Sustainability in Sports: Paris 2024 sets New Standard

The Paris Olympic Games has set a new standard in low-carbon sporting events. Yet the work is not finished; this should create a new model for future event organisers to build upon.

This is because, unlike many Olympic Games of the past, Paris has adopted a pre-event carbon budget. In the past, calculating emissions would have been done after the event, which in some instances, has led to some creative retrospective carbon accounting.

This year, the Paris Olympic Committee has set the goal of having at least 50% fewer carbon emissions than previous events.

So how are these drastic reductions being made? Some 25% of emissions, opens new tab from previous Olympics come from the built environment, hence why the Paris organisers are committed to having 95% of its stadiums as existing or temporary structures.

Re-using stadiums is not new. Only eight of London’s 34, opens new tab Olympic venues were newly built, while 17 of the 32 venues at Rio, opens new tab were new constructions. Shrinking this figure down to only 5% should become the new global standard not just for the Olympics, but for all large-scale international sporting events.

Even the construction of these new builds has been less carbon-intensive than most. For the Parisien Aquatics Centre, carbon-intensive concrete has been traded for wood. Beyond that, heat from local data centres is being captured and re-used to heat the swimming pool, opens new tab.

They have in part been able to drive down the emissions associated with buildings by calculating the material’s footprint. So, in theory each selected material should be the lowest impact option, opens new tab. There are even coffee tables made from badminton shuttlecocks, bean bags made from parachute fabric, or chairs made from recycled bottle caps.

The Paris Olympic organisers have also taken aim at transportation. The official fleet for the Games will consist primarily of electric and hydrogen-powered trucks, while each stadium is accessible via public transport.

It’s an A for effort, and A+ for marketing. It should be noted that Paris’s reliance on electric vehicles only makes sense because of its low-emission, nuclear-powered grid.

According to its organisers, all Olympics venues will run off 100% renewable energy, opens new tab, sourced through EDF by French wind and solar farms, with secondary access to the grid. In a third layer of low-carbon energy security, back-up generators will minimise the use of diesel, substituting hydrogen, biofuels or batteries wherever possible. Although a largely pointless gimmick when opportunity costs and resources are considered, it’s a good PR stunt.

Overall, the Games set an impressive standard for sustainability aspirations in international sporting events, and we genuinely look forward to seeing how well it all works.

Still, it’s important to remember that a lot of the emissions from events are out of the organiser’s control, as they come from people’s travel. The organisers have estimated that this will comprise up to 25% of an event’s total emissions.

Credit: Reuters

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