2022 Beijing Winter Olympics reaches sustainability milestone
Sports Scene
Mascot Bing Dwen Dwen of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the World Winter Sports Expo in Beijing, China, November 2019. /VCG Photo

Mascot Bing Dwen Dwen of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the World Winter Sports Expo in Beijing, China, November 2019. /VCG Photo

The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics Organizing Committee held a ceremony for the certification of their Sustainability Management System on Wednesday, as China's capital reaches another milestone on the road to becoming the first city to host both a summer and winter Olympic Games.

Vice Mayor of Beijing Zhang Jiandong and International Olympic Committee Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch attended the ceremony. Zhang said that the certification of the Sustainability Management System was an important achievement.

The sustainability scheme includes 3,045 participants. 463 personnel have been trained and 196 sustainability measures are to be reviewed. The Management System has now reached 100 percent sustainable procurement, and 100 percent of the new venues have met green building standards.

Liu Xinping, the head of the Beijing 2022 Sustainable Development Department, said that "the Sustainability Management System is in itself an innovation. Firstly, it integrates three international sustainability management standards. Secondly, unlike London 2012, Rio 2016 or PyeongChang 2018, we also put forward a full-range implementation. And thirdly, the sustainability system also influences the other participants such as the suppliers and the two host-city governments."

The Winter Olympics' Sustainability Management System is also the largest of its kind in China. Samaranch praised the organizers in their efforts made, and considered the system a legacy for the city's future development.

At the end of the ceremony, Vice-President and Secretary General of the Beijing 2022 Organizing Committee Han Zirong was handed a certificate from the third party certifier.