(BEIJING, Feb. 2) -- The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and its President, Jacques Rogge, are to be honored as Champion of the Earth 2007 by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), according to IOC and UNEP.

"I am very honored to receive this award, which is a great recognition of the IOC's responsibility and commitment to raise awareness about the importance of sustainable development in sport," said Rogge, who will be presented with the award at a special ceremony on 19 April in Singapore.

Presented for the third time, the award recognizes prominent environmental leaders for their impact at the policy level. Jacques Rogge and the IOC are awarded for advancing the sport and environment agenda by providing greater resources to sustainable development and for introducing stringent environmental requirements for cities bidding to host Olympic Games,the UNEP said.

"Since the early 90s, the IOC and the Olympic Movement have progressively taken the environment and sustainability into account throughout the lifecycle of an Olympic Games project. The 'Green Games' concept is increasingly a reality. Today, from the beginning of a city's desire to stage an Olympic Games, through to the long-term impact of those Games, environmental protection and, more importantly, sustainability, are prime elements of Games planning and operations. I am very proud of this and would like to thank UNEP for recognizing these efforts," Rogge said.

Referring to the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the IOC said the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) has already received ISO14001 certification for its environmental management system, and it has issued environmental guidelines for Olympic project construction/renovation, Olympic catering services, accommodation, marketing, and large-scale events. Furthermore, and in association with the local authorities, there has been a large amount of work carried out in the areas of environmental education, improving air quality, water treatment, forestation and waste management.

Beijing 2008 is also conducting, along with Vancouver 2010 and London 2012, the Olympic Games Global Impact (OGGI) study, launched by the IOC, in order to help its partners understand the impact of the edition of the Games which they have been elected to host. The early dissemination of OGGI documentation by the IOC means that today bidding cities have enlarged their scope and responsibility to encompass not only environmental concerns and initiatives, but have also incorporated sustainable development as a vision and objective which underpins their entire project, the IOC added.

It said the environment will be further discussed at the 7th World Conference on Sport and the Environment, which will run from 25 to 27 October 2007 in Beijing.

Related story

IOC to be honoured as Champion of the Earth 2007 (Official Website of Olympic Movement)