The Barbados Olympic Association Inc. (BOA) recognises the significant environmental, social, and economic challenges facing society and their impact on the world of sport. The BOA joins its Olympic Movement partners in supporting the United Nations Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and its Global Goals.
While all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are important, 13 goals are particularly relevant to sport in Barbados and guide the BOA’s work. These include Goal 3 -good health and wellbeing, Goal 4 – quality education, Goal 5 – gender equality, Goal 6 – clean water and sanitation, Goal 8 – decent work and economic growth, Goal 10 – reducing inequalities, Goal 11 – sustainable cities and communities, Goal 12 – responsible consumption and production, Goal 13 – climate action, Goal 14 – life under water, Goal 15 – life on land, Goal 16 – peace, justice and strong institutions, and Goal 17 – partnerships for the global goals.
The BOA is committed to continuing advocacy for the conservation of nature because the nation’s athletes are depending on the present generation to leave them with a better and brighter world in which to live. The BOA also appreciates how environmental changes brought about through climate change, depletion of natural resources and the effects of poor air and water quality, and other pollution are significant threats to sport itself. The BOA aims to move beyond traditional social responsibility and be more attentive to its people, suppliers, and communities.
NOC Sustainability Policy
As the National Olympic Committee of Barbados, we are committed to supporting the Olympic Movement’s mission to build a better world through sport and to promote Olympic values. This is highly relevant to sustainability, which is one of the greatest challenges of our time. Across the diverse issues of climate change, resource depletion and social inequalities, we need to harness the planet’s resources to improve all our lives, while leaving a generous legacy to future generations.
The seventeen United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and associated targets provide us with a concrete framework to define what a ‘better world’ could look like by 2030. This recognises “Sport is an important enabler of sustainable development” and the role of Olympism in reaching young people and inspiring future generations.
Although we are a small and independent organisation whose core mission is to support Olympic sport in our country, we fully recognise the need for us to do what we can to improve our sustainability performance and to encourage and support others to do so too. Specifically, we have taken inspiration from the sustainability strategy of the International Olympic Committee, as well as the advice and views of our stakeholders, to create a framework for setting our own objectives.
While we will endeavour to address many of the diverse issues that relate to sustainability, we have identified three priority themes that will provide the basis for our sustainability programme:
- Climate action – working to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and minimise our environmental impact, and to use our profile to raise awareness across all our stakeholders of the urgency for climate action
- Resource management – to ensure we procure goods and services in a responsible manner that maximises value and minimises waste.
- Our people – making sure we fulfil our duty of care towards all those working on our behalf – whether as paid staff, volunteers or contractors – and to respect the rights and wellbeing of communities and other people affected by our activities
Through active leadership, we aim to make sustainability part of our corporate culture, and we readily accept to apply the sustainability principles of integrity, inclusivity, stewardship and transparency across everything we do. In addition to complying with applicable legal requirements, we will continually strive for improvement in our sustainability performance.
We will ensure the delivery of this policy through the following measures:
- Establishing a “sustainability team” to coordinate our work in this field
- Setting goals and targets relevant to our sustainability priorities that will drive innovation, best practice and knowledge sharing
- Ensuring our people understand this policy and its objectives and are encouraged to be champions of sustainability through their work
- Collaborating with our stakeholders to optimise sustainable solutions
Our Board of Directors is responsible for establishing this sustainability policy and for overseeing its implementation. Our directors are accountable for delivering sustainability performance and will ensure that adequate resources are engaged to deliver against this policy. They fully support the Policy and provide effective leadership within their areas of responsibility.
We will openly and regularly report our progress in delivering this policy and the commitments we make on sustainability to take account of evolving policies, standards, best practices and technology, and we will share what we learn.
Signed by Sandra Osborne
President
Approved by the Executive Board on May 8, 2025
BOA Sustainability Stakeholders
