The National Olympic Committees also pledged to engage with the United Nations (UN) Sports for Climate Action framework and apply a similar reduction in their greenhouse gas emissions.

The IOC announcement to help tackle climate change was made by its President Thomas Bach during a keynote address here.

It comes prior to the UN Climate Summit COP26 due to start in Glasgow next Sunday (October 31).

The IOC had previously made a commitment to reduce emissions by 45 per cent over the same time period, in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

"The climate crisis is arguably the biggest challenge humanity is facing," Bach told delegates here.

"It is affecting all areas of our lives, including sport of course, as an important part of society.

"By further reducing our carbon emissions, we strengthen our contribution to the realisation of the Paris Agreement, follow the latest science on climate change and contribute better to this global effort. 

"We urge all other sports organisations to follow suit."

In order to achieve the 50 per cent cut in emissions by 2030, the IOC has set an intermediate reduction target of 30 per cent, to be achieved by 2024.

Its action plan includes reducing emissions in the areas of travel, energy use and procurement.

In May, the IOC announced details of its project to plant the "Olympic Forest" in Mali and Senegal, an element of its climate-positive strategy which had been developed in 2018 as part of the UN Sports for Climate Action Framework.

The IOC’s announcement follows the publication of the Sixth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change - the leading international body for the assessment of climate change.

Published in August 2021, the report found that human-induced climate change is intensifying at an unprecedented pace.

In March last year, the IOC took the decision to make the Olympic Games climate positive.

From 2030 onwards, each Organising Committee for the Olympics will be contractually obliged to minimise and compensate its direct and indirect carbon emissions and implement lasting zero-carbon solutions for the Games and beyond.

All upcoming Olympic Games have committed to carbon neutrality, with Paris 2024 aiming to become the first climate-positive Games even before the 2030 deadline.

All competition venues at next year’s Winter Olympic Games aim to use 100 per cent renewable energy.

Natural and low carbon emission CO2 refrigeration systems will be used at most of the Beijing 2022 ice venues - the first time this low climate impact technology will be used in China and at the Olympic Winter Games.