The guide, titled "Mitigating biodiversity impacts of sports events", was published yesterday to coincide with Earth Day.

The guide offers advice to sports event organisers on how to reduce the impact on biodiversity and promote its conservation throughout all phases of event planning.

“A healthy environment is essential to successful sports events as it is to society at large,” said Dr Grethel Aguilar, IUCN acting director general.

“We know that we can enjoy sports and celebrate our athletes while managing the environmental impacts of these events.

“As this new guide shows, sports events can end in a win-win for both people and nature if they are planned, designed and executed with conservation goals in mind."

The guide claims that sporting events can benefit the environment by raising public awareness about the value of nature, with their large audiences creating an opportunity to set a good example and showcase best practice.

The guide provides a step-by-step approach through the different stages of the sports events, beginning from the concept and strategic planning phase and moving to the event delivery.

It is claimed that this will help reduce risks to nature.

Suggestions include conducting biodiversity impact assessments, ensuring the event lighting and sound systems do not disturb endangered wildlife near events and erecting barriers to ensure spectators do not disturb fragile ecosystems.

Taking action to stem the spread of invasive species and adopting good stewardship practices on site are also recommended.

It is the third guide in a series produced by the IUCN in collaboration with the IOC, with the previous guides examining the overall links between sport and biodiversity, as well as minimising the environmental impact of new sporting venues.

“We see it as our responsibility to reduce our own impact on nature but also to use the power of sport to actively promote its protection,” said Christophe De Kepper, IOC director general.

“This guide, which is the result of our ongoing collaboration with IUCN, shows clearly that it can be done.

“It highlights the crucial role event organisers can play to protect biodiversity, and by doing so, protect the future of sport.”

The current IUCN-IOC collaborative agreement runs from 2017 to 2020.

The IOC said IUCN also provided advice on the candidature process for the 2024 Olympic Games and has undertaken other tasks related to the IOC’s sustainability strategy.

It was co-created by UN Climate Change and the IOC, in December 2018.

Under the framework the UCI have committed to undertaking systematic efforts to promote greater environmental responsibility, reducing overall climate impact and educating for climate action.

The governing body said it will also promote sustainable and responsible consumption, as well as continue advocating for climate action through communication.

“The world is in the midst of the coronavirus emergency on which we are all rightly focused, but we cannot afford to ignore the ever-constant threat of climate change,” said Amina Lanaya, UCI director general.

“Even while the sporting calendar is suspended, the UCI – in line with our Federation’s roadmap Agenda 2022 – is working hard to rise to the challenges climate change poses to the future of our sport.

“It is therefore logical that we play our part in the global sporting effort to avoid the worst effects of climate change.

“Signing the UN’s Sport for Climate Action Framework is a big step that our Federation is proud to take.

“We are fully committed to making professional cycling one of the world’s most environmentally friendly sports, and to promoting cycling as a mode of transport in order to unlock a greener and healthier future for all.”

The UCI says it will coordinate work already underway across cycling to promote environmental sustainability, such as the Organiser’s Guide to Road Events.

The governing body will work with national federations on the five continents, its main commercial partners, and the IOC to boost the aims of the framework.

The UCI’s sustainability plan will include a detailed, multi-discipline sustainability toolkit for use across the sport, which will be published later this year.

Participation in the UN climate summit in Glasgow during 2021 and promotion of cycling as the primary mode of transport in urban areas will form part of the UCI’s advocacy efforts.

The IOC and IUCN guide can be accessed here