IBU Sustainability Commission Holds First In-Person Meeting in Hochfilzen

The International Biathlon Union's (IBU) Sustainability Commission held its first in-person meeting on December 12, 2025, during the World Cup in Hochfilzen. Six of the seven commission members were able to attended on-site, while one participated online. The meeting also included the presence of two IBU board members and three IBU staff members.

Key topics:

The agenda was ambitious, focusing on the IBU’s key sustainability objectives, including the path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. Members engaged in productive discussions on integrating concrete climate actions into IBU strategies and sustainable snow management. Highlights included a presentation on the IBU Climate Transition Plan, which outlines steps toward achieving long-term carbon reduction goals as well as a a presentation from Romain Riboud (FFS) about the ISO 20121:2024 standard. Joining the meeting virtually, he explained the management tool to integrate sustainability into all parts of the event planning and execution and what the three step process of diagnose (strategy) execute( action) and verify (audit) looks like.

A particularly pressing topic was snow security, with discussions about innovative approaches like snow farming, the use of cover materials, and energy-efficient snow factories. The commission emphasized the need to secure the future of snow sports amid climate challenges, ensuring athletes and youth can continue to train and compete.

In line with the commitment to sustainable practices, the commission also discussed various ideas on how to reduce carbon emissions caused by business travels of IBU Staff, Athletes and their Teams. Additionally, the topic of strengthening sustainability as a key factor in governance sparked a great dialogue between the commission members which surfaced new approaches like creating sustainable procurement policies to reduce environmental impact.

Next Meeting:

This meeting demonstrated the IBU’s leadership in driving sustainability in winter sports and laid a strong foundation for further progress. The commission will reconvene in April 2025 for a post-season virtual meeting to assess developments and set priorities for the coming year.

Share this article

Header iconSign up for our newsletter