Did Paris 2024 deliver on its promise of a Games that would be “historic for the climate” and a “break” with previous ones in terms of environmental and sustainability requirements? Mission accomplished, according to the summary of the final report published on Wednesday, December 11, by the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (OCOG) to draw the final assessment of its strategy to “deliver more responsible Games.”
The most ambitious objective: To halve the carbon footprint of the Games, when compared to the average of the London 2012 and Rio 2016 events, estimated at 3.5 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent (teqCO2). The 2021 Games in Tokyo had been excluded because it was held without spectators due to the Covid-19 pandemic. To achieve this, unlike previous Games, Paris 2024 had established in advance a total “carbon budget” not to be exceeded, set at 1.58 million teqCO2. According to OCOG’s calculations, the target was achieved, with a final carbon footprint of 1.59 million teqCO2, a 54.6% reduction compared to London and Rio.
However, the organizers had grossly underestimated the greenhouse gas emissions generated by spectator travel: These accounted for 53% of the overall carbon footprint (833,600 teqCO2), compared with 34% predicted in the initial carbon budget.
You have 78.77% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
