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Acting sustainably not without challenges

Olympic watchers disappointed in lack of details in VANOC report

Operating sustainably has not been without its challenges for 2010 Olympic organizers, a new report shows.

It has been taxing to find companies that meet sustainable standards set by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Games (VANOC), there was a significant diesel spill at the Nordic centre in the Callaghan, and finding ways to reduce carbon emissions is driving every employee to think out of the box.

But the long-term legacy, said Ann Duffy, corporate sustainability officer for VANOC, is worth it.

“As we flesh out the report we see even more how sustainability touches everything we do here at VANOC, and with two years remaining we have been able to really see how our commitment is landing on the ground,” she said.

VANOC released its second of five expected Sustainability Reports this week. The full version and a snapshot were made available on the 2010 website at www.vancouver2010.com .

It covers efforts on the sustainability front by VANOC from Aug. 1, 2006 to July 31st, 2007.The study looks at six key performance areas which are under its direct control: accountability, environmental stewardship and impact reduction, social inclusion and responsibility, Aboriginal participation and collaboration, economic benefits, and sport for sustainable living.

The organization has come under fire by critics for not doing more to solve larger issues such as homelessness in inner city areas. But the report makes it clear that VANOC, while it can work with its partners on the issues, does not have the mandate to solve all problems.

By dividing the report into manageable parts VANOC also attempted to make the issue of sustainability more understandable. Though a buzzword for some time, many still think it is confined to issues around the environment. Getting the message out that it is about more than that is important said Duffy.

“Sustainability for us is taking responsibility where we can in everything we do,” she said.

“And taking responsibility means not only being on time and on budget but looking at the environmental opportunities and the social opportunities and the economic and prosperity opportunities in our decision making.

“Some times they are little things, like having waste-recycling in our offices, and sometimes they are big things, like finding a compact way to build a cross country ski venue, or finding ways to raise awareness around some of the people you can hire and recruit.”

In putting together the report 23 non-governmental organizations (NGO) were consulted, as well as other stakeholders.

While there are some interesting details in the report which have not been public before — like the gender and age of VANOC’s staff is 50/50 male and female and most workers are under the age of 39 — it is general in nature.

That was disappointing for some organizations awaiting its release.

“It really paints their endeavours in broad brush strokes so it is difficult to arrive at any sort of measurable results or any kind of measurable opinion really about whether or not they are doing well,” said Greenpeace forest campaigner Stephanie Goodwin.

“So it is difficult not just for an NGO, but for the general public to be able to get a really good view on what is going on.”

Greenpeace is studying the use of responsible wood products in the construction of the Olympic venues. Goodwin said they had expected to see details of VANOC’s efforts on that issue in the report.

“One of the things that we had anticipated was that VANOC would come out and would be able to report out publicly on this given this mechanism of the sustainability report… but the report is surprisingly silent, disappointingly silent on that issue specifically.”

Goodwin said, however, that the organization was pleased to see VANOC using the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

The report also has little information about how VANOC plans to offset its carbon emissions.

Duffy said more details would be released shortly as the organization looks at offset opportunities and finalizes its transportation plan.

“…We know where our emissions are and we are really focusing on the heavy lifting to find reduction opportunities,” she said.

“We know we are still going to have some offsets to invest in to zero-out our emissions by the end of Games time and coming up in the next month we will be sharing in more detail our Carbon Responsible Games plan.

Duffy said VANOC wants to make sure that the offsets reduce the need for fossil fuels, focus on green energy opportunities, offer some local benefits and perhaps provide job opportunities associated with target communities like Aboriginal peoples.

Deborah Carlson, climate change campaigner for the David Suzuki Foundation was hoping for more information from the report.

“I was waiting to hear more details about their offset plans and to date there aren’t really any details about that,” she said.

“We are getting close now to 2010 — it’s less than two years away and it does take a certain amount of time to develop offset projects. At this point it does seem perhaps… that there is some question now that the offsets could be ready in time for 2010.”

The Suzuki Foundation was asked by VANOC earlier this year to study what the emissions might look like from the Games. The foundation produced a report last month that suggested VANOC buy local and international offsets as a way of spreading the message throughout the world.

The report states that the half of the 96 vehicles in the VANOC fleet are low-emission, including 19 hybrid and 29 “advances fuel management” vehicles. The organization has produced 3,366 tonnes of greenhouse gas and has consumed 59,194 gigajoules of energy since start-up. About 98 per cent of its total waste has been diverted.

On the economic front the report said that sourcing goods and supplies from companies that meet standards outlined in its Buy Smart program has been challenging. VANOC is looking for companies that meet certain standards on social issues, such as minimum wage requirements, human rights, aboriginal inclusivity, ethical sourcing and so on. The report states that six overseas factories were banned from producing 2010 goods as they didn’t meet the minimum requirements.

Duffy believes that while this has been challenging it will create a long-term legacy as companies start to incorporate the mindset into their practices.

“It is where the trend is going anyway,” she said.

Part of VANOC’s commitment from the bid phase has been to include the Aboriginal population in Olympic opportunities. The report states that $25.46 million has been spent on venue construction in contracts to Aboriginal businesses and another $118,000 has been issued for non-construction contracts to First Nations companies.

Now that VANOC is heading into the operational phase, said Duffy, sustainability will take on some new meanings.

“There will be less emphasis in the environmental attributes of the venues and more about the environmental, social, and aboriginal attributes of our operating plan,” she said.

That will be things, said Duffy, like, ”how our transportation guidelines and plans are rolling out, how we are doing on the recruiting of workforce and volunteers and looking at some of the services, like food services.”