Research finds that many international Olympic sporting federations have announced the qualifying process for the 2010 Youth Olympic Games ("YOG") on their websites.

While this method of disseminating the YOG qualifying process reaches families already involved in Olympic sports, it does little to reach those families not already involved in sports. 

Does IOC president Jacques Rogge understand that promoting the Youth Olympic Games over international sporting federation websites does little to promote YOG to youth actually prone to obesity?

The European Union is now committed to cutting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020.

For the fight against the climate crisis, countries across the world will need to make similiar commitments. Commitment to GHG reductions is the purpose of the United Nations Climate Change Conference set for Copenhagen from 7 - 18 December 2009.

Meanwhile, on a different agenda, for 2010, for the first Summer Youth Olympic Games, Singapore will receive some 3,500 athletes and 800 officials from the 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), along with estimated 800 media representatives, 7,000 local and international volunteers, and more than 500,000 spectators. Innsbruck will have fewer athletes for the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012.

How do the new 2010 Singapore and 2012 Innsbruck Youth Olympic mega-events fit into the EU's commitment to cut GHG emissions 20 percent from 1990 levels? How can the IOC do this? What gives the IOC right to bring about an increase in emissions when the EU Parliment has made legislation committing to reducing GHG emissions?

On December 18, the Financial Times reported that the EU parliment has approved "The world's most stringent climate change package."

The EU is now committed to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions 20 per cent from 1990 levels by 2020. Parliment's work was conducted in preparation for next December's meeting in Copenhagen during which 190 countries will gather to forge agreement on cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Article: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5987d5e0-cca3-11dd-acbd-000077b07658.html

Meanwhile, in Poland this week, European Union (EU) member states work to reach agreement on plans to reduce CO2 emissions across the EU in advance of 2009's global climate change conference in Denmark.

Ironically, December 12, the day this week's EU climate summit ends, is the same day the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will announce which EU member, Austria or Finland, has been granted right by the IOC to spur an increase of CO2 emissions across the globe by hosting the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games.