Olympic International Federation environmental sustainability progress and social media data

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to consolidate knowledge and
benchmark the progress being made across the 32 International Federations
(IFs) in the Summer Olympic Programme. Design/Methodology/Approach: A
website content analysis, analytical hierarchy of information, and social
media research was conducted to triangulate the barriers and drivers of
environmental sustainability (ES) progress.  This data was then
analysed to empirically substantiate the findings of previous methods by
exploring potential drivers of IF ES progress and communication and
refining the ranking of IF ES progress. Results and Findings: World
Sailing is by far the most advanced IF in terms of ES progress, followed
by World Athletics. Only 4 out of 32 have any sort of strategic ES plans.
Only Golf, Surfing, Football, Sailing, and Hockey having received any
academic attention. There is a significant lack of understanding of
environmental practices across sport, and their drivers/barriers. There is
limited accountability with regards to ES progress and activities
throughout the Olympic Movement. This has resulted in uneven diffusion of
environmental activities. Originality: This paper is a new contribution to
Sport Management and ES literature. It provides a benchmark of
understanding for ES in the Summer Olympic Programme for the first time
using a hierarchy of information to ground results. The exploration and
comparison of separate sports perspective adds to the paper's
originality.