Taiwan and Japan Work Together to Set the Momentum of Environmental Sustainability in Sports

The Green Sports Alliance Japan, the National Taiwan Sport University, the Taiwan Society for Sport Management, and the Center for Sports Business and Policy at National Tsing Hua University recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Sustainability for Sports Affairs. As Taiwan’s first international MOU in sports, the partnership is believed to increase the efficiency of environmental sustainability in sports through global collaboration.

Figure 1. Taiwan and Japan are working together to set the momentum for environmental sustainability in sports. From left to right: CHIU, Ping-Kun, President of the National Taiwan Sport University, Yu Huang, Professor of the National Tsing-Hua University, Kong-Ting Yeh, Professor of the National Taiwan Sport University, Haruki Sawada, Executive Director of the Green Sports Alliance Japan, and Chen-Yueh Chen, President of the Taiwan Society for Sport Management.

The MOU signed by four parties includes three main topics: cultivate talents with sustainable practices in sports, develop an international collaboration platform, and establish industry-academia collaboration programs. To expedite the implementation of the MOU, the Asian Sports Sustainability Webinar will be held every two months starting next year. Each webinar will invite three experts and scholars to join the discussion. Professor Yu Huang, who participated in planning the webinar, mentioned that the webinar would be a platform for knowledge sharing and cross-border communication. Though sports webinars are prevalent in European and American countries, this is relatively new to Asia. Due to the diversity of cultures, structure of government, and languages, it has been difficult for Asian countries to form a unified platform for sports affairs. Therefore, the collaboration between Taiwan and Japan is a major step forward for the future of the sports industry in Asia.

Figure 2. Asian Sports Sustainability Webinar will start from next year.

The driving force behind signing the MOU is the Green Sports Alliance Japan. Haruki Sawada, the Executive Director, said that the organization established in 2018 is the pioneer for environmental sustainability in sports in Asia and has a great interaction with other international sustainable sports organizations. He mentions that Taiwan has positive energy in the sports industry and academic community. By signing the MOU with Taiwan, he expects to promote sustainable practices in Asia's sports gradually.

Figure 3. Haruki Sawada, Executive Director of the Green Sports Alliance Japan, is the only Asian representative to participate in UN Sports for Climate Action Framework.

Three parties from Taiwan signed the MOU, and the one that brings every party together is the Taiwan Society for Sport Management (TASSM). TASSM is the first scholarly sports organization to set up a sustainability committee in Taiwan. The coordinator is the current chairperson of the committee and the Executive Officer of the Sustainability Office at National Taiwan Sport University, Professor Kong-Ting Yeh. He found that climate change has a serious effect on the sports industry. The experiences from the Tokyo Olympics and the Paris Olympics show that sustainability is an essential subject that all event organizers can not overlook. By signing the MOU, Professor Yeh is looking forward to raising attention to sustainability in the Taiwan sports industry.

Figure 4. Kong-Ting Yeh, a Professor at the National Taiwan Sport University, is the Director of the sustainability committee of the Taiwan Society for Sport Management and the Executive Officer of the Sustainability Office at the National Taiwan Sport University.

Professor Yu Huang of the Center for Sports Business and Policy at National Tsing Hua University, who is actively involved in the international sports community, indicates that global warming is a challenge no one can avoid. To fight climate change, we need to integrate and reallocate organizations' resources and work with other countries. To form Taiwan’s first international partnership on sustainability in sports, it took half a year to communicate and discuss with the Japanese side. With this MOU, we will have more conversations and interactions with other Asian countries through webinars and also grasp the state of every country in terms of promoting sustainability in sports.

      Although the sports industries in European and American countries are aware of the importance of sustainability earlier than in Asia, there is a saying in road running: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” From the first MOU to international webinars, this is not just first in Taiwan but also Asia. We hope this collaboration can be a beacon to encourage Asian countries to participate and promote environmental sustainability in sports.

Figure 5. CHIU, Ping-Kun, President of the National Taiwan Sport University, indicates that sustainability will be the priority for the sports industry in the future.