ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the governance of sustainability in the 2012 London Olympics. It examines the conceptual evolution of the environmental debate and proceeds by tracing the development of environmental thinking and practices within the Olympic Movement and its practical application in the case of London. The chapter conceptualizes sustainability as a social construction process predicated on learning and aims at creating value but with an unknown end point, and highlights the centrality of local actors. The relationship between humans and the environment is fundamentally an issue of ontology that has a deeply-rooted history in the value systems of various civilizations. Commentators pointed out the role of religions both as an agent of environmental degradation and a repository of ecological wisdom long before modern science took charge of the debate. The environmental sustainability debate was further framed by a number of successive high level international policy gatherings.
