If there’s anything to be said about the Paris 2024 Olympics, it’s that France truly checked the box in the area of Sustainability.
According to The Paris 2024 organizing committee, the team set out to establish a new model for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The committee aligned with the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and targeted 50 percent reduction in carbon emissions compared to the average emissions produced in the 2021 London Games and 2016 Games in Rio.
To address the broadest category of emissions (Scope 3 emissions), Paris 2024 calculated its "material footprint" – a first in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Organizers created a map of required resources to minimize and control their life cycles before, during and after the Games. They tackled seating, beds, chairs, tables, equipment, design, energy, transportation, food waste and more. During the games, Paris 2024 used 100 percent renewable energy and minimized the use of diesel generators. The few generators that were used were powered by biofuel, H2 or batteries. According to the Paris Olympic website, Paris 2024 also, “developed a unique methodology for analyzing and reducing the Games’ impact on biodiversity and translated this into the design of more sustainable temporary venues”.
Furthermore, Paris 2024’s circular economy strategy “is based on three key principles: organizing the Games with fewer resources, making better use of these resources and ensuring the second life of resources after the Games - before the event even start[ed]”.
Venues used were pre-existing, temporary or will be converted to long-term structures to support public and affordable housing and improve the local Seine-Sain-Denis community. For example, The Aquatics Center is designed to become a multi-sports hub for the community where the seating is made from local recycled plastic waste. The Olympic Village will also provide jobs and opportunities for the district once converted.
In addition to these components, the emphasis on responsible food delivery cut food waste during the Games by the committee’s commitment to redistributing, composting or transforming all unconsumed food and to cutting single-use plastic by half while reusing 100 percent of catering equipment and infrastructure after the Games.
Bringing sustainability to the forefront of such a large-scale event is a huge win for the Games along with those representing their countries in the biggest sporting event in the world.
Here’s to what’s next in the world of sports!