The Bislett Alliance had to rethink when ExxonMobil, after 29 years as title sponsor for what was then called ExxonMobil Bislett Games, closed its operations in Norway in 2016.
The Bislett Alliance decided that they should carry out a turnaround operation that no one in Norway had done before. It was the start of Norway's first green sports-shift.
1. Oslo Bislett Games was to become the world's most sustainable international athletics competition.
2. Bislett Stadium was to be a showcase for Oslo's ambitions to become a sustainable and modern city.
3. The Bislett conference was to be the leading meeting place between sustainable companies, organizations and sports.
Results of our investment:
• Oslo Bislett Games is a zero-emission event. All transport of athletes and support staff, from the time they arrive in Oslo until they travel on to the next meeting, is done with zero-emission vehicles such as electric cars, electric buses, trams and trains. This has led to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of more than 39 per cent compared with the 2016 figures. The greenhouses emissions we can´t avoid, as airplane travels, is compensated by purchase of climate quotas.
Bislett Stadium installed solar panels on the roof in 2018, and thus became the first sports stadium in Norway to produce its own electricity.
The stadium facility also gets all its energy for heating from renewable sources. Recycling was introduced at Bislett in 2017. This has resulted in the sorting rate of waste materials at Bislett Stadium have increased by more than 50 per cent.
• The Bislett conference was arranged for the first time in 2017, then with the environmental organization Zero as the responsible organizer. From 2019, our main partner Storebrand has taken over this role. The Storebrand conference is arranged just hours before the Oslo Bislett Games starts, and this year, among others, former vice president of the United States and Nobel Prize winner Al Gore is one of the speakers.
It is with pride that we can now look back on the goals we set in 2017 and say that in good Bislett spirit we have achieved all our ambitious goals.
This does not mean that we should rest on our laurels.
We now have a responsibility to share our experiences with everyone else who wants to make their own green shift both nationally and internationally.
All the experience we have gained, and all the positive results this has brought, will now be shared with the other organizers of the Wanda Diamond League who are now starting their own green transition to achieve World Athletics' goal of climate neutrality by 2030.
