insidethegames: Brazil joins global push for sportsmanship
Represented by the Director of Communications, Marketing, and Olympic Values, Manoela Penna, the country’s committee took centre stage at the ‘Sport Positive Summit’ on Tuesday, showcasing its growing leadership in sustainability within the physical activity.
The COB contributed to the panel ‘Play for the Future: How Sport Strengthens Community Sustainability Legacies,’ at the event co-hosted by United Nations Climate Action and the International Olympic Committee. Penna shared insights on how sport can embed sustainability into legacy planning, ensuring that investments, partnerships, and projects translate into lasting benefits for both people and the planet. Later, during the summit’s closing session, ‘Elevating the Role of Sport in the Global Climate Agenda at COP30,’ she reinforced her key messages, highlighting the pivotal role sport plays in the broader environmental dialogue.
“Being invited to present our vision of how sport and sustainability can be integrated to strengthen Brazil’s sporting ecosystem is deeply symbolic,” Penna stated. “It shows we’re on the right path to becoming a true Sporting Nation, and that involves many dimensions of citizenship,” added the Brazilian executive.
The COB was also recognised as a finalist in two categories at the ‘Sport Positive Awards,’ a prestigious industry accolade honouring organisations and individuals who harness the power of sport to tackle urgent global issues such as the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and climate justice.
In the Purpose-Led Partnership category, the COB’s collaboration with Neoenergia stood out for addressing two pressing global challenges: climate change and gender inequality. The partnership, based on a unified strategic approach, impressed the Sport Positive judges with its dual impact. On the environmental front, Neoenergia supplies 100% renewable electricity (I-REC certified) to the COB Training Centre, making the organisation a national benchmark for sustainable sports management. This shift has already avoided over 44 tonnes of CO₂ emissions and reduced energy costs by 25%, enabling reinvestment into athlete development.
On the social side, the partnership has amplified women’s sport through campaigns such as #MaisEsporteFeminino and the Women in Sport Forum, boosting visibility, representation, and public discourse around female athletes. In the Biodiversity Project category, the Brazil Olympic Forest initiative in the state of Amazonas earned high praise. The project involves the reforestation of nearly 4,500 native tree species, including those vital to local communities like Brazil nuts (Bertholletia excelsa) and açaí berries (Euterpe oleracea).
Since 2023, the COB has been a signatory of the Olympic Forest Network, choosing to make a tangible impact in the communities of Bom Jesus da Ponta da Castanha and São Jorge da Ponta da Castanha, located in the cities of Tefé and Alvarães. These villages lie within the Tefé National Forest, a federally protected reserve in the heart of the Amazon overseen by Brazil’s Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation. “It was an honour to be among the finalists in two categories at the Sport Positive Awards,” said Penna, to conclude that sustainability “isn’t just a pillar of the Olympic Movement, it’s a societal imperative, and for us at the Brazilian Olympic Committee, it’s a core value we carry forward with pride.”
