The Olympic Games bring joy, tears, and unforgettable stories to people the world over. They also bring a lot of environmental damage. The host city of the Olympic Games welcomes thousands of athletes from all corners of the globe, transforms infrastructure to accommodate a massive influx of people, and manages loads of trash and single-use items. The resulting ecological impact is immense and undeniable. Even without spectators (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 produced an estimated 2.7 trillion tons of carbon dioxide, and that’s on top of any damage to surrounding habitats and the heaps of waste produced throughout the process.
Environmental Impact Of The Olympics
Studies have shown that the environmental impact of the Olympics has grown in recent years as a direct result of the growth in size and scale of the event. But at the same time, organizers have increasingly touted their efforts to “go green.” Interestingly, one study that looked at the sustainability of 16 different Olympics spanning from 1992 through 2020, concluded that environmental follow-through has diminished over time. The most recent Olympics (London 2012, Sochi 2014, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2021) were the four least sustainable Games.
Fast forward to 2024. This year’s games in Paris are set to be the “greenest ever.” So how will they measure up? Will this year’s Olympic Games be a model for going green? Or a prime example of greenwashing? The answer will likely fall somewhere in the middle.
Olympic Games Sustainability: Goals For Paris 2024
Ever since Paris submitted its bid to host, the organizers had an ambitious environmental goal – to halve the Games’ carbon footprint compared to the average of London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games, and to offset emissions that can’t be avoided. They have touted using a carbon budget to guide the planning, design, and building every step of the way.
In an effort to limit the carbon footprint of construction, only a few new facilities have been built, and built with “low carbon” construction measures at that – an aquatic center and a climbing gym, along with the Media Village for journalists and the Olympic village for athletes. All of the other venues (95%) will either be temporary or repurposed from existing structures. There has also been a focused effort to outfit the venues with sustainable materials, like stadium chairs made out of recycled plastic from municipal waste and mattresses for the athletes made from recycled fishing nets.
Attention has been paid to the location of venues as well – 4 out of 5 venues will be within a 10km radius and less than 30 minutes form the Athletes village. The vehicle fleet used to transport athletes will be electric, hybrid, and hydrogen-powered. All of this means significantly less CO2 will be emitted during transport to and from events. And speaking of emissions, organizers say 100% of the energy used at the games will come from renewable sources.
The Olympic committee has also paid close attention to the environmental impacts of the food and drinks that will be served to all those hungry athletes and spectators. Not only will they compost and aim for ‘zero food waste,’ they are sourcing 80% of ingredients locally and will reduce the amount of meat products on the menu by 50-60% while doubling the amount of plant-based options. All of these efforts are sure to significantly decrease the carbon-footprint of the Olympic menu. On the drinks side, the plans call for cutting single use plastics in half and installing 700 water and soda refill stations across the venues. Allowing refillable water bottles into the sports arenas is a change in policy that they hope will minimize the purchase of plastics.
And finally, the life cycles of even small, supportive supplies have also been considered. The organizers say that the 75% of sports equipment needed for the events has been rented or provided by sporting federations along with more than 75% of the necessary electronic equipment like screen, speakers and computers.
How Can the Olympics be Even More Green?
All of these efforts are an incredible step in the right direction. The commitment of the Olympic organizers is admirable and the strategies should certainly be integrated into the planning of future large events. This being said, the Games will still have a significant environmental impact and are expected to emit 1.58 million metric tons of CO2. Transportation to the event accounts for about one-third of these emissions, with operations and logistics along with construction both accounting for around a quarter each.
For comparison, this total is significantly lower than recent Olympic events, with the Tokyo games clocking in at 2.7 million metric tons (even without spectators) and Rio landing at a whopping 4.5 million metric tons.
But the verdict is mixed among environmental groups on whether the organizers have gone far enough in their sustainability efforts. The planning committee has been criticized for not clearly communicating their metrics for measuring renewable energy and CO2 outputs. And notably, the event’s carbon impacts are based on calculations conducted before construction, not on assessments after the event. It’s also hard to ignore the fact that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is sponsored by Coca-Cola, the largest producer of branded plastic waste. On the infrastructure side, there has been sharp criticism of a judging and media tower built to support the surf competition in Tahiti. The tower was built on top of a fragile coral reef and its construction sparked outrage among both locals and the international community. The planning committee ultimately downsized the tower in response, but there will still undoubtedly be impacts to the reef ecosystem.
How Paris 2024’s Sustainability Efforts Could Set a New Standard for Eco-Friendly Mega Events
Many experts say the only way to markedly decrease the environmental impacts of giant sporting events like the Olympics is to radically rethink their scale – most importantly limiting the number of spectators and cycling through repeat cities as hosts. Until that happens, the Olympic Games, and other very large international events, will continue to have outsized impacts on the environment. But the efforts of the 2024 Paris organizers should not go unnoticed or be diminished. Every step taken to reduce CO2 emissions, consider the full life-cycle of products, and preserve surrounding ecosystems makes an impact. Let’s hope that showcasing Paris’s sustainability efforts on such a large world stage will help to inspire, inform, and ultimately spur more positive change in the years to come.
Let the (more sustainable) Games begin!
Image credits: Olympic rings in Paris (Anne Jea., CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons); Crowd (Cyrilldurigon, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
