Paris Olympic organizers plan to cut carbon emissions in half compared to recent Summer Games, and Olympic host contracts from 2030 on will require carbon reductions and encourage action against climate change.
“These will be Olympic Games of a new era,” Prince Albert II of Monaco, chair of the IOC’s sustainability and legacy commission, wrote for Olympics.com. “While there are currently no solutions to fully eliminate the carbon footprint of large events, Paris 2024 is showing how this can be reduced, setting a clear pathway on how to bring the world together, in a much more sustainable way.”
Take food for example. Albert wrote that Paris organizers are targeting one kilogram (2.2 pounds) of carbon dioxide per meal for the projected 13 million meals and snacks served next summer. That’s down from the 2.3-kilogram (five-pound) French average.
Eighty percent of ingredients will be French, 30 percent will be organic, the amount of plant-based products doubled and single-use plastic halved.
Paris is the first Olympics to fully adopt the reforms of Agenda 2020, which was approved in 2014. One goal was to “minimize negative impact in the social, economic and environmental spheres.”
Next year’s measures are also in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change.
The Paris Games will have 95 percent pre-existing or temporary competition venues. Venues were strategically chosen so that can be accessed by public transport.
The IOC set a goal to reduce its carbon dioxide emissions by 30 percent by 2024 and become a “climate positive” organization.
“With their mesmerizing visibility, the Games already serve as an incubator for sustainable solutions that can be applied and further mainstreamed by sporting events around the world,” Albert wrote.