Allison Stroman - The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics has made several efforts to lower their environmental impact and align with the International Olympic Committee's Agenda 2020. In the Agenda, the IOC provides statements on sustainability in Recommendation 4 and 5. Recommendation 4 is to “[i]nclude sustainability in all aspects of the Olympic Games” and Recommendation 5 is to “[i]nclude sustainability within the Olympic Movement’s daily operations”. Both Recommendations have a specific outline for the targets and action steps.
In alignment with these items, the Paris Olympics’ organizers committed to “make it the greenest Games in Olympic history, with half the carbon footprint of London 2012 and Rio 2016”. Rather than building entirely new “purpose-built” stadiums and sporting areas for each event, as frequently done historically, the organizers committed to only two purpose-built spaces which are “an aquatics centre and an arena for badminton and rhythmic gymnastics” each of which will convert into a space for community recreation after the Olympics. In building these two permanent structures, construction used “low-carbon construction methods” including using mostly wood and recycled plastic for elements like seats. Additionally, the Aquatics Center has “4,680 square metres of solar panels installed on its rooftop” to provide the vast majority of electricity needed. Other structures specially put up for the Olympics are temporary and will be broken down after the Games. In a further effort to decrease emissions, all Olympic venues are linked to the “public electricity network” with the intention of maintaining this after the Games. To decrease travel time and utilize Paris’ existing public transit network, “[a]ll venues are accessible by public transport” which aims to decrease the amount of cars spectators use to get to the Games. The Olympic Village is also placed strategically to avoid long travel: “More than 80 per cent of the Olympic venues are situated within 10km of the Olympic Village, minimising travel time for athletes.” Furthermore, various kinds of necessary equipment will largely come from sponsors or obtained through renting it rather than purchasing all new products: “Out of two million pieces of sports equipment, three-quarters will be rented or provided by sports federations. More than three-quarters of the electronic equipment such as screens, computers and printers are also rented. The same is true for all the stands, tents and bungalows.”
The Olympic Village where the athletes reside for the games has “‘coffee tables made from recycled shuttlecocks, poufs from parachute canvas and chairs from recycled bottle tops’” which aims to lower the environmental cost of non-recycled material in furniture.” Furthermore, the Village will become a “new residential and business district, providing workplaces for 6,000 people and apartments for an additional 6,000” with housing allocated specifically for public housing and more for affordable housing, “managed by government-affiliated agencies and offered to students and low-income workers”. Providing housing and increasing the number of businesses in the area could further decrease the current unemployment rate. Additional improvements to the area consist of “underground electricity lines, the redevelopment of the Canal Saint Denis, and a noise barrier along the A86 motorway” and initiatives to clean the Seine. All of these serve to “enhance living conditions in and around the capital city, especially in the Seine-Saint-Denis area”.
The meals for those at the Olympics, from spectators to staff to athletes, aim to decrease emissions and cost further:
“the organisers are pledging to deliver meals with half the carbon emissions of an average French meal by:...doubling the proportion of plant-based ingredients and increasing the plant-based options for everyone…sourcing 80 per cent of ingredients from local agriculture production, with a quarter produced within 250km of the respective venue…cutting food waste by better estimating quantities, redistributing, composting or transforming all unconsumed food…cutting single-use plastic used in catering by half while reusing 100 percent of catering equipment and infrastructure after the Games.”
Outside of these meals, all spectators will have access to free refill stations and water fountains and the ability to bring in their own reusable water bottles.
Beyond the buildings and equipment for the Games, designers utilized climate-positive methods and materials to design and create the uniforms for various countries.
