WorldSkills Lyon 2024 wishes you a happy Earth Day

April 22 marks the celebration of Earth Day, an annual event dedicated to acknowledging the accomplishments of the environmental movement worldwide, and promoting awareness about the significance of sustainable practices and the necessity to protect the planet’s natural resources for future generations. A day that holds significance for the WorldSkills Lyon 2024 Organizing Committee, as sustainability was placed at the heart of the Competition’s identity and culture.

WorldSkills Lyon 2024, the promotion of Sustainable Excellence

The WorldSkills Lyon 2024 Organizing Committee takes sustainability and environmental protection to heart, and highlights its importance in shaping a better future for all people around the world. In the spirit of movements and events like Earth Day, the WorldSkills Lyon 2024 Sustainability Department is working in coordination with 15 Sustainability collaborators in each department of the Organizing Committee, ensuring the integration of sustainable practices across every aspect of the Competition. We are also collaborating with external service providers to achieve our goals: for instance, we are developing our sustainable management system in order to obtain the ISO 20121 certification, the main standard attesting to the sustainability of an event and its management system.

Our sustainability objectives are structured around three pillars:

Environment: our goals include reducing waste production, promoting re-use and recovering residual waste from the Competition. Additionally, we strive to assess and reduce our carbon footprint, and contribute to carbon-reduction projects, and we also intend to optimize energy and water usage.
Social: encompassing principles of inclusion and diversity, along with security and well-being. The Organizing Committee is committed to ensuring universal access to the Competition and related events, while promoting diversity throughout. It will also guarantee safety and well-being of the public.
Governance and economy: prioritizing ethical and transparent governance, as well as the promotion of local expertise and French know-how.

Among the skills represented at WorldSkills Lyon 2024, three are linked to water conservation, respect for natural resources, and biodiversity (Landscape Gardening, Water Technology, and Renewable Energy.)

With the increasing emphasis on sustainable manufacturing for its environmental and economic benefits across global business sectors, the WorldSkills Occupational Standards for the Competition now include sustainable practices as an integral aspect of demonstrating skills excellence. WorldSkills Lyon 2024 will therefore be the first WorldSkills Competition to evaluate all Competitors on sustainable practices.

A local, national and global effort

Last March, Lyon, the host city of the 47th WorldSkills Competition, was awarded the EU Mission Label (Climate neutral and smart cities), in encouragement of the city’s plans and efforts to achieve climate neutrality by 2030. This recognition will facilitate access to public and private funding in pursuit that goal. WorldSkills Lyon 2024 stands as a key player, aligned with local, national and global efforts to promote sustainable development and environmental protection, fostering the transition towards a more sustainable future for all.

Discover the faces of sustainable development within the WorldSkills Lyon 2024 Organizing Committee: