On the eve of the championships, the governing body became a signatory to the Sports for Nature Framework, alongside Athletics Kenya, while also signing a new Memorandum of Understanding with UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency.

Together, the agreements connect environmental protection with inclusion, opportunity and the role sport can play in supporting displaced communities.

Putting nature into athletics

The Sports for Nature Framework, launched in 2022, commits sporting organisations to four principles: protecting nature, restoring and regenerating ecosystems, reducing nature-related risks through supply chains and inspiring wider action.

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe highlighted the fundamental relationship between sport and the natural environment.

“Doing what we can to protect nature helps to protect the long-term future of our sport. Our sport, all sport, depends on healthy ecosystems, clear air and clean water.”

Crucially, the commitment will extend into event delivery. From 2027, every host of a World Athletics Championship event will be required to undertake biodiversity assessments before and after the competition, while biodiversity will also be incorporated into the Athletics for a Better World Impact Standard for Federations.

Kenya connects environment and performance

Athletics Kenya joined World Athletics in signing the Framework just days after Nairobi was confirmed as host of the 2029 World Athletics Championships.

President Jackson Tuwei linked environmental protection directly to athlete performance.

“Athletics has always been about more than competition. It is about people, communities, health and the environments in which we live and train.”

Athletics Kenya plans to focus on air quality, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity protection and agroforestry, with Tuwei expressing the ambition for Nairobi 2029 to become a model for sustainable sporting events.

From refugee camp to global competition

Alongside the environmental commitments came an equally significant social development.

World Athletics’ new MOU with UNHCR builds on a relationship which grew from a grassroots initiative at a Kenyan refugee camp before Rio 2016 into what Coe describes as the world’s only year-round, full-time refugee team programme. The Athlete Refugee Team now includes athletes spread across eight countries and has competed at almost every World Athletics Series event.

“What began as a largely grassroots initiative at a refugee camp in Kenya ahead of the 2016 Olympic Games, has grown to become the world’s only year-round full-time refugee team programme,” said Coe.

The agreement goes beyond elite competition. It includes access to training and coaching, participation opportunities from local through to international level, expansion of athletics programmes within refugee and host communities, mental health and wellbeing initiatives, and safeguarding.

Athletics Kenya has also played a pivotal role in the programme, providing logistical support, training and competition opportunities, while Eliud Kipchoge has served as a mentor to the Athlete Refugee Team since 2023.

Turning purpose into action

The two Copenhagen announcements demonstrate the breadth that sustainability is increasingly assuming within international sport. Biodiversity, climate, inclusion, safeguarding and opportunities for displaced people may appear separate issues, but collectively they demonstrate how a governing body can use its events, standards, partnerships and global network to generate wider impact.

For Global Sustainable Sport, this developing body of work is also reflected in the GSS SPI Index, where World Athletics currently sits within the Global Top 50. The Copenhagen announcements provide further evidence of an organisation seeking to translate purpose into measurable action across both its environmental and social responsibilities.