Sustainability: start of a successful journey for IWF

Following the launch of the IWF Sustainability Programme in 2023, the IWF Executive Board member in charge of this project Florian Sperl and the IWF CEO Achilleas Tsogas met recently in Lausanne (SUI) with the representatives of Sporting Giants, our International Federation’s partner in charge of conceiving a Sustainability Strategy, to be presented and implemented from October 2025 onwards.

This process has included so far a thorough assessment of the situation in terms of the IWF sustainability actions (or lack of them), and will proceed with extensive consultation with all stakeholders of the weightlifting community. This approach will allow the elevation of successful case studies already in place on a local or national level, and will also establish the priorities of the Sport family in this field.

From left to right: Dan Reading (Sporting Giants), Achilleas Tsogas (IWF CEO), Florian Sperl (IWF EB member), Scott Over (Sporting Giants) and Timea Horvath (IWF Development and Education Manager)

During the two-day rendezvous in Lausanne, there was also time for a meeting with IUCN (the International Union for the Conservation of Nature), an organisation with whom the IWF signed an agreement, under “The Sports for Nature Framework”. Four principles guide this protocol, namely: 1. Protect nature and avoid damage to natural habitats and species; 2. Restore and regenerate nature wherever possible; 3. Understand and reduce risks to nature in your supply chains; and 4. Educate and inspire positive action for nature across and beyond sport. The main goal of those actions is, according to the agreement, “to deliver transformative, nature positive action across sports by 2030 and beyond, enabling sports to champion nature and contribute to its protection and restoration”.

Moreover, sustainability efforts are also encouraged by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and by IOC’s Sustainability Strategy. Finally, it is one of the seven fundamental values identified in the global IWF Strategic Plan, adopted in September 2023.

Meeting with IUCN representatives

Florian Sperl, IWF EB member in charge of the project, spoke of an exciting new path of development for our International Federation: “As a global and influential industry, Sport should also play its part in this important mission. Our ultimate goal is to contribute to a happier and healthier world: sustainable principles also share this philosophy, so this synergy is of course very complementary. We needed an external partner to guide us at this stage, but in the end the effort must be implemented by each and every one of our weightlifting members”. 

The IWF CEO Achilleas Tsogas also underlined the importance of this programme: “We need to make sure that all these nice concepts and intentions will be part of the IWF action in the years to come. ‘Sustainability’ is a wide concept, so there is a lot of room for our International Federation to take some decisive steps in this area. We have already an idea of where we are at the moment, but we definitively need a roadmap to help our National Federations, organisers of IWF events, and all those involved with weightlifting to successfully initiate this journey,” Mr Tsogas said.

IWF Communications