Driven by its vision to build a better world through sport, the IOC sees both a responsibility and an opportunity to contribute tangibly to global sustainable development efforts.

The organisation’s aim is to minimise its footprint while maximising positive impacts across social, environmental and economic spheres.

Since 2014, these commitments have built on the principles of Olympic Agenda, which place sustainability and sustainable development at the heart of the Olympic Movement under the motto “change or be changed”. By working collaboratively with IFs, NOCs, athletes, communities and global partners, the IOC has sought to use sport’s universal appeal and reach as a catalyst for meaningful transformation, helping to foster a healthier planet, more inclusive societies and lasting benefits.

The IOC has focused on four strategic areas where the organisation felt it could make the greatest positive impact: Focusing on these issues reflects where the IOC’s activities intersect most closely with society’s needs and the natural environment.

• Sustainability
• Olympic Games impact and legacy
• Gender equality and inclusion
• Human rights

Olympic Agenda accelerated the Olympic Movement’s progress in these areas through dedicated recommendations, under which each of these four areas has evolved into a dedicated IOC strategy.

These recommendations and strategies catalysed the IOC’s previous work in these areas:

• Sustainability: The environment was formally added as a core priority in 1996, when the Olympic Charter elevated environmental protection alongside sport and culture as the third pillar of Olympism.
• Olympic Games impact and legacy: Early “Olympic Games impact” studies in the 2000s helped to solidify legacy as a long-term commitment.
• Gender equality and inclusion: Gender equality has been central to the IOC’s work ever since the Olympic Charter affirmed equality between men and women in sport, leading to the creation of the Women and Sport Working Group in 1995 and its evolution into the Women and Sport Commission in 2004, which was later broadened to reflect wider forms
  of diversity.
• Human rights: The IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights built on the IOC’s existing commitments to embed respect for international human rights standards across core activities.

Focusing on these issues reflects where the IOC’s activities intersect most closely with society’s needs and the natural environment.

As an owner of large-scale sporting events and a leader of a worldwide movement, the IOC influences multiple sectors, from infrastructure development to the well-being of athletes and communities. By focusing on these four priorities, the IOC can address critical challenges such as climate change, equitable treatment and community resilience while leveraging sport’s unique power to inspire.

The IOC has deliberately brought its approach into line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) because the UN SDGs closely match the IOC’s vision and missions, and also align with the stakeholder feedback received during the Olympic Agenda consultations.

These efforts have been acknowledged by the UN. In a resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2015, sport was explicitly recognised as an important enabler of sustainable development (Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development). The UNGA reiterated this statement in a resolution in November 2024 (Sport as an enabler of sustainable development) as part of its Pact for the Future.

The four reports

This Overview Report now turns to the four thematic areas: Sustainability, Olympic Games Impact and Legacy, Gender Equality and Inclusion, and Human Rights.

Each report highlights both the IOC’s progress during 2021–2024 and the challenges that the organisation continues to address, illustrating how these interconnected strategies collectively contribute to the IOC’s commitment to building a better world through sport.