for climate action
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Promoting sustainable and responsible consumption
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Advocating for climate action through communication
As outlined by the United Nations, the Race to Zero (also part of the framework) is aimed at collectively driving organisations close to net-zero emissions by 2040 and mentions universities as one of the key stakeholders to create this change—an area in which FISU will play a continued key role in developing.
“In 2020, we launched the Healthy Campus programme aiming to create more sustainable and healthy campus communities that received an overwhelming response. We have no doubt that universities and our members will want to do their part in creating a better world and a healthier planet through university sport using this framework and other ongoing initiatives,” Saintrond concluded.
Written by Sameer Janmohamed, assistant to the director general