Paris 2024, the greenest and most inclusive games ever experienced? This is the message issued by the organizing committee, the International Olympic Committee and the French government after the event. “The 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games mark a turning point in the history of the Olympic movement. […] Their carbon footprint has been significantly reduced and they have enabled the creation of sustainable advantages for the Frenchwelcomes Thomas Bach, President of the IOC, in the “summary of the post-Upon Durability & Heritage relationship”, published in December 2024. Thanks to innovative measures such as the use of 95 % of existing and temporary sites and 100 % renewable energy or the optimal use of public transport, Paris 2024 has shown how a global event can reduce its imprint significantly. »»
The indicators provided by the Paris sustainability report are impressive. A decrease of 54.6 % of greenhouse gas emissions compared to the London Games (considered hitherto by experts as a reference). 60 % less waste and 78.6 % of waste avoided or valued. A 52 % reduction in the weight of single -use plastics of drinks distributed by the organization. And 87 %of spectators who borrowed either public transport (62 %), or various means of “active mobility” (25 %), such as cycling, scooter or walking, to go to the tests.
Strong criticism
But some also point to failures or the hidden perverse effects of the games. The most lively criticisms come from the collective The back of the medal (bringing together dozens of associations, including ATD Fourth World, Doctors of the World, Secours Catholique, etc.) which denounces the “social cleaning” in Île-de-France as the games approached. Between April 26, 2023 and September 30, 2024, at least 19,526 people-including 4,550 minors-were expelled from their informal place, an increase of 33 % compared to the period 2021-2022, details the collective report published on November 4, 2024. “There has undoubtedly have been advanced, but there have still been too many forgotten by the party”regrets Geneviève Colas, coordinator of a report written by Secours Catholique. “By their dimension and impact on the company, the Olympic Games must be exemplary. It is now a question of learning the lessons and avoiding reproducing the same mistakes in five years during the winter Olympics ”she alerts.
For his part, Zero Waste France denounced the false starts on the reduction of single-use plastics upstream: three-quarters of the drinks sold by Coca-Cola, served in ecocups, come from plastic bottles … Double use of plastic, regrets the association. “Especially since these ecocups are brandished and one can imagine that many consumers have kept them as a memory and not returned to the instruction”Bénédicte Kjær Kahlat, lawyer at Zero Waste France.
“The Olympic and Paralympic Games were a real moment of grace”Enthuses Jeff Puech, president of the foundation for inclusive Sport. The opening ceremony, in particular, was a great moment, symbol of the fight against discrimination, but the return to reality is not as pink. “The Olympic effect quickly diluted. The promised inheritance law has not emerged ”he points to for example.
A territorial dynamic
Of the two objectives of the Paris 2024 inheritance and sustainability plan – deliver exemplary games and build a social and environmental heritage – remains to be seen how the second will register in time. “The formidable field dynamics driven by the Terre de Games system has enabled municipalities and communities to rethink and revitalize their sports policy”rejoices Philippe Oddou, co -founder and managing director of the Sport Association in the city. This inaugurated in Pantin last October a campus labeled heritage Paris 2024, which hosts sporting events aimed at social and professional integration of 5,000 young people. Thanks to the territorial dynamics carried by the Games, the association also hopes to double the number of sports fields that it manages within the neighborhoods by 2032. The same enthusiasm within the BPCE group, the first economic player to have signed a premium partnership with Paris 2024. “We have said it clearly upstream of the games: we will still be there after to wear this inheritance”recalls Laurent Buffard, director of communication for Banque Populaire brands and savings fund. The savings bank thus leaves in legacy 121 handball and basketball courts (against 50 initially promised) and the Banque Populaire a program to preserve aquatic environments. “Above all, we intend to continue on this path”completes Laurent Buffard.
The heritage should also be immaterial. “We also wanted […] A methodological and technical heritage for the benefit of sporting events and territories ”underlines Georgina Grenon, director environmental excellence of games. Paris 2024 thus developed the Coach Climate Events, a tool to assess and reduce the carbon footprint of sporting events in France. As of October 31, 2024, 1,350 events initiated an approach to reduce their impact.
But one of the strongest and most durable symbols of this legacy of the games will undoubtedly remain the ecological reconquest of the Seine. The project led to a long time by the capital and the Grand Paris – clearly accelerated for the Olympic Games – should give birth to around twenty bathing sites, including three in Paris this year. Already, around forty species of fish are counted in the Seine, against three in the 1970s …
