The 7th World Conference on Sport and Environment will be held in Beijing in the second half of 2007, according to a meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The IOC Sport and Environment Commission held its annual meeting in Lausanne this month and made the announcement.

Chaired by Chairman Pal Schmitt, commission members reviewed the implementation of the recommendations made at the 5th and 6th World Conferences on Sport and Environment, debriefed reports from Olympic organizing committees of Turin, Beijing, Vancouver and London on their work, and recommended that the newly published IOC Guide to Sport, Environment and Sustainable Development be widely publicized and carried out.

On behalf of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG), Mr. Yu Xiaoxuan briefed the meeting on the progress of "Green Olympics" in Beijing. Mr. Schmitt congratulated BOCOG on its achievements in environmental protection. Commission members asked questions about the number of motor vehicles and air pollution in Beijing, as well as the use of environment-friendly fuels and protection of cultural relics in the city.

IOC President Jacques Rogge delivered a speech at the meeting.

The World Conference on Sport and Environment, held every other year since 1995, discusses the priorities of the Olympic Movement in its environmental activities.

(BOCOG July 24, 2006)