Paris 2024 Opens Gates to Sustainability
Exploring Paris 2024 Summer Olympics’ innovative planning towards sustainable games…..Will the IOC be able to advance it? Olympics to drive innovations that promote sustainability?
The existence of the Olympics and the Paralympics has long been a subject of debate now, not only because of the harsh economic effects it has on the hosting nation but also, the adverse environmental effects and the immense carbon footprint they generate. Paris hosted close to 15,000 athletes and welcomed around 10 million spectators from over 180 countries this summer requiring every service to be at its best.
Paris 2024: More Sustainable Games
The efforts invested by the Olympic committee and the hosting nation for a more sustainable Olympics than its previous editions were certainly hard to miss with all the media buzz, from cardboard-based beds to non-air-conditioned rooms in the Olympic Village. But it goes far beyond these measures. Paris Olympics aimed to halve the greenhouse gas emissions released by the Rio 2016 or London 2012 Games, estimated at an average of 3.5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent, setting a carbon budget limit of 1.58 Mt CO2 eq. Given that the Tokyo 2020 Games, despite being organized during a pandemic and without spectators, still generated nearly 2 Mt CO2 equivalent, this is surely an ambitious target.
Considering the carbon footprint breakdown, the primary contributors are spectator and athlete travel followed by permanent and temporary accommodation. Rightfully the organizing committee focused on these aspects, categorizing the emission into Scope 1, Scope 2, and Scope 3.
These terms are used in carbon accounting and reporting GHG emissions.
Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from sources owned or controlled by the organizing committee, like energy use in Olympic venues and staff transportation.
Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased electricity, heating, or cooling used in these venues.
Scope 3 emissions include all other indirect emissions, including spectator travel, supply chain of goods and services needed for the event, etc.
The Game of “Games” Changing
This is the first time that such a material footprint is laid out aiming at a sustainable Olympics. Detailed venue locations, resource maps for each venue and focus on minimizing and managing the life cycle of materials before, during, and after the Games are keys to this planning. This level of preplanning and commitment can be seen through a range of efforts undertaken including:
- Using or renovating pre-existing buildings and temporary structures and constructing only those facilities that can be reused after the Games, that too utilizing recyclable, low-carbon materials like timber
- Catering emerged as a key area of innovation, doubling plant-based food and sourcing local and seasonal food
- Deposit-return schemes on single-use plastic containers and bottles
- The Cauldron used a 100% electric flame, powered entirely by renewable energy
- Mattresses made from recycled fishing nets, non-air-conditioned rooms, building coffee tables from recycled shuttlecock (Now that certainly sounds cool and worth a look!)
The Games of Innovations
While you might have come across many of these, a few technical developments that were not equally highlighted made significant contributions.
- Venues and the Olympic Village were connected to the public electricity grid to draw power from renewable energy sources (solar, wind, and even geothermal), eliminating the need for diesel generators.
- A fleet of more than 2600 electric, renewable hydrogen, hybrid vehicles, and even a few autonomous shuttles were provided by Toyota for transport between sites.
- 415 km of cycle paths and secure bicycle parking facilities were specifically designed.
- The sole large venue constructed is the Aquatics Center, which represents a great example of good eco-friendly design built through a wooden frame, seating made from recycled local materials with 4,680 square meters of solar panels on its roof, and plans already decided for its future use.
- Drone like Buoys
The Calanques National Park in Marseille has been home to Posidonia Oceanica seagrass meadows often referred to as “The lungs of the Mediterranean”, because of its ability to soak up as much as 15 times more carbon dioxide per acre than a rainforest. Since some Olympic competitions were to take place above their habitat, geo-positioned buoys were designed and used for the competitions to limit anchoring in these areas. Unlike traditional buoys, which rely on anchors dropping to the seafloor, these drone-like buoys eliminate that risk thus protecting the seagrass from scraping off. - Besides these, the digitalization of facilities helped make things more organized in the city. Apps featuring public transportation, carpooling, bike sharing services, and platforms to track waste disposal and live recycling rates, not only proved valuable during the Olympics but hold a long-term potential and can serve a greater purpose towards the environment in day-to-day life.
Greener the Games Ahead
A report released by Carbon Market Watch dictated that the organizers’ sustainability plan addressed only around 30% of predicted emissions. And this is indeed true, to describe what a sustainable Olympics would look like, a lot more factors would have to be incorporated. A few of the implemented ideas even failed eventually, during the games, like that of the non-air-conditioned rooms, which is completely understandable as failure and improvement are a part of innovation. No doubt that the official data is yet to come and we may see an unexpected difference between the desired carbon budget and the actual one. But to what the committee aimed at as a more sustainable Olympics, it is a promising start. The organizing committee would definitely have to build on this momentum in the future and slash to what reports say, 60% of its emissions by 2036 to align with the ambitions of the Paris Climate Agreement to keep global warming below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Beyond the Games
There is no denying that an event of such a large scale can never be climate-positive as some may hope. When it comes to emissions, it is always going to be better if nothing like this takes place. However the Olympics is far more than the games- it unites all the nations on one stage, competing with passion, nurturing moments of bravery, hard work, and comradery. Just as life never stops moving forward, the Olympic Games should continue to drive innovation that would eventually help attain sustainability standards for the Games, and also help tackle other environmental challenges in various scenarios through the technological advancements driven by the Olympics.
Hence Olympics is an opportunity to promote and present innovative solutions to global challenges, and are a catalyst for advancing sustainability.
I’d love to hear your insights on this topic. Do share your thoughts in the comments below!
