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POLICY
A shared theme
RUSSELL SEYMOUR CEO BASIS
T
he past few weeks have been a busy time. In mid-May, BASIS held its annual conference, welcoming nearly 130 sustainability and sport
professionals to the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. The following week, I and BASIS Board Chair Chris Whitaker, spoke at the SAPCA Conference. And a little over a week after that, the nation and the Commonwealth celebrated the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. What linked these three events together? A shared theme of environmental sustainability.
In the middle of the great Jubilee Concert held in London – I loved The Queen (the
“FUNDAMENTALLY, SUSTAINABILITY SHOULD SIT AT THE HEART OF EVERYTHING THAT YOU DO AS A BUSINESS“
Specifically, environmental sustainability in this context relates to better design, better maintenance and better end-of-life treatment of sport and play facilities. Fundamentally, sustainability should sit at the heart of everything that you do as a business – ask yourself what impact will this have, and how can I reduce it? Our sister organisation in Australia (the Sports Environment Alliance) uses the strapline “No Planet, No Play”.
It’s true on this side of the world too.
It is now unthinkable for any organisation
to operate without due care and attention to health and safety (once considered to be excessively burdensome) and, more recently, to equality, diversity and inclusion. Legislation requires that businesses comply with H&S and EDI standards and this will be increasingly true for sustainability
issues – including environmental, social and economic - moving forwards.
Jason went on to outline an initiative for SAPCA to introduce minimum standards and thresholds, certification, incentives and awards for SAPCA members working on their environmental impacts.
As a partner organisation BASIS stands ready and willing to assist in every way we can.
Many things are going badly wrong with the environment at the moment, but I’ll leave the final words to Prince William: “There is hope. If we harness the very best of humankind,
and restore our planet, we’ll protect it for our children, for our grandchildren and for future generations to come.” ●
monarch) starting Queen’s (the band’s)
iconic “We Will Rock You” beat with her teaspoon and tea cup – Prince William spoke. And, no doubt, with his grandmother’s blessing, he spoke of the work of “visionary environmentalists” around the world. He acknowledged the benefits of “unimaginable technological developments and scientific breakthroughs” that have happened during his grandmother’s remarkable reign, but also the impacts that human activities have had and that “the pressing need to protect and restore our planet has never been more urgent”.
Just a week or so before, SAPCA chair Jason Douglass’ speech at the association’s Conference revealed environmental sustainability as one of the “important global and national subject matters” that he wants the association to address during his tenure.
It is now unthinkable for any business to operate without a sustainability plan
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