Paris 2024: The most sustainable Olympic Games

Tomorrow, July 26th, the biggest sporting event that exists today, the Olympic Games, will begin. And the city in charge of hosting this event will be Paris, expecting an influx of approximately 16 million inhabitants.

We are talking about a mass event so we can ask ourselves different questions about its commitment to the environment. Can such a massive event be environmentally sustainable? What steps are being taken to do this? What can be improved? All these issues will be addressed in this post.

SUSTAINABILITY AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

According to the International Olympic Committee, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be the greenest and most sustainable with the environment, although the concept of the green Olympics is nothing new and we must go back more than 30 years ago.

This was the case at the Lillehammer Winter Olympics (1994) where the first “green” Olympics were held, setting different objectives aimed at sustainability. Some of the measures taken to achieve this goal were the harmonization of infrastructures with the natural environment, the choice of environmentally friendly materials, the choice of energy sources or the creation of a public transport network that managed to transport 80% of the attendees.

However, the commitment of the Olympic Games to the environment began a few years ago with the 1992 Earth Summit, in which the International Olympic Committee participated, evidencing its commitment to the constitution of the Sports and Environment Commission in 1995 and to the amendment of the Olympic Charter in 1996.

These events were very important for the promotion of sustainable measures in the following editions of the Olympics. Some examples of environmental measures taken in previous editions are:

Beijing (2008)

The Beijing Olympics were the first to mark a path for the holding of a green Olympics. These Olympics were still heavily criticized and questioned due to the high levels of pollution that the city constantly presents. Some of the measures taken were the partial closure of some factories, traffic restrictions, the promotion of renewable energy (20% of the energy used came from renewable sources) or the implementation of efficiency standards for infrastructure construction.

London (2012)

As surprising as it may be, the award for the greenest Olympics in history goes to the Olympic event that took place in London 12 years ago. The secret lay in the Olympic Energy Management System, which reflected through the screens in real time the total energy consumed by the public. In addition, other actions should be highlighted, such as the high energy efficiency proposed in terms of the development of Olympic infrastructures, sustainable public mobility plans, promotion of consumption of products of immediate origin and calculation of the carbon footprint.

The calculation of the carbon footprint of the event revealed that total emissions were 3.3 million tons of CO2, with 67% corresponding to building construction, 20% to spectators and the remaining 13% belong to the organization itself.

Rio de Janeiro (2016)

Despite being demanding games in terms of commitment to the environment, they turned out to be a failure. This failure lies in the withdrawal of the contracted energy supplier, forcing the organizers to use energy that is not as sustainable as they originally thought.

Despite the failure, these games supported measures such as intelligent design in construction materials, the use of renewable energy and the compensation of 1.6 million tons of CO2 with the replanting of trees in different reforestation programs.

It is estimated that, despite the proposed measures, a total of 3.6 million tons of CO2 were produced in the tournament.

Tokyo (2021)

Since the venue was granted, the organizers of the Tokyo Olympics began to consider the idea of creating the most sustainable games in history. Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic to 2021, time was used to achieve sustainable Olympics. Some of the measures chosen were:

• The facilities where the athletes will reside, as well as the infrastructures created, will be powered by renewable energy sources.
• Full use of low-emission vehicles.
• Reuse and recycling of at least 65% of the waste generated.

Finally, during the Olympic Games, a total of 2.73 million tons of CO2 were emitted, of which 1.5 million belonged only to the creation of infrastructures. Even with this great result, the Tokyo Olympics are not considered to be the most sustainable because the event did not receive as many visitors due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If it had the normal influx, the carbon footprint would have amounted to about 340,000 tons of CO2 per day.

MEASURES PLANNED FOR THE PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES

There are currently several countries and organizations that show their interest and commitment to the conservation of the environment. In this way, the organizers of these Olympic Games are not left behind. “We want to show that we can make these games with half as much CO2,” says Georgina Grenon, Director of Environmental Excellence in Paris.

From 3.5 million tons of CO2 emitted on average in previous editions to 1.6 million tons is the proposed objective for these Olympics. But what are the measures taken to achieve this objective?

The measures proposed by the organizers affect two main points: reduction and compensation:

Measures based on reduction have a direct impact on the carbon footprint and aim to reduce it through the promotion of more sustainable practices, which they are.

• Infrastructure: 95% of the infrastructure used for the games will be temporary or the existing one will already be used, and their construction techniques were low in carbon.
• Energy: The objective is that 100% of the energy used in the event comes from renewable sources, thus reducing the carbon footprint in energy expenditure by 80%.
• Food and catering: For all the rations of food and drink that will be served at the event, the use of plant-based food will double and the use of single-use plastics will be reduced by half, while locally sourced food will be promoted, reducing the transport footprint.
• Transportation: A 415-kilometer network dedicated to bicycle transport has been built, with different car parks, and athletes will travel through different light electric vehicles or vehicles powered by green hydrogen.
• Equipment: The equipment used will have a second life.
• Computing: 70% of the computer equipment is rented and will be used after the games. In addition, the applications designed for games were designed in a sustainable way.

In addition, we have other measures not dedicated to reducing the CO2 footprint, but to making a positive contribution to the climate through investment in ecological projects. Measures that have been criticized by experts because they can create erroneous thinking about sustainability, giving the false image that the holding of the event will have a positive impact on the environment, although as the organizers assure, these measures will be used for emissions that cannot be reduced or avoided. Some of these measures are:

• Creation of openings and fences in the ceilings to house birds and insects.
• Cleaning the Seine River.
• 9,000 trees planted around the Olympic village.
• Subsequent conversion of the apartments used by the athletes into housing.

So: Can you get a green Olympic Games?

Even if they did everything right, a major international event cannot be fully sustainable. The most sustainable event is the one that doesn't happen.

Madelone Orr

Specialist in sports ecology

Although it seems too drastic an option, experts in the field believe that the most sustainable thing is not to hold such massive events. Even so, we believe that these types of events can be held not by eliminating their entire ecological footprint but by reducing it even more. Some of the proposals could be:

• Reducing the size of events.
• Rotation of the Olympic Games between the same cities.
• Reduction of public turnout at competitions.
• Promotion of public transport for athletes and sports technicians.

On the other hand, we must clarify that the sustainability of the games must be comprehensive including the environment, society and the economy, so we will need several years to be able to take a valid look back to determine if we are really holding sustainable Olympic Games.

Sources:

https://syltec.es/blog/2021/07/15/los-juegos-olimpicos-y-la-sostenibilidad/

https://es.weforum.org/agenda/2024/03/paris-aspira-a-ser-sede-de-los-juegos-olimpicos-mas-sostenibles-de-la-historia-asi-se-prepara-la-ciudad/

Will the Paris 2024 Olympic Games really be green as their organizers say? | Euronews