In January 2016, the Tokyo Organising Committee of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games (TOCOG) called for feedback on a Tokyo 2020 High-Level Sustainability Plan (Sustainability Plan) and Fundamental Principles for the Sustainable Sourcing Code (Sourcing Code).

In response to the call for feedback, IHRB and the Caux Round Table-Japan (CRT-Japan) have jointly submitted comments and recommendations on both documents. This includes a 'Proposed Sustainable Sourcing Code for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2020', following our own public consultation. The proposed Sustainability Plan and Sourcing Code are important vehicles to make Tokyo 2020’s sustainability commitments explicit, but they will need the wholesale buy-in of the delivery partners to become a reality in the planning and execution of the Games. Since key contracts have already been awarded to sponsors, TOCOG is having to make up for the lost opportunity to reflect the Sustainability Plan and Sourcing Code in commercial contracts. For this reason, TOCOG should:

  • Engage with the relevant business enterprises early and often
  • Raise their awareness of all the thematic areas of the Sustainability Plan once finalised 
  • Provide guidance on how to implement the final Sourcing Code 
  • Vigilantly monitor their implementation
  • Develop grievance mechanisms to respond appropriately to concerns and complaints

Complimenting the earlier Human Rights Statement that IHRB and CRT-Japan jointly submitted to TOCOG, the joint submissions encourage TOCOG to consider the recommendations for strengthening the Sustainability Plan and use the Proposed Sourcing Code as a template during the process it has launched to develop a Sustainable Sourcing Code for the Toyo 2020 Games.

 

Photo: Flickr/Andrew Mager

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