The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has published the preliminary program for the upcoming 7th World Conference on Sport and the Environment. People from within and outside the Olympic Movement will meet and contribute to this event which will be hosted in Beijing from October 25 to 27.

This seventh edition of the Conference is being staged jointly by the IOC and the Beijing 2008 Organizing Committee, in close partnership with the United Nations Environment Program.

The IOC considers the environment as the third dimension of the Olympic Movement, alongside sport and culture. The objective is to ensure that the Games do not have a negative impact on the environment, but instead develop and enhance it and leave a green legacy, as well as promoting awareness of the importance of a healthy environment.

Thus a complete session will be devoted to Beijing’s environment partners, who will present a progress report on the preparations for the 2008 Games. They promise to be the Games that started the greening of China.

In a sense what is happening has a resonance in the old Scottish proverb about business. ‘First you get on, then you get honest, finally you get honor.’ China is moving firmly into the third phase.
Source: Beijing 2008